I just wanted to share my experience of how I fell into my first customer. For the last month or so I have been working on starting my own home based baking business and really haven't taken the big leap...yet.

In the mean time my kids (11 &12) have told their friends that I am thinking of starting a business (and bragging about how good my desserts are).
One of my daughters friends asked if I would make her mom some cupcakes for Mothers Day (not paying though). I thought it was bold of her to ask but also very sweet that she wanted something for her mom. So I made cupcakes and gave her 1/2 dozen.

The family loved them and the mom called and asked me to make 2 dozen cupcakes! I was so completely caught off-guard I just said I would and it would be $36. She didn't even blink and now I'm thinking I should have asked for more!

So I guess I can thank my kids for getting me my first customer!

Congrats on your first customer! $36 for 2 dozen cupcakes is pretty cheap though...when setting your prices you need to consider the cost of ingredients, the cost of your labor, and any overhead costs (i.e. license fees, commercial kitchen rental if you live in a state where it's illegal to sell food made from your home kitchen, liability insurance, etc.).

We charge $36 for 1 dozen cupcakes, but then we live in a state (CA) where you are required to have a commercial kitchen to legally sell products, so we have additional overhead involved.