Baking is something that will never go out of fashion – people will always need cakes and sweet treats! If you think you’ve got what it takes to start a business, here’s what you need to know before you begin your journey.

The Legal Bit

It goes without saying that you’ll need to sort out the paperwork before you start up your business. There are three main things you need to do here: firstly, a food business license is essential in ensuring you can start up your business in the first place. You also need to obtain a health and safety certificate, as well as file your business taxes so you don’t get arrested for tax avoidance. Don’t be overwhelmed by the thought of taxes; it’s easy to learn how to estimate taxes for a startup.

For more information on the paperwork behind setting up a business, fda.gov offers simple advice on what you need to do to get started.

Fine-tune Your Recipes

If you’re an experienced baker, you may be using “approximations” of ingredients or baking times. Before you start baking professionally, try to filter through recipes and make them as precise as possible. This will help when buying ingredients and budgeting for how much you need to purchase. It’s also worth shopping around for cheaper ingredients, although remember – never exchange price for quality. People will pay good money for something that’s good quality, but if it’s cheap, you’ll be left in other businesses’ dust.

Consider The Packaging

How you offer your sweet treats is important in whether people buy your products. After all, first impressions count, so you’ve got to make sure you come out with a bang, featuring unique product labels that catch the eye. You need to decide which is best for your products – if you’re baking large cakes, you’ll be better designing boxes, whereas if you’re selling candies, your best bet is to opt for candy packaging bags. Whatever you choose, make sure it encompasses your business – are you fun and quirky or classy and luxurious?

Don’t Forget Marketing

Before you start your selling journey, you need to make sure you’re reaching people, or else you won’t have any customers! Setting up a profile on social media for your business does wonders, and advertising embedded within social media can reach a huge variety of peoplethat will get you noticed in no time.

It’s also handy to have your own website with a blog; it’s easier for customers to find sites by searching for answers to questions or information about certain things than it is searching for a product they don’t yet know exists. 

Another good idea is to offer discounts on some of your products – this will draw in people looking for a good deal, and may encourage them to buy other, non-discounted items, too. You’d be surprised how many people are drawn in by a 50% off label.

Setting up your business isn’t easy, but taking it slowly and steadily and making sure you have the basics down is guaranteed to make sure you climb your way to success and get your baked goods and sweet treats flying off the shelves!