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In this article I am sharing my foray into home baking as a business: what worked, what didn’t, what the fun parts were as well as the challenges. I hope you will enjoy this and find it useful.
Just an additional FYI for those interested: most of the photos in this article were taken using a professional Nikon DSRL, plus relevant lens and tripod. However, a few were taken with an iPhone 11 Pro. The ones taken with the iPhone are marked as such. This just to show you that, although an iPhone camera will never compare, with a few simple techniques, you can still get pretty acceptable images.
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HOW IT STARTED
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It was 3:00 am and I was in the kitchen dipping Cantucci in white chocolate. I had woken up suddenly with an anxiety attack, and there was no way I could go back to the vulnerable place that the bed can be when we are in that state. I thought I might as well catch up with some work, as I was running a little behind anyway.
My roommate, Sally, heard me and came downstairs. After listening to my wild fears and helping me calm down, she stayed and helped me however she could. By 5:30 am we were done and definitely ready for some sleep.
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Baking can be soothing and grounding as it requires full focus, while both head and hands are busy. That is why I had returned to baking on a regular basis about a year before: I found it relaxing and calming at the end of a busy day. I was baking maybe two, three times a week, sharing treats with friends and neighbors, and photos with family and friends across the oceans.
In January 2023 I even felt strangely yet irresistibly drawn to take an on-line baking class for a while. There is always something to learn, and the class helped me fine tune my overall baking experience, especially with cookies.
I say strangely because, having already burned out after eight years as a chef-restaurateur in my “previous life” in Italy, I knew very well what any food related business entailed. Consequently, I had no intention of opening another, no matter how appealing and tempting the dreamy images on social media of cute bake shops and tea rooms might be.
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One day in June (also 2023), after I shared my ‘nth photo of whatever I had baked that day, my aunt Carla sent me a WhatsApp message saying: “You are so talented! Why don’t you sell what you make?”. A few days later my Mum said the same thing while FaceTiming. Another message came from a friend along the same lines: “Just do it on your terms, when you like and what you like, just for fun. See what happens.”
So one day I did it. I had just perfected my recipe for Lemon Cream Crinkle Cookies, and I decided to bake a double batch and offer some for sale on the local NextDoor. I prepared the post, and as I pressed “publish” I felt both scared and exhilarated.
They were gone in two hours! Had I made more, those would have been gone, too. I was flabbergasted. I also felt energized and inspired.
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Over the following weeks, I baked a few more times, creating new recipes, perfecting others (both cakes and cookies), and offered my bakes for sale again. Sometimes they would disappear instantly, sometimes they would barely sell. Even though I was not really serious about turning this into a business, I observed this process and learned the promotional aspect of something like this.
I also discovered that I live in an expanded neighborhood that loves lemon anything more than chocolate!
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In my restaurant years, Internet was not what it is now and social media did not even exist. Today, not only is social media one of the main communication methods, but people are actually jaded by the intensity of it all. Then there is that awful beast called algorithm. It is quite a job to manage to post just the right thing, in the right way, at the right time to make the algorithm happy. Then, once you have it figured out: it changes again.
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In September, some friends asked me if I would bake them an assortment of my cookies as dessert for a party they were hosting at their home. Of course I said yes, and got to work, first planning then baking.
I created several trays with eight types of cookies, each very different from the other so they would have a variety of flavors and textures to enjoy. Everyone raved, and even took some home (yes, I had over baked, just in case). I posted images on social media and the response was incredible.
From there, it all took on a life of its own, and I was on a roll.
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All the recipes I had created and perfected over the spring and summer, and even the baking class I had no clue why I had been so attracted to, turned out to be extremely useful. I bake only what I like and, as you can see from the images, I bake mostly (real) Italian cookies and cakes, with some German recipes thrown in from my years living in Düsseldorf. I also like using herbs in my baking and combining unusual flavors.
I bake the way I eat: as fresh and organic as possible. Also, I don’t know how to do things half-assed: I either do something well all the way, or I don’t do it. I could not bring myself to cut corners just because someone else would be eating what I baked. Actually, especially because someone else would be eating them.
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HOW IT PROGRESSED
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My bakes were different and people loved them. They also appreciated the fresh, clean and organic part a lot. Over the next few months, and especially as we got close to the various Holidays, I found myself incredibly busy, working long hours pretty much every day in a one-woman show. I did the shopping, the baking, the cleaning up, the packaging, the photography, the promoting. I handled client orders, communications, and was present when they came to pick them up. I even delivered a couple of times to clients who had become friends.
Indeed, everyone I met was incredibly friendly, kind and appreciative. I never had a no-show or mishap of any kind. In fact, some people even left me tips – something I was not used to. I discovered what a supportive and friendly neighborhood I live in.
