4 Biggest MYTHS About Starting a Home Bakery Business
Home Baking Businesses are incredibly fascinating and they come in ALL shapes and sizes! Iโve had my own successful Home Baking Business for 6 years now and Iโve loved pretty much every second of it.
Every job (whether you work for yourself or not) has its ups and downs, but Iโm SO exceedingly grateful for my little Home Bakery!
Over the last year in particular, Iโve realized that so many passionate bakers have talent, but they donโt pursue their passion/dream of having a FULL TIME Home Bakery because of FEAR…
Fear that they donโt have the “required” specific skill set it takes to have a successful Home Baking Business.
A skill set that has FALSELY become synonymous with the term โHome Baking Businessโ. These are nothing but MYTHS.
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These Home Bakery Business Myths Are:
- You need to have studied formal pastry/chef/baking courses at an institution.
- You need to have studied some kind of entrepreneurship/business coursesย at an institution.
- Being a master at Fondant work, gum-paste details and sugar art is ESSENTIAL. Being a master at creating detailed designs to match whatever theme a client wants is ESSENTIAL.
- And then also this belief that you need heaps of capital (or investors)ย for expensive kitchen equipment, branding, packaging, advertising etc.
Iโve grown SO deeply frustrated with these beliefs, because they really are TOTALLY false. Today Iโm hoping to expose these myths once and for all.
Without becoming too feisty.
Iโll try my best.
But I might fail at diplomacy here.
The reason WHY I want to expose these myths is because I keep coming across amazing, passionate, GIFTED Home Bakers that are actually very unhappy โ for various reasons. And they often lack confidence because they donโt fit the briefย listed above.
It breaks my heart, because they donโt need to feel this way.
Thereโs another way!
BUT FIRST, letโs start by breaking down the myths. Sound good?
MYTH # 1: You need to study formal pastry/chef courses for your Home Baked products to be “GOOD enough” to Sell
Thereโs this old mind-set still hanging around in society that makes life and growth quite difficult. Itโs the belief you need to formally study and have some kind of qualification before you can work in a certain field.
Over time, some new shortcuts have been created (like short courses) which aim to condense your learning experience into a shorter span of time.
Although I love the idea that you donโt need to put aside YEARS for these courses, they still have major flaws.
Iโve wanted to do a thorough course in Pastry for 5 years now. Unfortunately, all the options would require of me to set aside a minimum of 6 months to complete the course. 6 Months of FULL TIME study.
This means no work and no income plus a mild expense of $ 5000. How is this sustainable or even possible?
My friend, this is a different time. The online world has opened up doors for all of us to learn almost any skill and excel at it.
You donโt need to study a formal, expensive course for your Home Baking Business to succeed. AT ALL.
If a cake tastes amazing and rocks your world, then no one cares if the baker has a qualification or not!
You can learn and grow into the BEST baker you can possibly be without any formal training. Iโve developed 5 FUN weekly habits over time that keep me sharp and constantly evolving as a Home Baker.
These 5 Weekly Habits Include:
1. Watching an inspirational dessert show. Shows like Unique Sweets, Great British Bake Off, Zumboโs Just Desserts etc. NOT decorating shows. Watch shows that focus on flavour! I always keep a notebook handy to write down which new flavour combinations Iโve learned, which new techniques Iโve learned and how I could implement them in a bake Iโm comfortable with โ like brownies.
2. Conquer something technical that has EPIC flavour (typically spaced out over a month, with research on the specific bake every week). Perfect Baked Cheesecake, Flawless Cupcakes, Perfect Lemon Meringue Pieโฆ these are all very technical desserts, yet Iโve managed to master them through extensive ONLINE RESEARCH and then practicing baking them. Itโs all you need. Really.
3. Eat something that gives you a YUM-high! Hard Work, right? ๐ Eating YUM-high food/treats is essential to keeping your flavour edge sharp in your baking. Eat something every week that inspires you! It doesnโt have to be expensive either. Get to that baked thingy that everyone in your town/city is talking about!
