How to Get Started with a Home Bakery Side Hustle

Photo by Nadya Spetnitskaya on Unsplash

Whether you discovered your passion for baking during lockdown or you’ve always loved experimenting in the kitchen with sweet treats, starting a home bakery is a fun and accessible side hustle that you can start from the comfort of your own kitchen.

If you’ve got all the skills and the passion, but you’re not sure how to translate this into a money-making side hustle, then this post is for you.

Here’s five essential steps to get started with a home bakery side hustle.

Get the Right Equipment

Starting a home bakery is not only a good way to turn your love of bread, pastries and cakes into a source of income but also gives you a great excuse to buy new cookware!

Think about the kinds of baked goods you’re going to be selling to all those hungry customers, and start sourcing the equipment that will help you make them to the best of your abilities.

You’ll want to think about refreshing your muffin pans, baking trays, and cooking utensils, as well as packaging materials you’ll use for your goods (for example our charming Betty Winters Cupcake Boxes).

Depending on how much you’re planning to grow your home bakery, you may also want to think about small and large appliances that could help you improve your baking skills, like our Russell Hobbs Hand Mixers, scales, and even ovens.

Equip your kitchen for success, and you’ll have no trouble adapting to the influx of customers wanting to try your tasty baked goods.

Creating a Bakery Brand

The fact that starting a food business from home is one of the most accessible ways to launch a side hustle is a bit of a double-edged sword.

On one hand, starting your own home bakery allows you to make use of your existing kitchen space, without the need for additional rented space. It also provides greater flexibility to work on the side while maintaining other commitments like a full-time job or a family.

There are a few important points to consider before you get started:

• Compliance with local regulations and licensing requirements.
• Ensuring proper food handling and safety practices.
• Product liability insurance as this will protect you in case someone falls ill due to consuming your baked goods.

It’s essential to find a niche that sets you apart from the crowd and has a demand in your local area.

Whether it’s desserts for special diets, uniquely-shaped cakes, nostalgic baked goods or recipes from a particular country, we recommend focusing on just one speciality with a view to gradually expanding.

Finding Customers

Photo by Brooke Lark on Unsplash

Another great thing about starting a home bakery is that it lends itself to building an online presence through affordable, organic channels.

Great-looking food gets huge amounts of interaction on social media, and there are many web building tools out there with features specifically for food delivery businesses.

Some of the key things to think about when you’re promoting your side hustle on social media:

Getting active on social media: At the very least, every home bakery should have an Instagram page. This is the natural home of mouth-watering photos of cupcakes, cookies, doughnuts, and anything else that can convince you you’re due for a cheat day. Aside from this, it’s a good idea to get active on Facebook, Pinterest and TikTok to make yourself visible in your local community and drum up business from your nearby customers.

Take great pictures and videos: People tend to eat with their eyes, especially when they’re mulling over buying from a small bakery that they’ve never purchased from before. Having high-quality imagery of your baked goods can be a great way to grab people’s attention and convince them of the quality they can expect from your brand.

Get inspired by other bakers on social media: Social media is brimming with independent bakers whose followers hang on their every post. Studying these accounts can teach you some helpful conventions when it comes to the kind of posts that get the most engagement and how to interact with your audience. Just casting a wide net with a hashtag like #sweettreats or #baking will show you countless great accounts to help you get inspired.

Getting Paid

It's important to communicate to customers how you will be accepting payments for your baked goods. You can do this when you take specific orders but you can also let customers know in advance by sharing pricing and payment information via social media.

For large or bespoke orders we recommend asking for upfront payment. Customers can pay a deposit to secure their order, which could be 50% when placing the order and 50% on delivery. Opening up a free business account is a simple way to start accepting payments from your customers in a reliable, efficient and secure way.

Think About Delivery

Finally, you’ll need to come up with a plan for how you’re going to deliver your food to your customers.

When you’re first starting out, you may want to handle your deliveries yourself. This will not only help you save money, but will also be a great opportunity to build rapport with your local customers as they get familiar with you through face-to-face interactions.

Though working through these platforms will present additional costs, they can also expose you to a much wider customer base than the customers who come directly to you through your website or social media profiles.

Find Your Packaging

Finally, it’s important to think about the packaging you’re going to use for your home bakery side hustle. Your packaging will be a crucial part of your brand identity and the experience your customers have when they order from you.

Some key things to think about when it comes to your packaging include:

• Food-safe and high-quality materials that ensure freshness and protect your bakes from damage while they’re being delivered.
• Clear labelling, letting your customers know what the product is, its ingredients, any allergen warnings, and storage instructions.
• Distinctive branding with your logo, colour scheme and branding information. If you can’t invest in custom packaging when you’re first starting out, then custom stickers can be an affordable way to make your deliveries stand out.
• Add a personal touch, like a hand-written thank you note or a free sample of a new product. These things can delight your customers and set your brand apart from larger competitors in a hugely positive way.

Ready, Set, Bake!

Building a home bakery may not be the most demanding way to start a side hustle, but going in with a businesslike mindset will maximise your chances of turning your passion into a profitable venture.

We hope you find these pointers helpful as you turn your bakery idea into a reality and carve out your place in your local market.

B&M Top Tip: Looking for great baking tips to get you started on your cake-making adventure? Check out our Baking Tips for Beginners Blog

Are you thinking about starting up your own bakery business? We'd love to see which B&M products you've bought to help you on your way! Share your buys with the B&M Community on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram.

This blog was written exclusively for B&M Lifestyle by interior design specialist, Kelly Edwards.