In the little free time I had, I even started looking into what would be required were I to decide to turn this into a full fledged home business. In spite of the old burn-out, I actually considered this.
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I scoured the web to see what other home bakers around California and the rest of the country were doing, what their suggestions were. I even joined a couple of forums. This is when I discovered how many were cutting corners to reduce costs: horrible things like “shelf-stable buttercream” and “boxed cake mixes” were mentioned.
I understood where they were coming from: unless you are a super famous baker like Amaury Guichon or Cedric Golet, or a bakery like Paris’ Ladurée, there is only so much you can charge for your bakes, even if they are special. To stay in business, you need to make a profit. Nonetheless, these exchanges made me shudder, and I resolved to be very cautious about purchasing anything from a home baker unless I knew their work ethics.
To be honest, I am cautious about purchasing any ready made foods unless I am sure of the source. Especially since learning about all the additives and chemicals larger bakeries use to make their breads and other baked goods behave in a certain way. Ugh!
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In my research, I also noticed how, the better known home bakers, had resorted to sidelines like teaching workshops and selling bakery packaging products: a side business that seemed to be more remunerative and less exhausting. This told me that the money they were making from baking was not enough.
I quickly realized that there was no way I could implement all that was required by an official business and keep the work momentum going as well. I needed the money, so I kept working and decided to postpone the rest. This turned out to be a wise decision.
There is great satisfaction in the creative work that baking is and in the appreciation that results from it. By Christmas Day, I was exhilarated, yet I was also exhausted in ways I can hardly describe. My body ached everywhere and had been for weeks, with hardly any relief. The old restaurant burn-out I had successfully stayed away from for so long had finally caught up with me.
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THE WIND DOWN
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By New Year’s Eve I realized I could not continue as I had. I had been keeping track of everything meticulously and, after all the costs were deducted and the hours of work calculated, I was not even making minimum wage. This despite all the sales I had made.
If I were to turn this into an official business, with all the extra steps and costs that would require, the whole thing would become untenable.
Over the months I had befriended another local baker. Before setting herself up as a home baker, she had worked in several bakeries in the San Francisco Bay Area and Napa Valley, including the renowned Bouchon Bakery in Yountville.
One day as we were talking “shop” and she was sharing some of her stories, I asked her: “How do bakeries stay open and make money?”
She answered: “They don’t. So many of them close.”
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Though it had become clear that home baking could not be a valid long-term business that would actually generate a decent income, I soldiered on for a few more months, mostly because I knew I would miss my clients.
January 2024 was slow, understandably so. People were still “stuffed” from all the treats enjoyed between Thanksgiving and New Year’s. Things picked up a bit in February with Super Bowl weekend, Valentine’s etc., then slowed down again. Up a bit for Easter and Mother’s Day, than slow again. It was certainly nothing like the intensity of October-December of the previous year.
Around this time is when I also came to fully understand just how many home bakers can be found in El Dorado County: hundreds! I know this trend sparked during the covid time, when baking and home renovations became the big activities for many people stuck at home.
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In the meantime, my Dad had started having more serious health issues, spending weeks at a time in hospital or re-hab. I was trying to figure out how to get myself to Italy to be with family for a while.
Home baking is not the kind of business you can do remotely. You have to be on site. It was time to let go. I posted a regretful farewell on social media, and when my last order was picked up, I flew to Italy and knew that would be that.
A lot more happened in 2024 but those are other stories that do not belong in this one.
I am writing all of this to share my experiences with home baking just in case any of you are considering this as a business possibility. My intent is not to remove the stars from anyone’s eyes, just share the realities of it, both the fun and the challenging.
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The plusses and minuses of a home baking business are pretty obvious.
Plusses are:
working from home, so no commuting; it is creative and satisfying work; it can be a sideline to a main job or other business.
The minuses are:
if done right, it is exhausting work; there are a lot of details to manage and requires wearing more than one hat (like most businesses); it is not sufficiently remunerative.
As I wrote all of this out, I realized that there is more I would like to share that I know I would have found helpful when I started out, so I am thinking you might find it helpful, too. Yet this post is long enough already, so I am planning a second one in which I will go into more logistical details, as well as provide all the practical tips and resources I can think of.
If you have any questions, please leave them in the comments below. I may not respond to them individually, but I will use them as guidelines for the next post, so you will find the answers there.
And now one question for you: does your country, region or county allow what is known as “Cottage Food License” here in the United States? That would be a permit for a home baking business. I know several countries do, but I am not sure about how many, and to what degree. It would be interesting to share. Thank you.
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