AHi I just need sum advise if I should start a cupcake business from home in albany wa? I've been cooking/selling cakes/cupcakes from home for the past year! Still need work but was just looking into it for a year or two down the track.

It's a bit difficult for us to advise you without knowing you or your work or your area.

What is the market like in your area?  Is it saturated meaning there are plenty of companies to fulfill the demand?  Are you talented?  Do you have the necessary skills as well as business knowledge?  

Have you done your homework to find out just what it will take legally, financially, and emotionally?

AThere are many steps to take before you can start a business, I wrote an article on my blog that provides a high level overview of these steps.

The most important things to straighten out ASAP are your business liability insurance, pricing, and compliance with local food safety laws.

I am starting a home business. But my city does not allow you to prepare food to sell from your home kitchen unless it is completely closed off and not used to prepare your meals. Luckily my daughter owns a restaurant I can bake in otherwise I would never be able to get my health cert. ALso to protect your personal assets you would want to file for an LLC, which I did online. My business insurance quote was only $35 a month for $2M liability, I want to trademark my name with the state, and have to get the business license. The good part of being an LLC is that I will file my income along with my regular return so I won't have to have an accountant. There is a lot to it. Make sure you look into everything before starting. Otherwise you may spend a lot of $$ just to find out it's not even feasible.

AAs has already been said, many factors go into starting a business, research of laws in your state, competition, pricing, insurance, start up costs, among many other things. Since laws vary from state to state, I would talk to people already stared up in their business in your state. You would at the very least gain some insight into what you have to do

A

AThere's also the issue of reporting hobby income to the IRS if you aren't running a legit business...the rules for hobby income are much harsher than business income, since you may not be able to take any deductions for expenses and you cannot apply losses to other income.

I think the person is in Albany, Western Australia.  Our laws are totally different to yours, though most legal home based businesses need at least council approval.  Like in the US what is needed varies from state to state but also from council to council.

AI only sell cakes at hm at the moment for friends and family... Just as a hobby... I've been looking into wat is required for starting a at home buisness and I'm keeping every1 suggestions in mind...

A recent episode of "Best Thing I Ever Ate" a show on Food Network, was about cupcake shops.  The opening narrative featured a food "personality" talking about a particular cupcake shop she liked.  She distinguished it by saying "these days you can't swing a cat without hitting a cupcake shop..." (her words not mine").  She was saying that there are more cupcake sellers now than ever, and the failure rate is in the high 80%++ area.  But there are still good shops that have lines out the door & around the corner ever morning, that limit customers purchases to 6 cupcakes each so they don't run out too early, and get $4-$6 for their standard decorated products.

While I have never had a 'stand in line' cupcake, my friends that have said they're good but they aren't "all that". They said my legally made in a home kitchen cupcakes (Cottage Industry governed) are just as good if not better, but they are friends. I'd like to take the next step and grow my business, and do wedding & other special occasion cakes, but official startup of a shop is very costly, complicated.  It requires research about criteria unique to your area; whats the market/demand like? what does the competition charge? are area cupcake sales good? do you need a commercial kitchen, food handling certification? can you satisfy zoning, health department & fire marshall, etc. to work legally from home or do you have to rent a space? what about advertising?  The big question is: just how hard are you willing to work for this?

There is a very good class avaliable on Craftsy.com called "Starting Your Own Cake Business";  maybe it would be useful at this time.  I worked in a local cupcake shop for a while to learn more about the business, and the owner was just hanging on by a thread, and closed one of her 2 shops recently, taking a big financial hit. She used all just add water type mixes!  In our area, the Small Business Administration is avaliable to advise people on these matters; they even have grants and loans avaliable sometimes, and can help a lot.  One things certain, you can always grow your little business for now, and see where it takes you.

Either way, good luck & best wishes!

AAlong with the really relevant advice that others have given, which is what you definitely need to consider, I would also be careful not to speak in text speak. Like wat, and sum, and other misspellings and slang. Especially when conducting business with clients, and business people. That will really give people a bad impression of you, and probably not take you seriously. And I feel this advice is completely appropriate, because you want to give the best impression you can when starting a business.

Another old post

AGood grief, what the heck do they get dug up for then?!

AThis one is only a few months old so it's not that big a deal...even if a thread is several years old the info is usually still pretty relevant.

ASometimes if the person is not familiar with the desktop version of this website, it can happen really easily and not on purpose. It's a lot easier to do than you think. It happened to me before I got to know my way around. You just start scrolling and before you know it you see an interesting thread...you comment. Never even seeing the date

Just letting AZ know since earlier she commented on one from around 1937 or so...lol

Hi,

My name is Nigel Fordham and I am owner and founder of Kustom Cupcakes Perth, Western Australia. 

www.kustomcupcakes.com.au

www.facebook.com/kustomcupcakes

I'd be happy to offer advice for your home based business to LEVEL UP! 

Nigel Fordham