Nodding vigorously to all of this and sending two thumbs up- expect my right thumb is crooked and swollen from the chronic carpel tunnel I've developed from holding an offset for 8 years straight 🙃
Love this line, "The truth is I think most people who come to me for advice about how to start a home baking business are actually looking for the courage to begin." Followed by this unexpectedly reassuring reminder, "I didn’t have it, myself." And yet. This piece resonates beyond starting a cake business. Thank you for writing (and living) it.
I'm so thankful for this post! I've "run pop-up" weeks where I'm offering cake orders to my (quite small) Instagram following, especially leading up to my wedding, and I enjoyed having and filling orders. But I finally had to admit that on the small scale at which I could operate from my home kitchen, it is truly a barely-lucrative venture for me! Now I bake mainly for friends' weddings or one-off requests, and have gotten better at charging what my time and product is worth (it's still a struggle though.) I can't imagine the stress of that edgy place between being a home baker who is overwhelmed, and a commissary-baker who is still overwhelmed but with a bigger kitchen to clean. It's almost like....till it's bigger than you can handle, how can you make a living?
Thank you for this, it totally made me cry haha, i am not in the US but the independent baker reality is the same, i have had to learn all this things the hard way and i appreciate your honesty with the subject because there is a lot of miss information about the lifestyle behind how to make a small bakery work. :) thank you
Your food costing sheet is an invaluable resource! Do you have any tips on adding in labor costs into prices? Or tips on calculating how to pay yourself?(time spent procuring ingredients, actual time spent baking, time spent on admin, etc)
As always, thank you for the transparency around being a self-employed baker -- really inspiring as a young person that feels like all the gears are in the right place to take the leap into working independently + opening a space, but the conundrums of navigating under capitalism still persist, and your knowledge of working through/against all of this is inspiring!
You could begin by calculating how many hours you’re working, and then look at how much you would need to make in order to make, say, 20/hour, then divide that number by the number of cakes or baked goods you’re making. You could also look at it as a percentage of food cost, and add 10% to the price of all your baked goods. You will of course have fluctuating sales over time so this doesn’t always work perfectly - most people won’t be “paying themselves” the same amount all the time
I really needed to hear this today. I was recently laid off from my marketing job and am debating whether to turn my hobby into a cake business. This is the realistic advice I need to help me decide. Thank you!
Great essay Bronwen; thanks for saying things from behind the oven, where things aren't sexy or sugary or bubbly as they are on screens-really, thank you
This is so accurate and honest. Thank you for sharing. I could never see a path to paying myself a salary and the amount of space the cottage business took up in my home was no longer worth it, especially with kids.
Yup, yup, yup! This is all so real. Also, thinking about the time I offered everyone a refund and sent a code for a free lemon meringue pie after I forgot to ADD THE WATER to a filling one time. A late night error. I chuckled at your first reaction to negative feedback cause I could relate. Thanks for writing this! :)
Nodding vigorously to all of this and sending two thumbs up- expect my right thumb is crooked and swollen from the chronic carpel tunnel I've developed from holding an offset for 8 years straight 🙃
noooooooo, I've got the tendonitis and plantar fasciitis package but this sounds way worse
Love this line, "The truth is I think most people who come to me for advice about how to start a home baking business are actually looking for the courage to begin." Followed by this unexpectedly reassuring reminder, "I didn’t have it, myself." And yet. This piece resonates beyond starting a cake business. Thank you for writing (and living) it.
Thank you for these kind words!
I'm so thankful for this post! I've "run pop-up" weeks where I'm offering cake orders to my (quite small) Instagram following, especially leading up to my wedding, and I enjoyed having and filling orders. But I finally had to admit that on the small scale at which I could operate from my home kitchen, it is truly a barely-lucrative venture for me! Now I bake mainly for friends' weddings or one-off requests, and have gotten better at charging what my time and product is worth (it's still a struggle though.) I can't imagine the stress of that edgy place between being a home baker who is overwhelmed, and a commissary-baker who is still overwhelmed but with a bigger kitchen to clean. It's almost like....till it's bigger than you can handle, how can you make a living?
That's exactly it! In order to make enough money to get by it has to be big enough where it's constantly on, or past, the verge of being too much.
Thank you for this, it totally made me cry haha, i am not in the US but the independent baker reality is the same, i have had to learn all this things the hard way and i appreciate your honesty with the subject because there is a lot of miss information about the lifestyle behind how to make a small bakery work. :) thank you
Thank you so much for reading, and for this thoughtful comment!
Your food costing sheet is an invaluable resource! Do you have any tips on adding in labor costs into prices? Or tips on calculating how to pay yourself?(time spent procuring ingredients, actual time spent baking, time spent on admin, etc)
As always, thank you for the transparency around being a self-employed baker -- really inspiring as a young person that feels like all the gears are in the right place to take the leap into working independently + opening a space, but the conundrums of navigating under capitalism still persist, and your knowledge of working through/against all of this is inspiring!
This is so kind, thank you!
You could begin by calculating how many hours you’re working, and then look at how much you would need to make in order to make, say, 20/hour, then divide that number by the number of cakes or baked goods you’re making. You could also look at it as a percentage of food cost, and add 10% to the price of all your baked goods. You will of course have fluctuating sales over time so this doesn’t always work perfectly - most people won’t be “paying themselves” the same amount all the time
I really needed to hear this today. I was recently laid off from my marketing job and am debating whether to turn my hobby into a cake business. This is the realistic advice I need to help me decide. Thank you!
I’m sorry to hear about the lay off but best of luck with whatever happens next, regardless of what you decide!
Great essay Bronwen; thanks for saying things from behind the oven, where things aren't sexy or sugary or bubbly as they are on screens-really, thank you
Thank you Graison!
Oooof your honesty is piercing! Thank you. I feel it all!
I know you know how it feels 💛
This was such a great read, thank you.
Thanks so much!
This is so accurate and honest. Thank you for sharing. I could never see a path to paying myself a salary and the amount of space the cottage business took up in my home was no longer worth it, especially with kids.
I've thought a lot about how much having kids would complicate the equation!
Yup, yup, yup! This is all so real. Also, thinking about the time I offered everyone a refund and sent a code for a free lemon meringue pie after I forgot to ADD THE WATER to a filling one time. A late night error. I chuckled at your first reaction to negative feedback cause I could relate. Thanks for writing this! :)
omg Keia that story makes me feel so much better!
Such a great read! So many truths, thank you for sharing the real life, accurate portrayal of what it’s really like.
Thank you so much!