home Accounting How to make delicious cakes to order - a baking master class, starting your business from scratch. Where to start making custom cakes at home

How to make delicious cakes to order - a baking master class, starting your business from scratch. Where to start making custom cakes at home

Almost all people dream of earning money from home and at the same time doing what they really want. Culinary talent makes it possible to bring such an idea to life. Baking cakes at home is a business that can be taken up by almost anyone, be it a housewife who loves to cook or a certified pastry chef who is tired of routine work.

Business relevance

Modern consumers prefer to order food rather than buy it in stores. This trend will only progress over time, which can already be seen from, for example, a large number of weekly food delivery services for 5-7 days. If people order food for every day, then it is obvious that on a special occasion they will also want to buy a unique and delicious cake.

Such a business will be most relevant in central cities: Moscow and St. Petersburg. It is there that a huge number of wealthy and busy people, as well as those who are quite fastidious about food, are concentrated. In the regions, the overwhelming percentage of consumers are looking for more profitable products, so in order to become successful in provincial cities, you must initially set a price lower than that of your competitors.

But in general, the business of producing homemade cakes is relevant everywhere. Every day people get married, celebrate birthdays and simply want to please their loved ones on the occasion of some important event. The question is whether a particular person can satisfy the desires of consumers. That is, to be able not only to cook cakes well, but also to take a creative approach to the process of decorating them.

In the future, after 2-4 years of hard work, you can purchase a franchise or open a physical business under your own brand. To do this, you need to rent a small workshop or premises for a pastry shop, as well as purchase equipment (proofer, oven, mixer, dough mixer) and hire employees.

Advantages and disadvantages of a business idea

At the very beginning, the main disadvantage will be the lack of clients. Selling cakes exclusively to your friends, colleagues and other acquaintances is unprofitable, since such a volume of sales is unlikely to pay for the production. Accordingly, a novice businessman will need to engage not only in manufacturing products, but also in promoting them. The advantage is that you don’t need to be a marketer to properly advertise your product.

If there are not enough buyers, the business will not pay for itself. A large number of clients will require additional investments and a transition to a new level. There is a double-edged sword here: lack of buyers = lack of income, “overabundance” of consumers = large expenses.

The golden mean, in which the number of clients corresponds to the capabilities of the manufacturer, will not last long. When the business takes off, the number of buyers will increase exponentially. And you need to be prepared for this.

Main advantages of business:

There is no need to pay taxes from the very beginning and register yourself as an individual entrepreneur (individual entrepreneur). That is, every person has the opportunity to try himself in this business and understand whether it suits him or not. In the case of opening a physical enterprise, the business must be registered immediately, regardless of the availability of income;
To “enter” a business you do not need large investments. Of course, it all depends on the individual and his resourcefulness. Someone hires a photographer to create a portfolio, an SMM manager to promote on social media. networks and so on. But since all this is essentially optional, the initial costs can be kept to a minimum. Thus, in most cases, investments are required only to pay for courses and purchase products;
Free pricing. The cost is set directly by the manufacturer. If a person makes unique designer cakes, then he does not need to focus on the prices of competitors with regular products. Moreover, the cost of the product in this case is not of great importance, since the main factor in pricing is its design, as well as the effort spent on production. This is especially true for residents of central cities, since this is where a huge trend for original products that differ from others is developing.

This business is optimal for all people who can cook with pleasure and imagination. In principle, you can make classic honey cakes and napoleons, but then you need to immediately understand that you won’t earn a lot of money from such an assortment. It is not necessary to cook exotic food, but it is important to be able to decorate products in an interesting and stylish way.

Main disadvantages and ways to circumvent them

You need to consider a business idea comprehensively, and it is better to focus attention not on the pros, but on the cons. Otherwise, unpleasant nuances that appear during the work will simply unsettle a person. The best option: immediately select ways to resolve controversial and difficult situations.

Minus	What can it lead to?	How to avoid it
Lack of client base and business promotion skills	To unnecessary expenses on an SMM specialist or to a lack of clients	Learn to promote your business through social media. networks (details can be found below in the text)
Delivery (in most cases you need to deliver products yourself)	Damage to cakes due to their transportation on public transport, unnecessary time costs, loss of customers	Buy a cheap car or connect your friend/partner/family member to the business (initially you can only pay for gasoline, with the advent of a stable income you can pay % on top). And, as a last resort, a taxi (the price can be included in the cost of the product or calculated separately)
Significant increase in the number of clients	To the inability to cope with a large volume of work, failure to meet deadlines, loss of clients	Renting premises + purchasing confectionery equipment and/or hiring additional people
Lack of portfolio	To a small influx of clients, the inability to develop good advertising on social media. networks	Instead of hiring a photographer, it is better to photograph the products yourself (the nuances of the process will also be discussed below)
Lack of equipment or the required amount of dishes	Moreover, in the process of making cakes you will constantly have to buy something in addition, and in a hurry	Buy cake stands, special packaging, and, of course, equipment in advance. You need to clearly understand what you can do yourself (for example, knead the dough), and what is better to “entrust” to the device to optimize the cooking process

These are the problems faced by most people running a home-based cake making business. These are the ones you need to think about first.

Organizing a business - main stages

Business, regardless of its focus, requires planning and competent implementation. That is, the entrepreneur must clearly understand what and in what order he needs to do in order for the scheme to start “working” (making a profit). Without this, bringing a business idea to life is simply impossible.

