I'm wondering when y'all started your business. Let me clarify... I mean when did you know it was time, that your talent was strong enough, that this was IT? People tell me all the time that I should open a business... but those same people are blown away by a simple little swirl and sprinkles on the top of a cupcake. While I appreciate the compliment I'm not ready to open a business based on it. So..yeah... when did you know that you were ready to move forward and start a business?

Good question!! I have always wanted to have my own business, well before the popularity of caking. LOL. I started my business (no storefront yet) officially in October. It took me a long time to do it even though I still don't think that I am good enough, but I have been feeling led to for quite some time. Eventually I will have my storefront but I don't have enough customers to support it right now.

When you can open debt free. In this economy, you don't want to open a business and potentially lose your house. Save your money, buy your equipment and practice while you save. I saved for 1 1/2 years.

Thanks guys.
Opening debt free is a wonderful tip. That is something that I am sure of if/when I start a business. Creating a business plan is something I have been looking into but I'm not ready to tackle it quite yet. I guess I'm still trying to make sure my talent level is good enough for a business? We are our worst critics! How confident were you in your skills when you opened up? (or made it official - for those of you who don't have a store front) Do you look back at those early days and laugh at your inexperience? Do you sigh in relief that you waited until you could win an episode of Food Network Challenge before opening for business? If you could do it all over again is there anything that you would change?

I am a little late replying to this.... But I started my business 9 months ago. Even though I am definitly not an expert baker or decorating and I am still learning a lot about business, I do not regret opening before I was ready. If I had waited until I was "ready" I probably would never do it. My goal is to have a storefront in at least 5 years and in the mean time I am being paid to learn and building my name and clientell so I can open a storefront with little to no debt

Good luck!!

I'm the opposite. I never have and never will want a storefront. I built a home bakery in my basement and love having my job right here. I can stay up until 2:00 or 3:00 a.m. and roll right into bed. But that's just my own preference. I am right where I want to be business-wise. As for when I knew I was ready to open business, I knew I wanted to have my own business and worked for 18 months to open it. I practiced hard during those times along with the manual labor of renovating my basement for this new bakery. Running the business, however, is much different than I anticipated. It's so much more time consuming than I ever thought it would be. While I absolutely love it, I pretty much work every single day of the week, regardless of if I'm working on cakes or working on making the business run. There is ALWAYS something that needs to be done, handled, paid, scheduled, cleaned, bought, etc. It's a lot of work! Most days I love it! But there are days I miss punching the clock and coming home and leaving work at work (thankfully those days don't outnumber the Love-It days, so I'm good!)

tootie, I'm with you... basement bakery, work any time I feel like it, and I never want a storefront. I opened when I finished building it with cash. My only overhead is an electric bill.