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It seems like almost everyone has some sort of side hustle going on these days. But for full-time moms, finding a minute to do something extra can be really tough – especially if you aren’t passionate about it.
However, since cooking is one of the things that stay at home moms (or dads!) tend to do, why not channel some of your creative energy into a baking side hustle? The oven is already on and with your favorite recipes to hand, it won’t be hard to throw in some cake batter and cook up something divine. Even if you only bake one thing a week, you could see a great return on your business and develop it into a career if you want to!
Start with the Serious Side of Business
While baking is fun, there is also a serious side to the business that you will need to consider before you go any further. This means making sure that you have a good business plan that will work in the long and short terms and that you have any required qualifications, like a food handler card, which show you are cooking safely.
If you are going for a side hustle, your business plan might be quite a simple. It would include the basics like how long it takes you to make each recipe, how much it costs in ingredients and electricity and therefore how much you will charge per bake. However, if you are thinking of this as a career move, you may wish to scale up the operation and add in other costs like building a website and managing your own content marketing.
The more seriously you plan your business, the more likely it is that you will make a good profit for your efforts. Anyone can bake a cake for a friend and get reimbursed; you are looking for a way to make a real profit that could truly benefit you and your family. Mastering the financial elements is crucial to your success so working all the math problems through now will save you a lot of hassle in the future.
Figure Out Your Recipes and Costs
It is all too easy to get excited at this point! All those different things you could make – a menu the size of your arm!
The key thing here is to think about your recipes in terms of cost of ingredients and ease. Yes, you could offer a 4 tier cake with 4 types of batter, 4 types of frosting and sugar flowers to go on top, but you need to be realistic with the amount of time it will take you and the volume of ingredients you will need to buy. Starting simple and building up is a much more sensible progression to make!
Start with a few different basic recipes and work out how much it costs you to make each one. Then add up the amount of time it takes and think about what your time is worth. You aren’t competing with big stores, here, so your prices will be more expensive. This is because you are an artisan baker, putting real love into your special creations. Being expensive isn’t necessarily a bad thing, and it will certainly attract a different clientele than the big stores.
Start Advertising!
Now that you have your business plan and you are familiar with the recipes you want to bake and offer, you should think about advertising your business. This is a vital part of any business and is essentially about making people aware of your services. However, there are a number of different routes you can go down, depending on whether you are going for side hustle or full-scale operation.
Using a website and content marketing through social media is a good way to get the word out. Instagram is a natural place for bakers as you can show off your style and creativity with pictures and videos. Just remind people to click through to your site and they will hopefully follow you and remember your amazing cakes next time they need to throw a party.
Word of mouth is also a great way to start off any side hustle. Tell all your friends that you are setting up a baking business and can provide all kinds of baked goods for their parties or special occasions. They are bound to take you up on a cake or two, especially if they have had the privilege of eating your best cooking before. They can tell their friends where they go the cake and voila – you have started your advertising journey.
4/22/18 Recently, my grandfather found out he has skin cancer. We are hoping this week he gets all his clearances and they are able to coordinate to schedule the surgery.
Krystle Cook – the creator of Home Jobs by MOM – put her psychology degree on a shelf and dived into a pile of diapers and dishes instead. She is a wife and mother to two rambunctious boys, sweating it out in her Texas hometown. She loves cooking, DIY home projects, and family fun activities.
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