So, to implement the project you will need to go through the following stages:

Stage (name)	Explanation	What should be done
Finalizing the idea	The idea should not just be good, but innovative. Now the market is oversaturated with goods, so in order to become successful it is not enough to do the same as everyone else.	Come up with a highlight that distinguishes a particular project from the rest. This could be a unique design, exclusive ingredients, etc.
Drawing up a menu, calculating consumption for each unit	The basic menu does not have to include many items. Initially, you can make several cakes, while focusing on quality and cost.	Select an initial assortment of cakes, prepare and test them, and modify recipes if necessary. Calculate the total cost of the ingredients required to make each cake.
Marketing plan development/brand creation	Good advertising is the key to a successful business. You need to promote your project more actively than your competitors do.	If we are talking about advertising on social networks, then you need to choose Instagram as the main platform for promotion. Accordingly, it is better to study this platform and create a page specifically for business. It is also recommended to create groups on Vkontakte, Odnoklassniki, and Facebook.
Purchase of equipment, utensils, accessories	It is necessary to understand what tools and devices may be needed during the work process. Basic devices: mixer, electronic kitchen scales, thermometer, blender. Equipment: pastry bag and attachments, baking dishes, sieve.	Study the market and purchase the most suitable, high-quality devices at the best prices. Pastry equipment such as a pastry bag with nozzles can be purchased cheaply in online stores.
Workplace organization	Cakes need to be prepared for clients in highly hygienic conditions.	It is necessary to allocate a separate place in the kitchen; if desired, you can even fence it off. There should be a kitchen stove near the work table. You need to place all the necessary devices and equipment close to you. The manufacturer himself should work only on a clean table and with hair collected, wearing gloves.

You also need to understand that a person without a pastry chef education will need to take courses. And even an experienced master will subsequently have to improve his skills.

Assortment of baked goods

If customers like the cakes, then they will want to purchase other baked goods that are more suitable “for every day.” Therefore, in addition to cakes, you can make cakes, muffins, cupcakes and cheesecakes. In addition, this will provide a significant advantage, because customers will be able to purchase all the necessary baked goods for large celebrations (for example, weddings) in one place. If the seller only produces cakes, then there will be less profit.

Modern cake manufacturers are also recommended to “adapt” to the fashion for healthy eating and gluten-free food by adding several items that meet these criteria to their assortment. This can be low-calorie or dairy- and egg-free baked goods. For example: cakes based on yoghurt or porridge, fruit basket cakes.

Of course, the menu should also include classic items: Sacher, Napoleon, Honey cake, Count's ruins. Exceptions are those cases when the confectionery specializes exclusively in low-calorie cakes. You also need to add your own, unique options to the menu, made according to a “patented” recipe.

Particular attention should be paid to product design. Before starting a business, it is recommended to research artisan cake studios. Such products are very different from classic ones precisely in their appearance. It costs more and is more in demand, making it easier to create a recognizable brand.

How to set up a workspace at home

In order to optimize the speed and quality of your work, as well as make the baking process as comfortable as possible, you need to properly equip the space in the kitchen. The pastry table should be spacious (about a meter and a half ideally), since in addition to products, equipment and equipment, ready-made cakes will be placed on it. Professional models are often equipped with heating, but this is not at all necessary, especially at the very beginning of business development (since they cost 30 thousand and above).

The confectioner who is at the workplace must wear an apron, neckband, cap (or other headdress that completely covers the hair). You need to work in clean clothes; it is advisable to purchase a robe specifically for this purpose.

Near the table there should be a stove and a kitchen stove, respectively. It is also very desirable that there is a sink located nearby. Otherwise, you will have to constantly take time off from work to wash your hands. It is best to hang a magnetic board with knives above the table so that they do not take up additional space. Approximately in the same area you need to place kitchen cabinets, hooks for towels and mittens.

After preparing each cake, you need to wipe off the table and wash the dishes so that the ingredients from which the baked goods are made do not mix with each other. The pastry chef must keep his hands clean, have short nails, or always wear gloves before cooking.

Organization of a mini-confectionery

A large customer base and well-established sales channels will allow the confectioner to open his own establishment. It could be just a workshop or combined with a cafe. The second option is more profitable, since new clients will be able to come to the establishment, which will provide additional stable income. But, at the same time, it is more expensive, since it requires the selection of a sufficiently spacious room in which it will be possible to equip both a mini-workshop and a hall. Also, for a full-fledged confectionery, you need not only production equipment, but also tables, cash registers, display cases, signs, and additional personnel.

For the workshop you will need to purchase:

proofing cabinet (average price - 150 thousand rubles);
industrial oven (from 50 thousand rubles, depending on the functionality and number of baking chambers);
deck oven (from 150 thousand rubles);
refrigerator for storing food and finished baked goods (from 50 thousand rubles, depending on size and characteristics);
dough mixer (from 70 thousand rubles).

Personnel selection and premises rental

To open a workshop combined with a confectionery, you need to rent a spacious room in an area with good traffic. You can choose an area where many educational institutions and companies are located. It is not necessary to rent a space in the city center, since this will be extremely unprofitable for a beginning entrepreneur with a limited budget. Dormitory neighborhoods with new buildings are perfect for a confectionery shop.

