How To Start An Online Baking Business From Home
In the current pandemic, many choose to or have no choice but to rely on online solutions to make a living. Like a bakery business, you can’t really go wrong as we all like to eat, especially freshly baked goods! I’ve been baking for a while now, and I love sending out my freshly baked goods throughout the UK. Here I show you how to set up a successful baking business from the comfort of your own home. It’s not that hard!
HOW TO START MY OWN BAKING BUSINESS FROM HOME
The first thing is to ask yourself how you are going to fit your baking around family life. Will the kitchen be free at lunchtime and dinner times etc., so you can cook for your family?
Have you enough space to prepare your bakes and enough space to pack and box for deliveries?
If you’re determined enough, whatever space you have, you will find a way. I have a small kitchen and managed to ship out 200 boxes in a week! The post office loved me!
DECIDE WHAT CAKES OR BAKES YOU WANT TO SELL
Decide what cakes you want to sell, and make sure you master those bakes if you haven’t baked them before. Keep baking them until you get them just right and suitable for selling.
If they are new bakes, dish them out to family and friends and see what they think. Don’t go overboard to start. Maybe just start with 5 to 10 different bakes if you haven’t baked before. You don’t want to get overwhelmed, as this is when you make mistakes!
TAKE APPEALING PHOTOS OF YOUR BAKES
Now, this is the tricky thing. Taking photos of your lovely baking! Taking pics of your baking isn’t the easiest thing to do. I still find it hard now, but here are a few tips.
Do your research – check out other people’s photos on Google and see what it looks like to give you an idea.
Have good lighting, preferably daylight!
An uncluttered background. Nobody wants to see the stuff you’ve left on the table.
Decorative plates and bowls to show off your bake. Have dark and light crockery to see what works best.
Invest in a good camera if possible. This Sony compact camera is ideal for beginners and small enough to pop in your bag.
Backdrops are a good idea when taking photos of your food. A good background contrast is always appealing.
When you have taken your photos, you can edit them on Canva. I do this all the time. You can have it in the size you like. There are options to make them the perfect size for social media, add text etc. With a few clicks, it’s done. I’ve been using Canva for years now, and I don’t know what I’d do without it.
If all else fails, take a Photography course and produce the best pics!
CHOOSE THE PACKAGING FOR YOUR BAKES
Now that you’ve decided on what cakes to make or whatever you baking, you will need to take measurements of your bakes.
Decide on how many in a box you want to sell.
Boxes of 3, 6,9, 12 or more.
Will you do home deliveries or shipping throughout your country?
I started with boxes of 3 and 6 and decided I wanted these posted all over the UK and through people’s letterboxes. You are limited on what can bake with letterbox bakes, but I wanted not too much choice and cheap and easy to post.
I bought most boxes from Priory Direct,, or there are plenty to choose from on Amazon, like these letterbox sized boxes. If you go with letterbox size, make sure the depth is no more than 22mm, as this will not go through the letterbox.
Alternatively, if you are making cupcakes for your local area, then these cupcake boxes are ideal. They are sturdy and keep your cakes upright.
If you are shipping these, then the cupcake box will need to go in a bigger box to pad it out with packaging material. If you’ve ever ordered from Bettys or Marks and Spencers, you’ll notice they are packed really well.
TIP: Your boxes need to look presentable and inviting so take time when choosing your logo stickers etc. If you are struggling with a logo try Fiverr and get someone to do it for you.
Make sure you have at least 100 boxes in stock when you start, if not more because when I first started, I got 2 big orders at once, totalling 250 boxes!! I didn’t expect that, so be well prepared.
DECIDE ON A NAME FOR YOUR BUSINESS
You will want a striking, quirky kind of name for your baking business so give this some thought as it will be with you for a long time. When you set up your Bluehost website you get a free domain ie: bakingforall.com
LABelS FOR CAKE DELIVERIES
Next is labelling for your brand, ingredients and for posting. I know the list doesn’t end, but once you’ve got your templates ready, it will be a lot easier to re-order.
I got my postage labels from TRADE NRG as well as my ingredients labels. They are the best value. Make sure the labels for your boxes and ingredients are waterproof.
You may want to add an extra card in your box just to say thank you and offer 10% off their next purchase.