4. Follow GREAT bakers (not decorators) online. You will learn something NEW every time. I still do.
5. Use seasonal ingredients for inspiration. Fresh, seasonal ingredients can inspire you to create bakes youโve never tried before. Search online to see what other herbs/spices/nuts go with that seasonal vegetable or fruit.
These habits have grown me into the baker I am today without ever needing to pay a cent for training.
Iโve explained the core concept of each habit, because I donโt want to be stingy, but if you want to, you can download the full, free, 5 page guide in my Free Resource Library. I’m confident that you’ll love it!
Another super effective strategy to Grow as a Baker (for free) is to volunteer at any restaurant/eatery/bakery/suppliers that do anything related to baking. This includes breads, pizzas, doughnuts, pastry, cakes, etc.!
You get to learn, hands on, on a schedule that works for you. Since you are volunteering and providing them with free labour, they canโt exactly make demands on your time. I recommend doing weekends or like every second weekend.
This way the restaurant/bakery gets FREE extra labour and you learn for FREE โ TOTAL win-win!!
Iโve explained the basics without being cryptic, but if you want to read more on this strategy of mine you can download my full guide from the Free Resource Library.
MYTH #1 BUSTED!!
MYTH #2: You need to formally study business/entrepreneurship for your Home Baking Business to be successful
Once again, my friends, this is a different time. The online world has opened up doors for all of us to learn almost any skill and excel at it. You donโt need to study a formal, expensive course in business for your Home Baking Business to succeed. AT ALL.
The web is absolutely TEEMING with online entrepreneur & business coaches who are giving away a WEALTH of info โ for FREE.
Iโve learned all I need to from these peeps. Their free stuff has made me a savvy entrepreneur with a successful Home Baking Business even though they never speak about baking.
If you have a little bit of money to spend on this, it will definitely help though. I HIGHLY recommend โThe $100 start upโ by Chris Guillebeau.
This book has genuinely smashed my concepts of business and redefined my home baking businessโs focus. Itโs really inexpensive and amazing.
So yes, itโs paramount that you learn about business and entrepreneurship, but you donโt need to do a formal, expensive course at a university or institution.
MYTH #2 BUSTED!!
Myth #3: You need to be a master at fondant, sugar art and themed designs for your home baking business to succeed.
Now this is where I get very VERY feisty.
As any โnormalโ baking nerd would do, Iโm part of a few Baking Facebook groups. On these groups you typically see folks posting these AMAZING wedding cakes with mountains of fondant work, sugar flowers and modelling chocolate detailsโฆ They are works of art.
One day I posted a photo in the one group of the types of cakes I do. A rustic, purist, cleanly presented carrot cake.
Thisย Carrot Cake Recipe has generated $5000+ in sales for my home bakery business. I asked in the group if anyone does cakes like these because everyoneโs work seems so โwedding-cakeyโ or โthemedโ.
Everyoneโs responses SHOCKED ME.
Hereโs what the fellow Home Bakers said on the group:
โI love baking cakes like yours for myself, my friends and family. But in order to make a living from baking I have to make fondant cakes.โ
โLOVE these kinds of cakes, but fondant cakes are what customers want, so thatโs what I do most of the time.โ
My heart sank!
Is this is truly what most Home Baking Business owners believe??…
It does not have to be this way. I would just curl up in despair if the only way to make a living off baking was to make fondant, themed cakes.
Hereโs whyโฆ
In general, ANY creative enjoys creating something that THEY actually want to buy themselves. As soon as you start just creating for โwhatever anyone wantsโ, you quickly get frustrated, bored and burned out.
โIn order to make a living from baking I have to make fondant cakesโฆโ But itโs not what she enjoys doing at all. She feels she HAS to do it.
TRUTH IS that thereโs a WHOLE other market today that is into QUALITY and FLAVOUR. This is what Iโve discovered & experienced over the last 5 years of building my own Home Baking Business.