Basic conditions for the workshop: high-quality and extensive ventilation system, constant power supply. Industrial equipment will work for many hours, thereby creating a large load on the electrical grid. Energy costs must be calculated in the business plan, even if the production itself is organized at home.

The minimum number of employees required for a workshop combined with a confectionery:

an experienced pastry chef (at first you can hold this position independently);
courier;
cashier.

The pastry chef must have a medical certificate. Also, when hiring a person, it is strongly recommended to look at his portfolio or ask him to make a “test” cake for a special order.

Production technology

The production of designer cakes cannot be fully automated, since at the final stage the baked goods must be decorated with your own hands. A novice entrepreneur who sells products only through his own retail outlets and a small customer base should be especially careful in the finishing of finished products.

There are 3 main stages of production:

making the base (for example, cake layers);
production of finishing elements and fillings;
baking finishing.

At stage 1, the dough is kneaded, placed in special molds and baked. At the same stage, you can add alcohol, syrup, nuts and other semi-finished products to the dough. This is necessary to give a refined taste to the future product, as well as to preserve some of the recipe features.

At the 2nd stage, various designer lotions are produced - confectionery cream, finishing elements. Stage 3 - “assembly” and decoration of the finished product. There are also intermediate stages in production, for example, leveling the cakes and cleaning them from burnt areas. Also, after baking and processing, the cakes are impregnated, and then layered with cream and the bases are glued together. At this intermediate stage, you can add chopped nuts or chocolate sprinkles between the layers of the product.

The final stage is decorating the finished cake. For decoration, plastic pastry cream, meringue, voluminous chocolate figures, jelly, fruit and much more can be used. After decoration, the finished product is placed in designer packaging and then sent to the buyer. The same production technology applies to cakes.

You can store the finished product in the refrigerator from 6 hours to 3 days. The permissible storage time depends on what products the cake consists of and what elements it is decorated with.

The most perishable product is pastry cream, so during its production and storage all temperature and sanitary standards must be observed. When whipping the cream filling, special equipment with cold air is used. Cakes with protein and butter cream must be sold within 24 hours after they are made.

Purchase of raw materials

At the very beginning of your entrepreneurial journey, you can and even need to purchase raw materials from markets and hypermarkets. Because you don’t need a lot of products to make the first “batch” of cakes. You should buy dairy products, butter, honey and nuts at markets. In hypermarkets you can buy sprinkles, chocolate (for further grinding or making glaze) and other products suitable for decoration. You should also get a good liqueur or rum, syrup for soaking cakes. Perishable ingredients must be purchased on the day the specific cake is made.

As the business begins to expand and demand for products increases, it will be possible to buy some items in bulk. Both physical companies and online stores sell confectionery raw materials. The latter are preferable due to the rich assortment and delivery. It will be physically difficult for a person without a personal car to carry 10 kg of liquid flavor or 7 kg of cocoa powder. Of course, the quantity of purchased products must be calculated according to production volumes.

Entrepreneurs specializing in the production of natural and healthy cakes are not recommended to add palm oil, flavorings, or preservatives to their products. All these components reduce the cost of production and extend the life of the product, but they are in no way suitable for making so-called eco-baked goods.

In large online stores you can buy absolutely everything, from mastic to candied fruits. You will have to invest a lot in additional ingredients, but it is still much cheaper to buy products in bulk.

Business registration

It is best for beginning businessmen to register as an individual entrepreneur (individual entrepreneurship). This registration option has a number of advantages, including:

smaller amount of documentation (which will need to be created or filled out, as well as submitted at the end of the reporting periods);
simplified taxation (an individual entrepreneur pays less to the state than, say, the founder of an LLC);
the ability to do all the paperwork yourself.

Accordingly, if a person is going to do his own accounting, then he needs to understand this. It is recommended that you enroll in courses or take online training. Hiring an accountant will cost 15-25 thousand per month for regions and 30-40 thousand for central cities.

The simplified taxation system is 6% of the entrepreneur’s total income excluding his expenses or 15% only of net profit.

In order to register yourself as an individual entrepreneur, you need to register with the pension fund and the FSS (social insurance fund). Well, to fully register a business, you will need to pass all kinds of checks. The premises in which confectionery production is carried out must meet all sanitary and fire safety standards.

A business permit can be obtained from the prefecture. But this is only if all commission checks have passed satisfactorily.

Marketing and sales channels

Cake baking courses

The confectioner will need to constantly improve his skills: master new methods of preparing and decorating cakes, and study advanced production technologies. But at the very beginning of your journey, you should learn the basic skills of baking. If a person does not have a pastry education, then it will be very difficult for him to implement some recipes. The best option is to take courses, the duration of which usually varies from 3 to 8 months. The price of training in the regions is from 15 thousand rubles, in central cities - from 25 thousand rubles.

Costs and return on business

To start home production, an investment of 10-50 thousand rubles is required. On average - 20-25 thousand. This amount includes the purchase of ingredients for making cakes for the portfolio, dishes and small kitchen appliances. In fact, you can even spend 1.5 thousand rubles by simply purchasing products to make 1 cake for sale. But you can’t launch a full-fledged production with that amount of money.