PRICING
Don’t go cheap! Yes, price them reasonably, but make sure you take in all costs. For example;
The electricity usage. Your oven will be going all day long when you get busy.
The cost of the ingredients.
The packaging, labels and marketing material.
Postage – Always add this on and not included in the price.
At the end of the day, you need to make a profit from each box!
FOOD HYGIENE TRAINING & FOOD PREMISES REGISTRATION
You will need at least a Level 2 in Food Hygiene. It doesn’t cost a lot and doesn’t take long to do. Once you have that, you will need to apply and submit a Food premises registration with your local council. This is free, but make sure you do this as soon as possible, so you can start immediately.
ENSURE YOUR BAKING BUSINESS
Next is insurance for your baking business. You can find some reasonable rates out there, so it’s not too expensive for a home-run business. Check this one out HERE for your PI insurance, plus you get 10% discount when clicking through my link.
REGISTER AS SELF-EMPLOYED OR A LIMITED COMPANY
Register yourself as either a self-employed sole trader, which is the easy root and very simple to do your tax return or go for a limited company that has extra benefits but can be a bit more time-consuming, plus you will need to pay for an accountant to do your tax return.
When you need to set up as a sole trader
You need to set up as a sole trader if any of the following apply:
- you earned more than £1,000 from self-employment between 6 April 2020 and 5 April 2021
- you need to prove you’re self-employed, for example, to claim Tax-Free Childcare
- you want to make voluntary Class 2 National Insurance payments to help you qualify for benefits
How to set up as a sole trader
To set up as a sole trader, you need to tell HMRC that you pay tax through Self Assessment. You’ll need to file a tax return every year.
PRIVATE LIMITED COMPANY
Check here on how to register your company and if a limited company is right for you.
And finally, make sure you have a separate business banking account. It’s a lot easier to deal with, and you don’t want it confused with your own personal finances.
WEBSITE & MARKETING FOR YOUR ONLINE BAKING BUSINESS
OK, you will definitely need a website. I recommend using Bluehost, a hosting site where you get a free WordPress website, free domain and free shop. There are lots of themes (the layout of your web pages) to choose from for your baking business, especially the ones from Restored 316, so make sure you look around before choosing.
When setting up your website, make sure you have a home page, contact page, privacy policy, your business’s terms and conditions, and FAQs (frequently asked questions).
Add as much detail as possible to your site with relevant keywords to help with Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Take this SEO online course to optimize your site the right way from the very start, and you will see your traffic grow. I wish I had known about it from the very beginning.
Whatever website you choose, there are options on them to share on your social media. Make sure you add business pages to Instagram and Facebook.
KEEPING A RECORD OF YOUR FINANCES
You will find it easier to have bookkeeping software such as Quickbooks. I’ve used this for years now, and the only one I recommend as I have tried several! It doesn’t cost a lot, plus you can set up payroll on it too once you get a steady income coming in.
When you set up Quickbooks, go to my other post, 5 Things To Do Before You Start Quickbooks. It will help you out big time.
BAKING EQUIPMENT FOR YOUR ONLINE BUSINESS
You’ve probably got most items in your kitchen, but here are the main things you will need. Make sure you invest in good quality equipment:
Food mixer – Saves on time than mixing by hand.
Baking Trays – At least 5 large ones
Brownie tins – At least 4 if you’re making brownies
Cake Slicer with measurements
Baking Paper with dispenser – Go for 50m as in the suggested link.
Pans – I always go for the Circulon brand. They last for years!
Wire Racks for cooling your bakes – at least 4
Decorations
STOCK MANAGEMENT TIPS
Part of your hygiene rating score is ensuring all stock is on date. So make sure you rotate your stock often. Open packets are to be sealed with a clip. If you store flour in tins, etc., make sure they are all labelled to know exactly what they are.
I usually buy in the normal packs of flour as they are big enough to store in the freezer instead of buying sacks of flour. Flour in the freezer and keeps it fresh until you need to use it. The people that own the flour mill told me this!
Keep a spreadsheet of all the stock you have bought to keep track of everything and where you purchased it from with dates.
CONCLUSION
These are the main things you need to do to set up your online baking business, I hope you found it helpful and wish you all the best in your business. Here’s to tasty cakes and bakes! Check out my other blog Rachel’s Recipe Pantry.