FLAVOUR and QUALITY (taste) create more concrete memories than sight. Itโs been scientifically proven.
When more of your senses are involved in an experience, a more solid memory and rich the whole experience.
If you eat a cake with an awful flavour (includes both your taste & smelling sense) and texture, the only sense that the memory can stand on is SIGHT.
SIGHT does not create a very solid memory to begin with since it is a sense we use 16+ hours per day.
BUT if you eat a cake with a glorious flavour (includes smell) and beautiful, fresh texture then you already have 3 senses involved in the experienceย and memory!
Thatโs why the desserts and bakes from our childhoods are forever seared into our memories.
Iโve NEVER heard anyone say: โoh do you remember when we ate that green fondant?! It was the most delicious thing I’ve ever eaten in my life!โ โYes! And those silver deco balls, how divine!โ
Nope. Never.
Over the last decade, the cake decorating scene has exploded on television and social media. It was always there, but shows like Cake Boss, Ace of Cakes, Charlyโs Cake Angels etc. opened up an exciting new world to the public and bakers.
Overnight, super decorated, fondant cakes became the new beacon for โbakingโ. People were loving them on TV (and social media) and demanding them from their local bakers!
Now, I am not saying thereโs no need for cake decorating (that would be foolish and ignorant). Itโs an amazing art!! Iโm just saying that the cake decorating โhypeโ has gone completely out of control and created this stigma that
BAKING = DECORATING and DECORATING = BAKING. This is FALSE.
You can be an amazing cake DECORATOR, but this does not make you a great BAKER.
In the name of โYou eat with your eyes!โ, super pretty, BUT terrible tasting, dry, tough, stale cakes have been served to the masses for years now.
I have been on the receiving end so many timesโฆ Iโm sure you have too?? It totally sucks. It ruins everything.
Bottom line: lines have become blurry and the concept of actual BAKING has been severely compromised by an exterior decorating obsession.
Ultimately, WE ACTUALLY EAT WITH OUR MOUTHS, NOT OUR EYES.
And, believe it or not, thereโs a whole market just waiting for someone to produce DELICIOUS cakes, FULL of FLAVOUR, that give them a yum-high and leave them in a daze. Great, full on BAKING. This is what Iโve done and you can totally do it too!
Now obviously the cake needs to be neat and presentable, but all this means is clean lines. A neat finish on something HONEST, HOME MADE and AUTHENTIC.
You never need to make sugar flowers, or spend hours kneading purple fondant, or bake a cake a week in advance so that you have enough time to put the 1000 modelling chocolate ornaments on the cake IF YOU DONโT WANT TO.
So yes, Iโm going to say it OUT LOUD:
You CAN make a comfortable living as a home baker without EVER baking a wedding cake or a themed cake!
MYTH #3 BUSTED!!
Myth #4: You need loads of Money to start a Home Bakery Business
SO, totally and completely false.
When I started my home baking business I had almost nothing. I had a $10 hand mixer, 2 cheap plastic mixing bowls, 1 square tin and 1 muffin/cupcake tin (and a $5500 student loan to pay off, lol!). Thatโs it! Thatโs all you need. I didn’t even have an oven, so I baked at my (then boyfriend) husband’s student house and then decorated the baked cupcakes back at my own student house. You can make it work!
I know there are so many gorgeous kitchens on Pinterest, blogs and magazines, but donโt fall into the comparison trap.
A beautiful, fully equipped kitchen is not essential to your home bakeryโs success.
Remember, this is good, honest HOME BAKING. When your mom or gran made your favourite birthday cake, could they manage without the $1000 Cuisinart Mixer? Was the cake memorable even though they mixed it by hand?
Iโm betting YES.
Focus on the quality of your bakes, not the aesthetics of your kitchen and I promise that your home baking business will be successful.