The cost of baking is from 500 rubles to 4 thousand per kilogram. The exact price depends on the composition of the product, the complexity of its preparation and finishing. The most expensive cakes are multi-tiered and wedding cakes.

So, the average monthly profit (taking into account production costs) will be about 20 thousand rubles. It will take about 2-3 months to recoup the investment. Business profitability ranges from 20 to 30%. And here, as in any other business, the final income depends on how much effort, time and money was invested in the work. To keep your home business from being an ordinary hobby, you need to approach it responsibly.

Many women, in search of a home-based business, come to the conclusion that they can prepare various baked goods to order. Most often it turns out that the most profitable business for this is custom cakes. Not a single holiday is complete without the main dessert. And if the cake is made specifically for the event, then the holiday becomes doubly enjoyable. Therefore, today the cake business is not just popular, but very much in demand, especially in large cities.

Starting a business

The advantage of the business is that you can start production at home with virtually no investment. As a rule, every housewife has everything she needs for baking in her kitchen, so making it to order is not difficult. Cake recipes can be found on the Internet to suit every taste and preference. If you doubt your skills, you can take specialized courses or watch training videos on the Internet, of which there are also many.

But when you start baking at home, don’t forget to take good, high-quality photographs of each of your creations. This will help over time to create a catalog with examples of work, which will be very helpful in finding and retaining clients.

Organization of production

As a rule, home production begins without special registrations. Until you have formed your own client base, production has not been put into production, there is no point in registering an enterprise, making all the necessary payments without real income. Subsequently, when your baked goods become popular and regular customers come, it is worth registering an individual entrepreneur.

Then you will have to get yourself a health certificate and undergo a medical examination every six months. You will also need sanitary and hygienic certificates for the premises and equipment with which the baked goods will be prepared.

Over time, you can expand production and rent a small room. Several employees may work there. Also, the floor plan may include a small hall for receiving clients, where they can familiarize themselves with the product catalog and decide on an order. Over time, it is possible to create and expand a network of such collection points or production workshops.

But to open one such workshop you will need about 200 thousand rubles. Therefore, just opening a business, many limit themselves to making orders at home.

Production calculations

If production is planned at home, you will need an investment of no more than 15 thousand rubles. These funds will be needed to purchase products, dyes, decorative elements, mastic, and other consumables. But the cost plan must also include additional expenses for electricity, gas, water, which must be taken into account when calculating the cost of the order. Also, in case of urgent orders, there is an additional surcharge. Be that as it may, the profitability demonstrated by production remains at 25%.

As a rule, baking a complex cake with an abundance of various decorations brings about 500 rubles. income. The price of the product for sale is 1.5-2 thousand rubles. If a multi-level cake is being prepared for a wedding celebration, then its cost may be higher. It all depends on the time and effort spent. You also need to take competition into account. As a rule, when starting a business, the price offered is about 15% lower than that of competitors. It is better to draw up a product purchasing plan in advance and purchase consumables in bulk, taking into account subsequent orders.

It is also worth including printing services in your spending plan. If you deliver your order in a box with a label indicating the ingredients, this will only increase customer loyalty to you. 100 such labels will cost approximately 1.5-3 thousand rubles. To save money, you can print them on your own printer.

An approximate cost plan for the first stage of work will look like this:

products, packaging - 184 thousand rubles;
flyers, business cards - 1 thousand rubles;
stickers, accessories - 3 thousand rubles;
advertising campaigns - 2 thousand rubles.

Search for clients

As a rule, the first clients for such a business are sought among friends, acquaintances and relatives, who then recommend you to others. Having collected a certain catalog of finished products, you can go online with it - create pages on social networks, where you can post examples of work and accept orders. Various thematic forums and free message boards also work well. Usually, after a couple of months of actively searching for clients through the network, you can create some flow of clients. And this without additional investment in advertising.

The advantage of the business is that it is practically not subject to seasonality. The sales plan can be carried out at any time of the year. In the summer these will be weddings, and in other seasons – birthdays, family holidays, corporate events, etc.

When there are too many clients and you cannot keep up with the order plan, it’s time to hire several assistants. You can take them either to help you complete a specific cake, or to complete some orders yourself. Don’t forget that each assistant also needs to obtain a health certificate.

If your production plan includes the production of “serial” products, and not just custom-made cakes, you can sell them to supermarkets. But then you need to be able to accurately calculate production volumes - cakes are a perishable product.

Advertising the sale of cakes

Good advertising is provided by such a marketing step as a cake as a gift on the occasion of some celebration. This move is very effective at the start of a business, when you still have your own client base. When presenting such a cake at any celebration, you should always have business cards with you. If the cake is really tasty, at least a couple of people will be interested in ordering something similar for themselves. And as practice shows, word of mouth in this business gives the maximum effect.

If you have a small start-up capital and are looking for a type of activity to start a business, pay attention to the production of cakes. In this business you can get by with minimal investments, because... there is no need to rent premises and high costs for equipment and materials. You can successfully bake cakes at home. With an average volume of production, the business emphasis should be placed on holiday and gift items to obtain a small but stable income.

On average, such a cake costs about 1,800 rubles. If these are multi-tiered wedding compositions, then they are correspondingly more expensive.

Do not forget that before investing any amounts in production, you must:

consider a standard business plan;
work out a complete list of costs;
study market prices and the needs of the population.

