Herbs & Spices were on my shopping list yesterday. I don’t usually  get overly excited about shopping, but when it means a trip to my favorite place to get spices, I do. I want to tell you upfront that I am in no way associated with the store, and they don’t even know I am writing this, I just truly like what they do.

Yesterdays blog was about using the new technology to keep up to speed. I know I have to do that, but I want to tell you about my shopping trip today, because going to this special store is a nostalgic visit to days gone by.

It is called Planters Seed & Spice. It has been part of  the historic Kansas City Market for many years. It  is a nostalgic general store with original wood floors and seed drawers. You know how there are stores that adopt an old fashioned decor. That is not the case with Planters. It is the real deal. I should ask how long they have been there, but I am certain they have been there a long time. I don’t think there have been any attempts to modernize their building in decades, and that is part of the beauty of it.

They sell bulk spices, tea, coffee, lots of seeds and bulbs, gardening supplies and tools, birdhouses and a random selection of other things. In the spring the entire sidewak in front of their store is filled with flats of flowers.  [Read more...]

Online Instruction is the Way of the Future

Teaching online was a totally foreign concept to me as little as 3-4 years ago. I never thought I would be hosting webinars online. Let’s face it, I am a stay at home mom and a baker by profession. Those are not the usual credentials of the techy crowd. Things in my world are changing.

I made a good decision to join Mom Masterminds over a year ago. It has since changed to Solo Masterminds. In my coaching sessions with Kelly McCausey, she encouraged me to get movin and shake things up. She refers to that as “butt kicking” advice. I was intimidated by technology, and struggle to understand how it all works. Her advice sounded something like “no excuses, just get out there and  do it”. 

Me, offer a webinar? Are you serious?

She suggested offering to do some free group coaching calls to help germinate some ideas of how others might start a baking business like I did. I have admit that just the thought of actually using the technology was really scary. For those of you who might have been on the first call, I apologize for my technical difficulties. The thing is, once I actually figured out how to use it, the webinar software was  really cool.

I really don’t know what is going on here, if only my mom could see me now. In my last blog I added some audio via a cinch. (If you don’t want  to read more you can just listen at the bottom of the page by clicking on the Cinch arrow. ) I was patting myself on the back for learning how to use that tool. A while ago, I would have taken credit for adding something new, and left it at that. 

Are You Keeping Up with Technology?

It seems that nowadays, things change at lightening speed, and as soon as you learn one thing, there are several more new things that surpass it. That’s what I am talking about. Less than a week ago I learned about Cinch and thought it would be the latest greatest addition to my website and I could happily leave it at that for awhile.  [Read more...]

Business start-ups happen everyday. Unfortunately, many also fail everyday. Last year alone over 80,000 businesses closed according to Dunn & Bradstreet. The scarier part is the close association between business failure and bankruptcy.

I am not here to rain on anyone’s parade, I just want to encourage you to do your homework and make good decisions about how you start a business. I have learned a lot from the school of hard knocks, and I am here to tell you there is a better way. Start small, listen to your gut, dip your toe in the water before diving in, & avoid borrowing money to start

I bet I know what you are thinking. Does it sound something like “that’s impossible” or “easy for you to say”. Remember, I have been there, done that, got the t-shirt! The purpose of my website is to try and help others discover legitimate ways to make some extra money from home. My personal specialty is baking, but that is not the only avenue I want to cover here.

Work from Home

If you are reading my blog, I assume that you are someone who would like to work for themselves, and probably at least checking out if there is any possibility of using your talents with food to start a business. A lot of the things I talk about here will cover other ways of making money, but for now, I am focusing on starting, without going into a ton of debt. I am qualified to talk at length about that since I did exactly the opposite, and paid dearly for it.

If you have started doing your homework, as I talked about in my last blog and found out there is a real interest in the product you want to sell, the next step is to start using your connections to get the word out about your culinary talents. This is probably going to involve freebies. Consider it cheap marketing, because that is exactly what it is. You need to develop a loyal following, so that you will have customers lining up to buy your product when you are at that point. You are developing a “hungry” market, pun intended.

Books Are Your Friend

There is a great book I would recommend to you . It is by Seth Godin called “Tribes”. In summary, it talks about how you should develop a loyal following by frequent and relevant interaction. It is an easy read, but should be on the bookshelf of  every business owner. I want to take a minute here to give you some advice. It does not matter if you are a solopreneur. You need to adopt the mindset of a business person. When you look at businesses that are successful, you can bet that the owner is a continuous learner. There are lots of helpful books out there, and I am going to get in the habit of recommending some of them to you. It is simply part of building that solid foundation..