Beautiful branding and packaging can also be a very tempting expense. If a wrapper is beautiful, but the candy tastes bad, will you ever buy it again? No.
Just go for simple packaging to start off with. You can seriously get away with 50 cents per cake box. To add a personal touch, get a logo stamp made for $10. It looks super rustic and cool!
A simple, affordable logo design solution is to do a trade exchange with a local graphic designer. Creatives really look out for each other and are keen to help where they can! Offer them a cake in exchange for a logo.
If they are super good, maybe offer them a $100 voucher/credit at your home baking business. Itโs a wonderfully enriching experience working with any other creative! Give it a try ๐
The last area where big spending can be super tempting is advertising for your home bakery.
Take it from someone who has done this for 5 yearsโฆ
When it comes to baked goods, ONE word of mouth referral from someone who has actually tasted your bakes is worth more than 1000 flyers or 2000 views on a Facebook ad. The proof of the pudding is in the eating.
Also remember to keep the โhomeโ in Home Bakery. Your clients want a touch of โhomeโ. Focus on retaining your clients and build genuine relationships with them so that you become their GO-TO Baker! Loyal clients are the backbone of any Home baking business.
MYTH #4 BUSTED!!
I hope that this post has been helpful to you and that it has also LIBERATED you as an authentic home baker. Please be YOU. Your gifts and talents are SO needed!
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What’s next?
If you can relate to what I’ve shared, then Philosophy of Yum is exactly what you’ve been looking for. I’m so excited that you are finally here!
I’ve created a Library of FREE Resources specifically for current and aspiring Home Bakery Owners because I want to see you succeed!
This Library is filled with my BEST downloadable tools, tips, guides and my Home Bakery’s TOP SECRET Recipes to provide you with everything you need to build your own SUCCESSFUL HOME BAKERY BUSINESS.
Click the button below to take a FREE peek inside the Library – no strings attached!
Please comment below if you have any other struggles or doubts about building your own home bakery business because I would LOVE to help!
Chat soon,
Aurelia ๐
POPULAR BAKING TIPS
POPULAR BAKING TIPS
Got a question? Something to add? Letโs chat in the comments section down below! (I respond to every single comment)
Thank you! It’s the end of my first week as a full time Home Baker. Only saw R100 profit but the week as also been full of doing things like sourcing and buying boxes and other cheap packaging (so glad you agree that packaging doesn’t need to be fancy), setting up social media etc. It has been a dream for a long time, but now being unemployed during a pandemic has given me the kick I needed to start. Thank you for the resources you have shared. I was pleased to find a fellow South African offering advice!
Hey Gayle! Glad you enjoyed the post ๐ R100 profit in your first week is GREAT!! It takes TIME & PERSEVERANCE to build up a full time home bakery business. You can find some tips for getting more sales here >> https://philosophyofyum.com/get-word-out-exposure-home-bakery/
hi aurelia
loved your post and it spoke to me directly!!
my question is how does one price a product best??
Hey Christian! Glad you enjoyed the post ๐ Here’s a blog post that will help you with pricing: 6 Steps to Pricing your Bakes with Confidence. >> https://philosophyofyum.com/cake-pricing-for-home-bakers/
Thanks for sharing this useful article. I appreciated your effort. Its really amazing and helpful article for me as I want to open my own home bakery. thankyou so much keep sharing. God bless you
Hey! I’m so glad the post was useful for you ๐ Good luck on your Home Bakery adventure!
I always wanted to open a home bakery but due to personal restraints was never able to do it. However your article has motivated me and I will think to start my home bakery soon.
Thanks for guiding many people like me
Thanks for your comment! I’m SO happy to hear that you’re feeling more motivated to start your Home Bakery Business! ๐ That’s fantastic!
so sweet of you to share. nice one!
i am in Lagos, Nigeria. I am so particular about quality and taste.
you talked about quality as well as regard flavour. Can you please throw more light on this? if possible, share some flavours.