Promotional events for selling cakes

Baking cakes at home as a business must necessarily include successful advertising strategies to attract customers.

Using the Internet. A good and fast way to disseminate information is the World Wide Web, the main communication portal of our time:
- advertisement and service sites;
- social media;
- contextual advertising.
Marketing ploy “cake as a gift”. If your friends are planning an entertainment event, in addition to the immediate gift, bake them a nice birthday cake. This is one of the best methods of self-promotion that includes cake business. As the saying goes: “It’s better to see and try once than to hear a hundred times.” So that guests do not forget to order a delicious cake afterwards, hand out business cards with details to everyone without delay.
Assortment catalogues. High-quality color photographs can be posted for Internet advertising, and printed booklets can be distributed among friends and shown to interested clients.

Do not miss:

Financial plan for cake production

If you have already decided that the destiny of your business is the production of cakes, a business plan typical for this type of activity shows that the percentage of profitability in production is not lower than 25%.

The cost of production of one unit of production ranges from 1000-1100 rubles.

To quickly promote production, you need to make a small markup and keep prices at a lower level (15% lower) than those of competing manufacturers. According to estimates, the first year’s expenses in rubles will be approximately 200 thousand:

products and packaging - 184 thousand;
stickers and accessories - 3 thousand;
business cards and flyers - 1 thousand;
advertising campaigns - 2 thousand.

Do you like to bake beautifully and deliciously? Temporarily unemployed? Do you want to try your hand at starting your own business? A cake baking business is exactly the kind of activity that will bring you pleasure from work and a good income.

The maximum investment for a home business is 40,000 rubles, the payback period for the project is 4-5 months.

Homemade cakes to order are a good business idea

Do you have any doubts?

Let's figure it out:

No celebration is complete without a birthday cake, especially children's parties.
You can organize a pastry shop in your own kitchen without renting premises and equipment.
Baking is a creative process that brings income and aesthetic pleasure.
There are many ways to find clients - the Internet, acquaintances and friends, children's playrooms, wedding salons.
It's easy to start a business.
And it's also easy to close if you lose interest in it.
Quick payback of production, minimal investment for its launch.
Stable consumer demand.
Registration of an individual entrepreneur is not required to start working and receive income.
Freedom of pricing. You set the cost of the product yourself, based on its weight, design complexity, and composition.

Startup benefits

Separately, I want to highlight the main advantages of a startup - modest initial investments, the opportunity to run a business from home, and the unoccupied niche.

More details about each item.

Small investment

If you plan to start working from your own kitchen, you will only need to purchase some baking equipment. To purchase whisks, decoration products, mats for drying mastic decorations, tools for working with mastic, plungers, molds for decorations, baking paper, a turntable and some other “needs” you will spend a maximum of 30,000 rubles.

Possibility to work from home

Having your own kitchen is enough to make masterpieces, test your skills, find buyers, and prepare the first advertising samples of products.

Niche unoccupied

Baking homemade cakes attracts many mothers on maternity leave and those who are temporarily unemployed, but not everyone manages to turn their pastry hobby into a profitable business.

A hobby will bring you money if you approach it with a business mindset

Take your business seriously, create advertising for yourself, channel your creativity in the right direction and success is guaranteed.

What about competition - market analysis

The confectionery market has a number of features that need to be taken into account:

short lead time for product sales. A beginning entrepreneur needs to work to order and actively establish sales channels;
high competition in sales of low-priced products and low competition among expensive cakes and other products. 80% of sales in confectionery stores come from sweets with a price of 180-240 rubles;
a huge selection of Russian raw materials: berries, fruits, nuts.

Your main competitors are large industries and those who, like you, chose home-baked goods to earn money.

Analyze the market in your area of the city, study the experience of competitors, find out where and how they receive orders. Offer interesting recipes, unusual design, and attractive product prices. In order to confidently compete with large confectionery shops and “house makers” like you, you need not only to attract attention, but also to retain it.

At first, you can only count on friends and colleagues. Holiday at your spouse's work? Bring an original delicious cake and orders from his work colleagues are guaranteed.

How to start a cake business - step-by-step instructions

A clear concept is the key to the success of any enterprise. Before you start selling your first product, think over an action plan, decide on the scale of the enterprise, and make a list of equipment and materials to be purchased.

Let's look at each step of starting a business: where to start and what to pay close attention to.

Step 1. Find a room

If you have a private home, have a free room or a spacious kitchen, part of which can be used as a mini-workshop for baking desserts, then you don’t need to look for anything. If the sales volume does not yet exceed one item per day, the issue of rent is irrelevant, at least until your production becomes cramped in this area.

If you are focused on a large volume of products from the start, already have clients and have start-up capital, feel free to look for premises to rent.

Rent a room in a residential area. When choosing, keep in mind that it will serve as both a confectionery shop and a store, so it needs an appropriate layout, interior and location that is convenient for customers.

Step 2. We purchase materials and equipment

Surely baking is your hobby and you already have everything you need for work. But you still have to buy some things. In particular, tools for working with mastic, a set of pans, a syringe, a blender, a mixer and various attachments.

You will also need flour, sugar, coconut flakes, candied fruits, raisins, food coloring. It is better to buy these components in advance and in large quantities to reduce production costs. But it’s better not to buy perishable products - milk, cream, butter - for future use.