Yeah, I know, reading, researching, networking, etc all take time, and you need money now. You are anxious to get started. I know you don’t want to hear that, I didn’t either. I did however, take the time to take some classes, to get ready to make the leap. I had mixed results, and I will tell you more about that later. One of the things I do wish I had done was develop a healthly appetite for reading. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel, but as a matter of fact, there are design changes being made every day to the wheel that powers business, and those books will help you stay or get to the cutting edge.

I recorded a short tidbit, I am really liking using this new recording too, I hope it is helpful to you. Please leave your questions in the comment area. Let’s talk about your ideas, and work on a plan that you can implement.

Baking for money is a dream of many who love to spend time in the kitchen. I can really relate, I remember years ago trying to figure out how I could possibly generate money from home baking. Friends and acquaintances often recommended I should open a business selling my baked goods. It sounded tempting, but I wanted/needed to be a stay at home mom.

The Health Department may prohibit you from using the kitchen you bake for your family in to make product to sell to the public. Laws in some states are starting to change, so if you are lucky, you it may be much easier for you to get started.

I guess that if you live in a state with cottage laws, you will be able to avoid the start-up expense of adding a licensed commercial kitchen like I did. You can start on a smaller scale, start saving part of your profits to put toward the purchase of commercial equipment to make your job easier.

First steps to start a business

You may think that first you just have to print up business cards and you are in business. I guess some people do that, but that’s not how I would recommend you start. There are a lot of rules you have to comply with according to the government, and I will get to that later. Before we get into that, I want you to do your due diligence. You have to do some research. I don’t mean asking your friends and family what they think about your business idea. Of course they will encourage you, but how about potential customers who will actually pay you.

If you make the most amazing tasting frosting coupled with artistic cake decorating, you probably won’t have too much trouble, but if your specialty is a little less mainstream, you will want to do your homework to make sure that people are going to line up, cash in hand, to purchase your products. That sounds logical, right? The problem is – where do you start doing that type of research?

Start  with some numbers

You may think that the first step in market research would be to set up a table in a busy spot and start handing out samples, asking for feedback. I would like to suggest that you might want to start with your computer. You can use a keyword research tool and do some basic keyword research. I use Google Adwords and Wordtracker. Both of them are free to use. You can learn a lot about the interest. Put in keywords that describe your product or service, and see how many times it was searched for. With the Google tool, it shows searches per month, Wordtracker shows daily searches.

Remember that is just a starting place. Next go and see if you have competition. It is natural to feel excited if you don’t see anyone else out there, but proceed with caution if there is no one else out there doing what you want to do. It is certainly possible there just is not enough interest to make a profit.

If you like what you see with that market research, you are not done with the numbers quite yet. Have you figured out the total cost what it will cost to  make your products. I know that this is getting long, so for today I want to suggest that you spend some time checking things out.

We can talk more next time about other things to take a look at before you make the decision to go for it. I sure want you to be successful, and I don’t want you to make some of the many mistakes I made. We can talk about the next steps in launching your business.

Let me know what questions you have about starting a food related business. Don’t forget to think outside the box…oh, there is still time to get in on my free group coaching call on 1/26 . Check out all the details about my Free Group Coaching calls

If you want to learn how to bake, I have great news.

Most of us had to start to learn to bake at some time in our lives. The first place most of us turn to is a recipe of some sort, be it online or in a recipe book. I have an entire collection of recipe books, and each one has several favorite recipes that I often use.

I recently was introduced to a book that is a great place to start when you want to learn the baking basics. Let’s face it, baking involves kitchen chemistry and understanding the role of the different ingredients provides the building blocks to getting good results from your baking efforts.

I was really impressed with the credentials of the author. She has a master’s degree in foods, has worked with clients you might be familiar with like General Mills, Land O’Lakes, and Pillsbury to name a few. She really knows her stuff, and even better, she is able to explain the role of kitchen chemistry in everyday language that all of us can understand. This book will guide you to baking success, and by the way, that will lead to many many compliments, and who knows, maybe a career……it can happen. I am living proof of that.

Rather than write more about what you can expect to find in the book, I decided to have some fun and use a technology that is not exactly new but it is new to me. I have added the following audio to my website, and to listen, all you have to do is click the arrow to start the recording.

Starting a business is a dream so many women have. Many of us have families and are driven to find some legitimate way to work from home. I have told you about some ideas I have on how to make profits from your kitchen. That is great for people who enjoy spending time in the kitchen. 

The fact of the matter is that there are lots of women who simply have no interest selling baked goods or other things they produce. If that describes you there is great news. Most of you know by now how much Kelly McCausey has helped me and I am excited to let you know about a new program she is launching for women who want to be solopreneurs.