Thanks
Hey! I’m so glad to hear that you’re also passionate about quality and taste ๐ With “flavour” I mean that baked goods taste of specific flavours and don’t just taste sweetness. You can search online for delicious flavour combinations. Start with picking an ingredient you like e.g. mango. Then search online for “flavours that pair well with mango” to get some ideas.
Very informative post! Thanks for sharing
Such a pleasure! I’m glad it was informative for you ๐
Hi Aurelia! I love all of your articles on starting a home bakery. I want to start my own home bakery but I’m not sure where to start once I start to feel confident enough with my bakes. So I guess my first question is how did you first start marketing your home bakery and getting those first initial clientele? My second question would be how to decide on how many things to put on your menu when you first start out without getting overwhelmed? Thank you again for all of the article you’ve provided on starting a home bakery, it really has been a big inspiration for me starting out from the bottom.
Hey Hafsah, thanks for your comment! I’m so glad to hear that you’re enjoying the articles ๐ I TOTALLY understand that feeling of not being sure where to start… Iโll be happy to give you some direction ๐
The best advice I have to offer right now is to fill in the Home Bakery Business Plan Template (you can download it in the Free Resource Library. Check your email for the link) The business plan will help you to figure out WHAT you need to bake, WHO you need to bake it for and HOW you’re going to reach them. It’s the first step to figure out your map for your business and will bring you LOADS of clarity.
You’re also welcome to join the wait list for my next free Home Bakery Business Training >> https://homebakerystartup.com.
And in the meantime you can start educating yourself in business and marketing through books! Hereโs a recent blog post I wrote about the BEST books that have helped to move my business forward >> https://philosophyofyum.com/the-5-best-resources-to-grow-your-home-bakery-business/
Hi Aurelia! I found this blog post SUPER encouraging and helpful. I have recently decided to start my own home baking business and I look forward to utilizing some of the tips and tools you share. I was SO encouraged to know that I donโt have to be an expert with fondant or even have to make wedding cakes to be successful at this. I have been a cake decorator for grocery stores for the past 5 years and although i still enjoy it for the most part, I get the biggest joys from baking from home for my friends and family.
I have a couple questions that have come up for me as Iโve started this new venture: 1) how do I price my baked goods so that I am not charging too much but still making a profit from what I sell? 2) Iโve noticed a HUGE trend with baking vegan and/or gluten free treats. I am tempted to give it a try but do I need to decide if thatโs what Iโm going to do or is it possible to make both vegan and full dairy, full gluten products to sell from home?
Thanks again for your wonderful knowledge, valuable insight, and encouraging advice!
Hey Taryn
Thanks for your comment! I’m so happy to hear that this post has brought some clarity for you on what types of bakes you do and don’t need to bake to have a successful Home Bakery Business. For pricing tips you can check out this blog post >> https://philosophyofyum.com/cake-pricing-for-home-bakers/. As for baking things that are “on trend” – I honestly believe that if YOU don’t believe in it, you’ll have a tough time selling it. You should want to BUY & EAT everything you want to put on your menu. So just check your heart before you do anything that’s “on trend” because trends come and go…
You can absolutely make allergy friendly baked goods at home yes. I bake loads of gluten free goods AND normal ones. I just make a point of keeping everything separate. In 7 years I haven’t had a single gluten free client with a reaction. So YES, it’s possible. Good luck on your new venture!
Thanks for sharing such a meaningful article. Much appreciated your effort. Its something really amazing and helpful article
I’m so glad it was meaningful to you Harry! Thanks for letting me know ๐
Hi Aurelia! Greetings from Nairobi.:-)Thanks for sharing these wonderful tips and encouragement. I have been baking part-time out of my kitchen for the last 5 years. The orders are sporadic, mostly from friends and neighbors and the feedback is usually good. I’d like to ramp up the orders to a place where I can comfortably do this full time so I can quit my 9-5. I recently saw a local baker post that they were fully booked for the month and I was in awe. Any tips on how I can go from zero to fully booked?