Costs for purchasing equipment from scratch:

Equipment	Quantity	Price (rub.)
Food processor	1	10 000
Bakeware	5	6 000
Pastry syringe with nozzles	1	1 000
Kitchen scales, measuring cup	2	1500
Bowls of different sizes	5	3 000
Pots	5	5 000
Dough rolling pin and some boards	4	1500
Set of tools for mastic	1	4 000
Knife set + string knife	1	3 000
Whisk, brushes, small equipment	10	2 000
Baking parchment, circles for drying cakes, etc.		3 000
Total:		40 000

Step 3. Selecting personnel

The need for staff will arise when you develop a customer base and receive more than one order per day. For the first couples, your own hands will be enough.

If you start to expand your horizons, hire a good pastry chef who will substitute if necessary and help you increase production volumes. As the number of orders increases, your confectionery shop will need a courier to deliver sweets to customers.

When hiring a pastry chef, ask to see a medical record, give a paid trial task to make sure of the potential employee’s culinary abilities.

Step 4. Launch a business and look for clients

The success of a business depends on the quality and beauty of the products, but more on how you present yourself.

Ways to find buyers:

Acquaintances, relatives, friends, work colleagues. Make the most of word of mouth. It will provide the majority of customers.
Advertise your services on forums where young mothers communicate.
YouTube. Make a video about your favorite recipes, about how another masterpiece is born in your hands, talk about the composition, the naturalness of the ingredients.
Advertisements on trading platforms. Be sure to include several photos, indicate the price, and contact information.
Advertising bulletin boards on the Internet.

Step 5. Register a business

You will need to register your business once you have built up a good customer base. The most convenient form of activity for you is an individual entrepreneur. You don’t need a lot of documents to complete it.

Income is taxed according to a simplified system, that is, you will have to pay only 6% of total income without deducting expenses or 15% of net profit to the tax service. Having registered as an individual entrepreneur, register with the Social Insurance Fund and the Pension Fund.

OKVED code 10.71.2 - Production of flour confectionery products, cakes and pastries for non-durable storage.

Be prepared for an inspection to visit your rented premises. It must meet sanitary and fire safety standards.

To help a novice entrepreneur, here are some brief recommendations on the main stages of opening your own mini-confectionery shop:

Stage	Explanations	Guide to action
Formation and refinement of the working concept	You need not just a good idea, but an innovative one that has an attractive feature to successfully compete in the market.	Develop an individual, recognizable design, specific ingredients, etc.
Accurate calculation of the menu, analysis of consumables and its optimization	For the basic menu, a large assortment is not needed; it is better when there are few offers, but at the same time they have high quality at low costs.	Decide on a list of cakes to be made and perfect their recipes. Make cost calculations for each individually and all in total, think about how to reduce the cost.
Creating a recognizable brand and developing a marketing plan	Promote your products more actively than competitors, backing it up with high quality service.	Promote products on social networks, attract specialists.
Purchase of tools and equipment for production	Make a list of basic tools and minor accessories that will make work easier, but purchasing them is not a priority.	With this analysis, you will avoid unnecessary expenses at the start.
Organization of workspace and place	In this work, compliance with hygiene standards and comfortable working conditions is extremely important.	Keep your clothes, hands, and workplace clean.

How to advertise your products

Let's look at several effective ways to attract customers.

Through social networks

Post not only photos, but also videos of the cooking process. This will confirm your authorship of the photographs and clearly demonstrate your confectionery skills.

One of the “divorce” schemes: a client leaves an order on your public page. While you are not online, the scammer will answer for you, asking you to pay for the order. He will send false details to the client and, having received the money, will disappear.

Using flyers or business cards

Even if you work alone in your own kitchen, you need business cards. Give them to your customers with every order. This way you will increase your client audience.

Flyers are another effective printed form of advertising. Post them up and distribute them to your friends. Take some to the nearest supermarket, to the locker counter, to where purchases are put away, and to other places you frequent.

Advertising is the engine of trade, and it also works with cakes

Through advertisements in newspapers

Place advertisements in the best-selling classified newspapers, as well as in free printed publications handed out on the streets. Advertising in them is not expensive, but it brings in more buyers.

Using your own website

Having your own website is one of the best methods of promoting your services. Post photographs, videos, descriptions of new recipes, and your thoughts on the topic of cooking and confectionery.

If you yourself do not understand how to create and promote a website, ask your friends for help or take simple training. There is plenty of information on this topic on the Internet.

Useful video from a webinar about selling cakes on how to take photos of products, how to make a portfolio, how to attract a buyer:

Useful tips for those who want to make homemade cakes to order

I will give some useful tips from those who have achieved success in this field.

The presentation of even the most delicious and spectacular dessert is spoiled by the simple cardboard or plastic box in which it is packaged. Choose interesting packaging options for your sweets.

Order a package that indicates the date of manufacture, the composition of the treat, and your contact phone number. Box design is an original way to stand out among competitors, as well as convey necessary and important information to the buyer.

The most important mistake of novice confectioners working at home is overestimating their strengths. This especially applies to mothers on maternity leave who have chosen this business as a part-time job.

Even if you are determined to turn your hobby into a profitable business and are ready to work hard alone, still find yourself an assistant who will replace you if necessary and help you quickly and efficiently fulfill orders when their number increases.

