How To Start A Cake Business From Home
If you’ve always loved baking, you may be exploring the possibility of starting a cake business. Not only is caking making a lot of fun, but because the industry is booming right now, you stand a great chance of making money from your passion. You can achieve a good work-life balance too due to being able to set your own hours and work around your existing commitments. Read on to find out how to start a cake business from home.
Register your business
When starting a cake making business, you’ll need to register as self-employed with HMRC. This is so you can pay any tax you owe through the Self-Assessment system. You need to register your business even if you’ll only be working part-time or you have another job. Failing to do so could land you a steep fine which could be as much as 30% of the tax owed. To set yourself up as a sole trader, you simply need to tell HMRC. However, if you want to become a limited company, you’ll need to submit an application to Companies House, which is a registrar of UK companies.
Understand Your Legal Requirements
There are rules to follow when starting a cake making business from home. One good way to understand what these rules are is to obtain a Level 2 food hygiene certificate. Whilst a food hygiene certificate may not be compulsory, it’s strongly recommended by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and various other official bodies.
Home-based cake businesses can also expect to face a food hygiene inspection. This involves authorised officers from your local council visiting your home to check if your company is complying with food legislation and producing food that’s safe to eat. After the inspection, you’ll be awarded a hygiene rating from one to five. To score as highly as possible, you’ll need to keep your kitchen clean and ensure you follow good hygiene practices, including preventing contamination and protecting against pests.
You’ll need to make sure you understand food labelling regulations when providing allergen information. You should also be aware of Natasha’s Law which came into effect on 1st October 2021. This legislation requires all food outlets to give full ingredient lists along with clear allergen labels on Pre Packed for Direct Sale foods (PPDS). PPDS foods are those that are prepared, prepacked and sold to customers on the same premises.
Sort Your Home Baking Insurance
Don’t forget to sort home baking insurance when setting up a cake making business at home. Start with public liability insurance, which is designed to cover you against any accidents in your kitchen or claims made against your product. For example, it will provide protection should someone chip their tooth on a cake decoration or fall ill after eating one of your cakes. Product liability insurance is usually sold together with public liability insurance for cake making businesses. If your business has any employees, you’ll also require employers’ liability insurance.
Develop Your Online Presence
The best way to build your cake making business in the modern world is to develop your online presence. This means making it as visible as possible online, with an attractive, easy-to-use website and social media channels that allow you to connect with your target customers. Although it’s possible to set up a simple website yourself, it makes sense to hire a skilled web designer who can make your business stand out from the crowd online. Your website should include beautiful photos of your stunning cakes, as well as key details such as where you’re based and how your customers can place an order.
Once your website is set up, it’s time to harness the power of social media. Set up a Facebook page and Twitter and Instagram accounts and make sure you keep them updated with quality content such as recipes and photographs. Social media allows you to interact with your potential and existing customers. You can do this by replying to comments people have left on your posts.
To develop your online presence further, you’ll want to ensure your cake making business shows up on Google. Set up a Google Business profile so that it will appear in local search results when people are searching for a cake maker in their area. To make your business even more visible in Google’s search results, it makes sense to invest in SEO services.
Keeping Track Of Your Ingoings And Outgoings
You’ll need to keep track of your ingoings and outgoings when running your cake-making business. This means writing down your income and business expenses so you can enter them accurately when the time comes to do your tax return. Find out which expenses you can subtract, making sure you keep any receipts in case HMRC requires you to give evidence of expenditure. Managing your business’s finances can seem like a daunting task, however, there is plenty of accounting software options ideal for small businesses on the market.
Marketing Your Home Cake Business
If you don’t constantly market your cake business, you won’t be able to attract customers to purchase your products. If you want people to discover your magnificent cakes, you’ll need to think carefully about marketing strategies. Along with attending local events and using social media to connect with your customers, you could also experiment with PPC (Pay Per Click) ads on Google. Often, it’s best
to use a digital marketing company that can advise on how best to market your business to your target customers.
If cakes and baking are your forte, you may be interested in learning how to start a cake business from home. Many people who have a passion for cake making have set up their own businesses, creating beautiful and delicious creations for their customers from their own kitchens. What’s great is that setting up a cake business at home doesn’t have to be a difficult or expensive task. As long as you have cake making skills and the determination to accomplish your goals, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t achieve success.
