Start & Run a Home-Based Food Business. Mimi Shotland Fix

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      Having a home-based food business is perfect if you’re a stay-at-home parent, unemployed, or retired. It’s also great for people who work outside the home and are looking for a second job to make extra money. It’s especially helpful for people who are not satisfied in their present job or career, because it can be a way to ease into the food business without leaving the security of a job. If you do have a full-time job and depend on that income, don’t quit yet. Give this a try and see how you like it.

      For many people, the idea of owning a food business is a fantasy that seems unattainable. But with a few simple steps and very little expense, anyone can start a home-based food business and make money. The important thing is to find a product that people want (maybe you make your family’s secret salsa recipe or give away jams that taste better than those you can find at the market). Once you’ve found the product people want, simply make it, wrap it, and deliver it.

      If you have thought about a home-based food business and find it appealing but are not skilled in the kitchen, an option is to first learn the craft. Work in a food production environment (e.g., bakery, catering business, or restaurant) and you’ll pick up a few skills while seeing a business from the other side of the counter.

      Take courses offered through adult and continuing education programs or look for cooking schools that have an affordable certificate curriculum. Stores that sell cake and bakery supplies, especially decorating supplies, might offer classes. You can also apprentice or volunteer with a local bakery or church group.

      The most important thing to do is practice at home. Spend time reading cookbooks and recipes. Read cookbooks the way you would read a novel — cover to cover. Ask questions of people you know who do cook and bake. These suggestions will give you a better footing when you start your own business.

      If you can navigate around the kitchen, the steps outlined in this book will move you ahead. If your real dream is to have a large food business, the steps in this book can get you started. In the Resources section, there are links to inspiring stories about people who began in their homes and grew their ventures into substantial, full-time businesses. That’s always a possibility for you, too.

      I wish there had been a book like this when I began. After graduating college I began a career in social services; but a few years later I was unemployed, a soon-to-be single parent, and worried about the future. How could I make enough money to pay the rent and child care? The bleak prospect of returning to a low-paying job was depressing so I consoled myself by baking. I made huge golden loaves of honey whole wheat bread and saucer-sized triple chocolate chip cookies. I loved to bake but had no previous business or food industry experience. I thought about baking and selling from my kitchen, so I looked for help. However, I found no guides or how-to books other than a couple of catering manuals that did not address my questions.

      The catering books, while interesting, were not applicable to setting up a home-based baking business. These books focused on quantity cooking in commercially equipped kitchens for off-premises service. They told me how to create menus, transport hot foods, set up bar service, and rent linens. My needs were different. I wanted to learn how to resize recipes and set up my kitchen space for efficient quantity production. I needed help in pricing, packaging, and labeling my baked items. I also wanted to know how to find customers. I was totally unprepared, but I moved ahead. I stumbled along asking questions, making mistakes, and learning as I moved forward.

      For approximately two years I continued in my kitchen until I heard about a small neighborhood pizza shop that had closed. Its production area was the same size as my home kitchen! I rented the space but had no idea how to design a commercial production area or a retail store.

      There are often some limitations to using your personal budget. Professional help was cost-prohibitive for me so I continued along on my own, often unsure about my decisions. I converted a shop into a bakery and continued to ask questions. While holding on to my basic approach to home baking, I learned techniques that helped speed up my production and create more professional products. Eventually my humble beginnings resulted in an all-scratch bakery and café, a free-standing building with numerous employees. I had built a successful retail and wholesale business.

      I’ve worked 25 years in the food industry. After owning and operating a bakery business for 15 years, I worked in other commercial kitchens as a baker and (faux) pastry chef. I also worked in the corporate food world of research and development, both as a baker/chef developing new products and creating prototypes for a national snack food company, and as a home economist, developing and testing a new generation of ovens to compete in the rapid cook arena. However, after a particularly strenuous pastry chef position, I was unable to continue the heavy physical demands of commercial baking. I returned to school but also refocused my love of baking by creating new recipes for smaller-scale baking in my home kitchen.

      Early in my career, as I learned the professional approach to baking for efficient quantity production, I was able to successfully adapt many home techniques to the commercial production process. Now, after returning to my home kitchen, I’ve discovered that many commercial techniques can also be adapted for home use. In this book I have many shortcuts to share, because I’ve combined commercial and home-baking processes to give you the best of both baking worlds.

      I’ve watched as the food industry has grown and changed into a global marketplace. I’ve seen that there’s always a market for local homemade goods. You only have to look at the marketing techniques used by large corporations. Their labels give the impression of fresh-from-the-farm homemade goodness. Their labels literally read: homemade, fresh from the oven, and just like grandma’s. Spend some time in the grocery store, convenience mart, or anywhere food is displayed (don’t forget vending machines). Take a stroll through the green markets and look at what people are buying and eating. Look around at your local hometown eateries, neighborhood shops, farmers’ markets, and countryside stands. What do you see? Homemade goodness rules!

      Throughout the book I will provide you with many suggestions for your home-based food business. This book is written for all levels of bakers and people with a wide variety of business goals. Read through the whole book, even the parts that do not seem to apply to your situation, because there are valuable tips in each area and suggestions that may help you improve your skill set. If you are already skilled at one of the steps, then good for you! If you already have a great recipe (or ten!), you’re way ahead, but there are other steps involved. For those of you currently in business who want answers to specific questions, or simply want to grow your business, this book will help you too. Please remember that you’re not alone. My website (www.BakingFix.com) continues to help support your efforts. Visit me there, ask questions, and learn about other owners of home-based food businesses.

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