Don't limit yourself to baking birthday cakes with fondant decorations. Offer your customers cakes, cupcakes, muffins, macaroons, cheesecakes, rolls, pies, and small cakes. Focus on low-calorie and dietary recipes.

The wider your range, the larger audience you will be interested in. Make an advertisement for all types of confectionery products that you do well. Post the photo on your website or social media accounts, sign the name, composition of the products and indicate the cost.

Planning in business is the first step to success. The clearer you are about your goals, the sooner you will achieve success. A business plan is insurance against unnecessary expenses and annoying mistakes. When drawing up a plan, describe each stage of production, starting from choosing baking recipes and ending with delivery of the finished order to the client.

Planning also reflects the financial part of the work: the costs of purchasing materials and necessary equipment, advertising, packaging and expected profit.

Create a production schedule. By consulting it, you will evaluate the correctness and effectiveness of your actions.

Set clear goals for yourself, for example, earn 15,000 rubles in the first month or sell 5-6 cakes a week, and systematically move towards your goal.

Video about how a confectionery hobby grew into a profitable business:

It's no secret that the most important decoration of any celebration is a delicious, fragrant, very beautiful, unusually decorated cake. It always delights guests and adds a special atmosphere to any celebration. Lately, people have not been turning to bakeries to order baked goods. They are trying to directly contact some pastry chef who can prepare sweets for the celebration at home. After all, a cake prepared at home always turns out more delicious and beautiful. Anyone with a desire and culinary knowledge can start such a business. In this article we will tell you in detail where to start making cakes at home so that it brings high income. Let us immediately note that only purposeful, attentive and creative people who know how and love to cook sweets can achieve great success in the business of making cakes at home.

Features of the cake manufacturing business

Getting started making custom cakes at home is very easy. At the initial stages, those wishing to build a “sweet business” will not even need to register their business activities. It will be possible to deal with the issue of registering a private enterprise for the production of custom cakes only when an extensive customer base has been formed. You can register an emergency for making cakes at home with the tax office. But in the first stages of developing your business, we recommend that you first pay attention to other issues, namely:

Take culinary courses specializing in “Confectionery Art”, attend several master classes from famous chefs who devoted most of their lives to making cakes with their own hands. They will not only show you different techniques for making cakes and creams, but will also instruct you. Even while you're at it and become a sought-after home-based cake maker, don't stop learning as the art of pastry is evolving rapidly. To do this, it is not necessary to spend money on purchasing books and culinary magazines, although this is welcome; you can find many different instructive and informative videos of cake production on the Internet;
Create a portfolio of your pastry work so potential clients can see how you can prepare and decorate a birthday cake. It is advisable to have many photographs of different options for sweets for a children's party, wedding, birthday, anniversary, and so on. The absence of this material will alarm potential clients and cause them to doubt that you are a qualified and experienced craftsman in making custom cakes;
Be sure to create several work pages for yourself on different social networks that will advertise your work to a huge number of Internet users. In addition, it is recommended to order a working bright personal website on which you can publish relevant information for your clients;
Another very important point where you need to start making cakes is to study the market. The fact is that baking production has become the most popular over the past few years. There may be several pastry chefs in your city who offer their services to people. It is advisable for you to study what their cakes taste like, what they look like, and how much they cost in order to create a competitive advantage for yourself.

What could it be:

Lower prices for sweets (by approximately 15%);
Unique designer cake decoration;
An interesting system of discounts and promotions for regular customers and people who place a large order at once.

Establish contacts with employees of agencies organizing celebrations. These people already have an established client base. Offer them interesting terms for cooperation so that they recommend you to their clients as a good home-made cake maker.

Confectionery production scheme

Transform your kitchen into a “kingdom of sweets.” You need to approach this issue with love - buy the necessary equipment for making cakes, various decorations and other original nuances that will charm people who come to you with an order for the first time. The kitchen should smell of fresh baked goods and the aromas of delicious coffee and tea. This room should be “saturated” with confectionery art and your soul.

These are all the basic recommendations that it is advisable to consider before starting making custom cakes at home as a business. Please note that it will take about 2-3 months for clients to appear. At first there may be only 3-4 of them per month, but in the future, when they leave reviews about your work, the number of customers will increase several times, and your income will accordingly increase significantly.

Advantages and disadvantages

Cake making as a business has many advantages:

There is no need to make large financial investments, especially for those women who always have all the ingredients needed for baking in their home. If any money is needed, it will only be for kitchen equipment for making cakes at home, food and utilities;
You can work without leaving home. This is an excellent option for young mothers who are forced to be on maternity leave to care for a child, and other people who, for various reasons, cannot officially work full time away from home;
You can develop and constantly study new technologies for producing cakes, without interrupting your work and household chores. The fact is that in the modern confectionery market there are still many free niches, there are few high-level professionals who can compete, so you can, without fear, offer your confectionery products and put a good price on them;
For a long time, making cakes at home for beginners can be done illegally (without registering your activities in the state register of private enterprises);
A wide field of opportunities opens up for the master pastry chef to show his full creative potential. At first, you can devote all your attention only to making children's cakes in order to develop your own author's style on them, and this is very highly valued today.

As for the disadvantages of this one, it must be admitted that it has practically none. Small nuances that can cause difficulties in the process of business development include only:

Low level of income at first;
The need to keep the kitchen perfectly clean all the time, which will take a lot of time. Remember that you are cooking for people who should not accidentally find something inedible or life-threatening in your cakes.

