Hi everyone, I am Casebit's DH, JC. "Casebit" has decided she wants to start advertising and selling cakes as a side business. I have already contacted our local health department and the NCDA about this. Here in NC we are allowed to run a baking business out of home with domestic appliances so all is good there. I also have been given the current regulations for such a business by the NCDA so we are planning to move along with this. However we know nothing about starting such a business or any business for that matter, and I am just curious if any of you here have any suggestions for us based upon your experiences. I will contact other agencies to learn more about what we are trying to do, sales tax, income tax, insurance, etc., but any advice that any of you can/will share will be greatly appreciated by both of us.

On Casebit's behalf,
Thanks.

I don't have much to offer you because it sounds like we're in the same boat. I just wanted to say, "aaawww... what a good DH you are!!!" I'd absolutely die if my husband were this supportive! haha! Good luck in your cake business endeavors!

My DH WAS supportive up until I purchased $2575 in appliances the other day. Come to find out he didn't think I would actually go through with it

That's what he gets for "thinkin" LOL

Hi there! I would recommend that you treat this venture as you would a business run outside of your home if you are really serious about it. Things to look at are insurance, a business plan (yes, really!), some good accounting software to track expenses, and contact Kellie on this site about her new software, The Cake Boss. If you do a search for The Cake Boss on this site, you should be able to find the thread with her info.
If you are not going to pursue it quite as seriously just yet, you still need to work out all of your expenses so that you are charging the correct price and not losing money. Wouldn't hurt to track down a food distributor so you can get ingredients cheaper too.

Congrats, I know you must both be very excited! I commend you for supporting your wife!!! My hubby is (usually) very supportive also, so I know what a blessing it is.


edited one time to fix a typo.

There is an article on How to start a Cake business on C/C , this may help you some. I think it is important to check out the competition in your area. Don't go hogwild with advertising, it can really cost alot. Get the things that you really need to start, ie. oven, mixers, pans, storage etc.., keep your inventory low, don't pay everything with cash, you need to get your business credit established. Try a 15 or 20 day net at least with one vendor. The credit will help if you try to expand or need to go to the bank for a loan. Keep accurate records of expenses and sales. I do not put anything on the computer, but that just me, I am old school bookkeeper. I just prefer to have my books in my hands. I always keep tract of the holidays and special events, so I can look back and see what I did the year before. Guess I have said enough. Good Luck you guys!

I second what cupcake said about keeping inventory low -- don't go out and buy every pan right away; just buy them as needed. They're expensive and they take a lot of room to store.

And if you're interested in CakeBoss, you can email me directly at [email protected] or check out Jackie's thread in the announcement forum.