How to Build a Dessert Business from Your Kitchen

Thinking of starting your very own dessert business? Dessert lovers always get excited to try a new dessert, even if it’s not from their favorite bakery. This opens the door to building a dessert business from your kitchen. Yes, if you have been dreaming of starting a bakery, desserts can be a good start. What are the foundations you need? Let’s find out! 

Build a Dessert Business: The Checklist

For motivation to start your bakery business, do note that the home-based dessert business industry is booming, with the global bakery market expected to reach $590 billion by the end of 2025. 

However, opening a bakery requires more than just delicious recipes. From knowledge and planning to execution, everything should be balanced. Of course, you want to build and maintain a successful home bakery business, right? 

Below is the checklist you should follow. 

Follow the Cottage Food Law

Can I bake at home and sell them?

This should be the first question in your mind right now. Before starting a home bakery, you should understand and follow your state’s cottage food laws. Remember, this is a business you’re going to start. And the last thing you want is to get penalized for not following the rules. 

Know Your Baking Skills

Next, before you start selling, you should know where you’re good at. Will your skills help in starting a pastry shop, a cake shop, or a complete dessert paradise? 

You can start by selling your desserts to friends or family members. Then, get their reviews to see which dessert they like best from you.

Create a Brand Identity

A small dessert business can be a big bakery brand if you are consistent. Whether you’re selling your desserts in coffee shops, convenience stores, craft shows, or delivering them directly to consumers, you will need to create a brand identity. Why? 

Having a unique brand identity can increase your products’ perceived value and expand your business’s reach. 

To make your bakery business unique and easy to remember, pay attention to everything from your style to the wrappers and custom packaging boxes you use to present your desserts. Ensure your logo is visible to make it easier for customers to make repeat purchases.  

Extend Your Dessert Menu

Throughout the time, you will need to improve your baking skills to fulfill consumers’ demands.  

Perform the market research to answer the main question: What is the most profitable dessert to sell?

Speaking of the most profitable desserts, there are many options, including custom cakes, cheesecakes, and pastries. These desserts are high in demand, and you can sell them at higher price points. 

Learn the 4 Day Cake Rule

With custom cakes among the most profitable desserts on the market, it’s essential to sharpen your cake-baking skills and deliver them as delightfully as they are. So, let’s learn the 4-day cake rule!

What Is the 4 Day Cake Rule?

If you’re getting a big order for events or catering, the thumb rule is not to bake your cakes a day before, as it will be a huge disaster. Instead, do the steps below. 

First Day 

• Bake your cakes
• Cover all the cake boards in fondant.
• Make your cakes moist and soft with sugar syrups.
• Create your fondant decorations, such as flowers or figurines, etc.

Second Day

• Start layering your cakes.
• Cover every single cake in fondant and leave it overnight.
• Finish up your fondant decorations. 

Third Day

• Stack and decorate your cakes.

Fourth Day

• Deliver your cakes.

Overall, by following the timetable, you won’t feel flustered about your cake order. In fact, the 4-day cake rule is one of the best bakery ideas to help you expand your business. 

Monitor Your Spending

The most essential thing to level up your dessert business is to learn your business as it grows, including monitoring your business spending. Track how much your ingredients cost, how much the packaging costs, how much your labor is worth, and other costs for daily operations. 

Ensure your pricing is competitive with other similar bakeries in the market. Most importantly, make sure you can make a profit at that price, without compromising the quality of your items. 

Why Do Small Bakeries Fail?

According to research, about 60% of bakeries close within their first three years. However, this figure should not discourage you at all. Instead, you should know the reasons that make those bakeries fail. 

What are the factors that make many small bakeries fail?

Most small bakeries fail due to a combination of factors, including poor financial management, ineffective business operations, and a lack of strategic planning. 

The key issues are said to be:

• Underestimating costs.
• Poor pricing.
• Poor cash flow management.
• Inadequate marketing.
• Failure to differentiate their products from competitors.
• Neglect of quality control. 

If you don’t want to be among the 60% of failed bakeries, ensure you monitor every aspect of your business and make the necessary improvements. 

Summing Up

No doubt, desserts can be a good start if you have been dreaming of starting a bakery business. The checklists you need to build a dessert business from your kitchen include following the cottage food law, knowing your baking skills, creating your brand, extending your dessert menu, learning the 4-day cake rule, and monitoring your spending. 

So, are you ready to build your very own dessert empire?