Get help starting your online business

If you are a woman or you know a woman who is already in business or looking to build an online business, for the next two weeks, Solo Masterminds is releasing some great resources to help you:
* Identify the type of home business that will meet your financial goals -
and fit your lifestyle

* Learn from the experience of other women just like you who are living
their dream businesses and lives RIGHT NOW

* Find ways to overcome the common obstacles women experience (trust me,
it’s not the same as for men)

The first resource is available for download today. It’s a 96-page workbook
by Kelly McCausey called “Solopreneur Smart Start.”

New Years resolutions go by the wayside, but making smart business decisions today can mean that next year your business is on the way to success.

Visit this link to grab these goodies: Help to Launch Your Online Business. I am going to make sure I take advantage of this great offer, I hope to see you there. Let’s grow our business in 2012.

Please leave a comment and we can chat.

photo credit:  Francineward

Free Group Coaching Series

I have been writing about my free group coaching series that I am currently offering. I wanted to let you know that there is still time to get in on the fun. I am offering the next session is tomorrow at 11:00 EST. All you have to do is click on the link for my free coaching and sign up. You will get all the details emailed to you.

We had some great questions last week. If you have wondered about how you might start following a passion you have for baking/cooking, maybe I can offer some suggestions. I will share things I learned during the ten plus years I ran my home based corporate catering and gift basket company. I invite you to bring your questions and we can brainstorm together. If you have an idea, maybe we can figure out ways for you to start small and grow a business that you have just dreamed about until now.

I have been invited to do a podcast.

This is getting fun. A good friend, Joel Boggess is a coach who helps people “embrace your true self & find the work you love”. We are going to talk about the journey I have taken to transition from running the catering company to working with others who would like to learn avenues they might follow to make profits from their kitchens. Check out the podcast .

I hope you will check out the coaching call tomorrow. I would love to talk to you.

photo credit  bubolinkata

You might be able to bmake money at home.

Many states are adding “Cottage Laws” to their books. That is good news for people who would like to take their favorite family recipe and make money. A lot of would be “Mrs. Fields have been stopped in their tracks by the laws of their state. Some states have added, or are in the process of  adding, laws to permit home kitchens for production of some products. For the most part, those products that are allowed are foods that are not susceptible to food poisoning.  

That is great news, it will make it possible for a lot of people to generate income without the huge expense of putting in a commercial kitchen and a retail lease. Now it migt be possible that you can bake birthday cakes, cookies, pies etc and do it at home! The key word here is might. You have to check with the health department where you live to see if  will be able to do that.

States with Cottage Laws in Place Include:

Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, & Wyoming. Congratulations to those states!

States with Cottage Laws with Restrictions:

Alabama, Kentucky, New Jersey, New York, Tennessee

Pending Cottage Laws are in these states:

California, Colorado, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, & South Carolina

No Cottage Law States are:

Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Knasas, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, & Rhode Island

Hooray for those of you that live in states with the laws, you might be able to be up and running quickly! For those of you whose states keep you from pursuing your dream, you might want to start a petition. For the time being though, you might be able to find a commerical kitchen you can use to get started.

If you would like to ask me some specific questions, you can check out my coaching program.

If starting a home baking business is a dream you have…..

I just want to invite you to listen to a podcast I just finished taping with Kelly McCausey. We talked about how I started my catering and gift basket business, and many of the lessons I learned along the way. Yep, I shared the good, the bad, and the ugly. You see, after more than 11 years in the business, I have learned a bit, and now I am sharing those lessons with others.

I invite you to check out the Free Group Coaching that I am offering later this week. I want to spend some time talking about your dreams and answering questions you may have. Lets talk about your business idea, and see if we can brainstorm ways for it to work.

If you would like to listen to the podcast with Kelly, we really had a great chat. Kelly shared important information every solopreneur needs to know. Grab a cup of coffee and kick back .

Listen to the free Solo Smarts Podcast

Please feel free to leave a comment

photo credit: Alessandra Cake Designer

Working from home is the dream of so many people. I was paying my bills the other day and one of them was my bill from the Health Department for the license on my in home commercial kitchen. It took me back about fifteen years when my dream was to somehow take my love
of baking and make money.

At the time, I would have loved to have a mentor who had done what I wanted to do. The problem
I ran into was that there are not many people who have an in home licensed commercial kitchen,
and potential competitors were not willing to answer my questions. I felt like a pioneer who
had to fordge the path without a compass. It was a little bit daunting to say the least.

Now, twelve years later, it dawned on me that I could do something to help others who have a similar dream. I can be there to answer questions for people trying to figure out some way to make money with their baking/cooking skills.

So, I am excited to tell you about a series of FREE group coaching I am offering. You can ask questions, and I will answer them to the best of my ability. You read that right, the series is FREE, no strings attached. Consider it my gift . The only thing I’ll ask in return is your help getting the word out. Thanks