Hey Emma! Thanks for your comment – I’m so glad this post has encouraged you ๐ It’s awesome to hear that you want to scale up your baking and do it full time! The best advice I have to offer right now is to start educating yourself on business & marketing as soon as possible! Marketing is ALL about learning how to make strangers realize that YOUR baked goods are exactly what they’ve been looking for.
The cheapest, quickest way to educate yourself in business & marketing is by reading books. I highly recommend The $100 Startup by Chris Guillebeau. It changed everything in my Home Bakery! I started reading it just after my baking biz lost a HUGE client and hence 70% of my income – overnight! I picked up this book (thanks to my legit husband), studied it, applied everything I learned, and a year later my Home Bakery was booked solid for 3 months in advance ๐
And then of course there’s also my online course Home Bakery Startup! This course is for home bakers who want to make home baking their part-time or full-time career. We dive deep into business, marketing, logistics, acquiring direct clients organically and through Google, getting wholesale clients, doing food markets and so much more. It’s a course to help you become a confident, equipped Home Bakery Business owner.
This course isn’t currently open for enrollment, but it will open again later this year. If you’re interested you can join the wait list here >> https://homebakerystartup.com ๐
Thanks Aurelia for the tips! I’ve signed up for your course and will look the book up.
Amazing posts. Please keep up the good work ๐ You have definitely one loyal reader here!
Thanks so much Rebecca! Glad to meet you ๐ xxx
Hello Aurelia!
I wished I had stumbled across this article BEFORE going to school, this would have saved me over $9000! You have some amazing tips and now that I have my baking business up and running, I can still take a TON away from this website! You now have another follower for life and thanks so much for sharing everything!! ๐
Hey Stacey! Oh dear, that’s a BIG spend! I firmly believe that no skill is ever wasted though, so I’m sure you’re better off with all that extra knowledge and experience. So glad to have you on board! Please let me know if you ever have any other questions xxx
Waw! Very inspiring piece. I love this, I am motivated. Much tnx Aurelia
Thanks Amuche! Glad you enjoyed it! ๐
This is such an inspiring article! Unfortunately, though, I live in New Jersey, the only state in the US that will not pass a cottage industry/home baking law that allows it. HUGE obstacle! I make delicious cupcakes that I have made for peopleโs parties and events, but itโs a bit scary, since itโs illegal!๐ณ. Go figure, NJ will probably legalize marijuana, but not home baked items! I am keeping the faith and look forward to following your story! Sherri
What a bummer Sherri!! So sorry to hear that… I’ve recently heard about some states relaxing their cottage food laws a bit. Maybe New Jersey is next! ๐ You never know.
Thank you for the great summary of several things Iโve thought about as Iโm getting my home-based (for now) pie shop started – 1) whatโs most important are the amazing flavors in your pie (or cake), not whether itโs camera-ready and 2) there are plenty of people and resources to help with business details as long as they see you are passionately invested in creating a quality product – thanks for the encouragement from RSA (a beautiful place Iโd like to visit again!) to the USA –
Hey Allen, thanks for your comment ๐ I’m so glad my post has been useful to you! You are 100% right, amazing flavours are what counts in baking. Keep pursuing your baking dreams!
Hi Sherri!
Our little baking world needs amazing cupcakes! Commercial Kitchens can be an answer to your obstacle! If that’s too expensive, check out your local churches, schools, or even a Senior Center. Hopefully, they may rent to you!
wow! finally i found a write up that exactly matches my beliefs and oassion with baking. We are one in mind .. made me cry actually reading your write up. im actually in the planning stage of building a separate space in our house for my baking .. thank you so much for your thoughts.. feeling blessed! all the best to you and your business
Thank you so much for your sweet comment Ellen! I’m so glad this post meant so much to you ๐ Super excited to hear that you’re currently planning to add a baking space to your home! Please let me know if you ever have any questions throughout your Home Bakery endeavours.