Equipment

As a rule, women who want to bake custom cakes already have everything they need for work at home. If you have just fallen in love with the art of confectionery and decided to start producing cakes at home, then you need to purchase dishes and some equipment (not necessarily professional - you can buy expensive high-level equipment only when you become a successful entrepreneur). What exactly you may need:

A food processor for kneading dough and whipping cream (it would be nice if this device came with as many attachments as possible);
Confectionery molds for baking of different diameters and shapes;
Trays for baking dough in the oven;
A pastry syringe or bag with all kinds of attachments for creating beautiful patterns;
Culinary scales and glass with measurements;
Various bowls and pans (deep, wide);
Wooden utensils for cutting dough (rolling pins and boards);
Necessary tools for making mastic for cakes at home (we are talking about a silicone mat, stacks, irons);
All kinds of knives for cutting cakes;
Small equipment (beaters, brushes, spatulas, sieve).

Financial investments

If you are going to bake at home, then you don’t even need to draw up a business plan for making cakes. For starting capital you will need a maximum of 15,000 rubles. What will these funds be used for:

To purchase products (as a rule, this happens after receiving the order, so that you know how much and what you may need in the process of making the cake);
For the purchase of consumables (you need to immediately purchase everything you need for several orders in advance, so as not to waste time on this every time a client appears);
On the packaging material (this should be a plastic or cardboard box with a sticker containing a list of ingredients that were used in the process of making the cake);
To pay for utilities.

But to make it easier for you to navigate the first stages of developing your entrepreneurial activity, you can use our business plan for cake production:

It will cost approximately 185,000 rubles per month for food and packaging materials (taking into account that every day you will bake a cake, the cost of which is 600 rubles, and package it for 60 rubles);
For business cards and various flyers with promotions that need to be ordered from a printing house for advertising - 1000 rubles;
Accessories and decorations for cakes (stands, decorative elements) – 3000 rubles;
Other miscellaneous expenses - 2000 rubles (this is money that may be needed for sudden needs to complete a special order).

Profit

Your profit will directly depend on the number of orders. Using an example, we will tell you how much you can earn by selling one “Honey cake” with mastic, the weight of which is 2.5 kg:

To purchase products for sponge cakes you will need:

5 eggs – 45 rubles;
3 tablespoons of honey – 50 rubles;
2 teaspoons of soda – 4 rubles;
One and a half glasses of sugar – 26 rubles;
5 glasses of flour – 40 rubles.

That is, you need to spend 225 rubles for this entire list of ingredients.

To purchase products for sour cream for soaking the cakes, you will need to buy:

2 glasses of sour cream – 95 rubles;
2 glasses of sugar – 35 rubles.

Sour cream will cost 130 rubles.

To purchase ingredients for butter cream you need:

200 g butter – 60 rubles;
1 glass of sugar – 15 rubles;
150 g of condensed milk – 45 rubles.

It will cost you 120 rubles for butter cream.

To prepare mastic you need:

Packaging of chewing marshmallows – 80 rubles;
300 g of powdered sugar – 120 rubles;
50 g butter – 20 rubles.

It will cost you only 220 rubles for mastic.

Thus, the cost of the Medovik cake will be 700 rubles. To this amount it would be correct to add another 100 rubles for all utilities spent. Total, it turns out - 800 rubles. You can sell such a cake for 1600–2000 rubles. That is, earnings from one cake will be 800–1200 rubles. Imagine making 5 of these culinary masterpieces a week. Your net income for 7 days can be 4,000–6,000 rubles, and per month – 16,000–20,000 rubles.

Options for selling finished products

Your potential buyers will be absolutely all categories of people. If you bake cakes at home illegally, then you can sell your sweets via the Internet through your personal website and social networks.

When you reach a higher level of work, that is, you register an enterprise, you will be able to enter into agreements with stores and holiday agencies to sell your confectionery products in this way.

Video on the topic Video on the topic

Product advertising

Having decided for yourself that making cakes is the best way, you need to pay attention to the issue of self-promotion. Of course, as established confectioners say, word of mouth works best. But it makes no sense to count on him at the very beginning of building a business; you will have to do the following so that people know about you and your skills:

Place advertisements in the newspaper;
Actively promote your services on social networks (you can create a thematic community and give away a free cake in it once a month);
Print beautiful business cards in a printing house every 3-4 months;
Contact the management of special sites so that information about you can also be posted on them (this is a paid service, of course);
Regularly update your portfolio with photographs of your confectionery products on your personal website and pages on social networks.

Summarize. Since we live in a crisis and difficult time, everyone is worried about the question: “?” One of the best options is to bake cakes at home. You already know how to organize such a business, and in conclusion we would like to give you some useful tips on how to create a competitive advantage for yourself:

Make exclusive cakes so that they are not similar to those prepared by your colleagues. Customers appreciate inventive and creative confectioners who do not repeat decorations created by someone else, but strive to create a unique design for sweet pastries;
Strive to make your cake not so much beautiful as tasty. If at least once you sell a “defect” to the customer, then your entire career can end at one moment. Be sure to try to fulfill all the client’s wishes so that he will contact you more than once and respond positively to your work;