We Started a Home Bakery

I have a licensed commercial kitchen that we added to our home. I can’t tell you what an absolute blessing it has been. I am often asked just how we did that. For ten years I ran my home based catering company from home, and did it legally.

I wanted to stay at home with my kids, and investigated all sorts of ways to help generate income. One of the things I was pretty good at, was baking, and many friends suggested I start a business selling some of the great homemade baked goods I made regularly. After investigating the possibilities, I decided to give it a try.

I started my business working out of our churches kitchen. It was a true gift, however, proved to be a lot of work since I had to work in the middle of the night, clean the kitchen and be out by 7:00am in order to get the deliveries made for the corporate breakfast meetings that I baked for. I used that kitchen for about nine months, and then decided I needed my own space.

Okay, this is a long story!

Let’s face it, the story spans ten years, so it will take awhile to tell the whole story. I have decided to break it into bite size pieces, I will include a “To Do” list for you if this sounds like something that fits your dream. Rome was not built in a day, and neither are most successful businesses.

I am an impatient person, you may be too. I can’t stress enough that a fatal mistake too many small business owners make, is lack of complete planning.

I know you may need to start making money now, most of us do. You might not like what I am going to tell you, but realistically, if you are at the very beginning, you could be 2-3 years away from running a profitable business. Please don’t get discouraged right off the bat, if I can do it, chances are really good you can too!

Well, I don’t want to overwhelm you here, so I will end on this note. If you have not read a book in awhile, today is the first day of the rest of you life. The library, bookstores, Amazon, the internet, podcasts, online classes, audio books are about to become a BIG part of your life from now on.

The first thing on my suggested “TO DO” list is to go to the library and checkout “How to Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie. It is available on audio, you can listen while you work, drive, walk etc. If you would like to add this book to your personal library, below is a link to Amazon. I must tell you that using this link is a blessing to my family because it is an affiliate link, however there is no additional charge for you. If you prefer, you can simply go to Amazon and search for it by name.

I know that you probably are thinking, what does that have to do with baking.You are right, I don’t think he was known for his baking skills. He does however, provide a critical foundational piece to the success of any business, it is his recipe for success, in business and in life. Enjoy, I’ll talk to you soon.

Please leave a comment or question, I would love to get some great dialog going here as you embark on the path to your specialty baking , and hopefully starting your home bakery business. We can all help each other.