I am wanting to start a business. I'm debating on whether I should open a full service bakery or just do cupcakes. Both business ideas are appealing to me. What are your opinions on each? I would love to be open by the end of the year.

I guess it depends on whether or not you can bake everything that's in a full service bakery. I wouldn't be able to offer anything other than cakes, cookies, cupcakes and bars. I don't really know anything about pastries and pies or how to make them. Then you have to consider ingredients and packaging for everything as well, so you'd have a lot of research to do, what recipes to use, where to get your ingredients and supplies, etc. Good luck with whatever you decide to do!

I know how to make pretty much everything in a full bakery, and have done some reasearch on where to get some food supplies. Packaging would be easier with just cupcakes, only one kind.

Will cupcakes alone be enough to meet your monthly overhead (rent, insurance, inspection fees, etc., plus payroll if you will be staffing a retail shop)?

I'm leaning more towards cupcakes, but doing full sized cakes on order. Another question I have is what do you think is the minimum about of square footage that I could get by with?

I'm planning a retail space and I'm going to do all bakery goods based on the orders I get now. I do it all now and my orders are for the whole variety of bakery goods. For square footage, I only need retail space. I will still bake in my commercial kitchen. With this in mind, I will need only a small space... and that means small rent (relatively).

As with my commercial kitchen, I already have all of my fixtures and serving plates and platters. I even have the art for the walls. I will open debt free. In this economy, I would advise the same.

I'm now thinking of not getting a storefront right and instead finding a commercial kitchen to rent. This way if it doesn't work I haven't wasted a ton money. Now I have to find a kitchen to rent.

You can test your market by using your website. You can offer a variety and see what sells. Good luck with the kitchen hunt. It will be much less stressful to start with less investment on the line.

Contacted a local restaurant today, but was turned down due to liability issues. My mom knows someone whose mother owns a restaurant, going to ask her soon. Just wish my mother was still trying to open here restaurant then I could use her kitchen and sell items out front.

Solakin-where in KY are you located? I am in south central. Good luck with the commercial kitchen. We ran an ad for a month and didn't get any response. All of the owners that I have personally asked didn't want to rent. There are issues of storage and equipment.
We tore down an old building on our property starting in March-have built a building and today I am painting the floors. We anticipate being open the first part of October. It has been a hot summer and we have paid dearly with sweat equity, but it will be mine and I will be able to walk to work!

Lking12- live in Bowling Green, not that far from woodburn. I would create my own kitchen but I live in an apartment. Maybe I could rent a small building and turn it into just a kitchen, but if I were going to do that why not just have a bakery that does more then appointment only cakes.

edit: I found a space that was once a restaurant, and it still has most of the equipment I would need. Plus its on the busiest street in town. So I might go back to my cupcake idea but offer custom ordered cakes also.

Wrote a business plan outline today. Hoping I can look at the rental space this week and start moving forward with this project. Would to be open by the end of the year, or at least by March when my town has a chocolate festival so I can participate.

Was supposed to look at a space tomorrow, but I got a call today saying that the place I was wanting can't be used as a bakery. I guess I just keep looking.