All right, so in this podcast, welcome to the "Marketing Food Online" podcast. We are going to upload this onto our "Marketing Food Online 2" channel, our second channel. By the way, we have two channels for Marketing Food Online. If you're definitely interested and you haven't found our first one, we'll have a link down in the description below. We also have our own podcast, as I mentioned. We have almost nearly a dozen outlets where you can listen to us. Check those links down below the video. So in this video, we actually got a question. We got emailed a question from a subscriber that was asking, how do I start a dessert business from home?
How do I start a dessert business from home? That is a great question, and actually, many states allow you to create almost any kind of dessert. The only thing you need to be aware of is to check with your state specifically on what is time-sensitive, temperature-sensitive, or potentially hazardous food products, as they're known. When I say desserts, most of the time you can, but some states will restrict you if you're using certain cheeses, if you're using natural fruits, or anything that has to maintain a certain temperature level, or has to be eaten within a certain period of time.
That's normally not allowed. But I'm going to go through six specific steps to actually get started with a dessert business from home. And to be honest with you, many states have actually increased the amount of money you can make from home based on the cottage food laws. They have gone up dramatically, which is amazing. As I mentioned in one of my other videos, Florida has just raised the amount of $250,000 that you can sell from your home. Florida is actually also one state that doesn't require any type of permitting or business licensing. So double check your state specifically and if you're looking for more information about that here in our "Marketing Food Online" channel, we have a handful of states that we've got up and we're going to do the rest of them and bring the rest of those states to you. Number one, of course, as I mentioned, is to check the laws. Be specific about your search.
How Can I Sell Baked Goods online
Go to Google, type in your state, cottage food laws, and then the state that you're in, and then those first couple of search results are going to be the ones that you want to click on, because those are the actual state websites, the government websites that tell you what you can and cannot make in your state. Number two, many states don't require this, but as far as a safety net, to be secure, be safe about your business separating from your private life. You want to create an LLC? And if you're not familiar with that, definitely check it out down below. There's a couple of websites where you can even do this online. We've got some links down below this video.
You can create an LLC in a matter of about 10 minutes. Why do I need to do that, Damian? Well, let's just put it to you this way. Food is a different type of business. Even if you're creating, you know you're asking, "How do I start a dessert business from home?" You're thinking, "Well, maybe I'm just going to make some cookies or baked goods or some snacks or something to that effect." And why would I need an LLC? Why do I need insurance? Well, because you need to protect yourself and cover yourself in case you get a lawsuit. If somebody gets sick, if something happens and has an allergic reaction, and they trace it back to one of the products that you made, and it was incorrectly labeled, you're still liable for that. You're still running a business.
"What do I Need to Sell Desserts from home"
This is not considered a hobby, it's actually a full-blown business. You definitely want to be aware of that. So creating an LLC, I think you can do that. One of the websites you can do it for free plus just the state filing. I believe it's incfile.com down below. Check it out. You can do it very inexpensively and then check into insurance. Yes, they actually have policies for home-based food businesses as well. So number three, you want to create a dessert menu. So, if you want to start a dessert business from home and create a line of products that you enjoy making or that have a variety of flavors, you should develop a dessert menu.What I mean by that is you want to have a set type of dessert or desserts that you make and have on a list that you can prepare and bring to local events, or if your state allows you to sell it to a restaurant, sell it to coffee shops, tea shops, whatever it may be.
But knowing that you've got a set type of dessert menu also allows you a kind of peace of mind that you can say, "You know what, these are the 10 items that I'm going to try. I'm going to sell them and see how it works, and then from there I may add to it or take some products away." Desserts are huge, obviously. Almost everyone serves them, from Starbucks to local eateries, restaurants, cafes, and farmer's markets. People love sweets and treats. So having desserts can be a wide variety of items, as long as you know how to make them and can scale your recipe.Number four, you want to work on your packaging. Take this as a serious business.
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Make sure that your packaging relates to your brand and creates an image for your food product. Even if it's a dessert, even if it's slices of cake, if it happens to be muffins, if it's cookies, if it happens to be a bun cake, whatever it is, create good packaging and create a logo. If you're not good at creating logos, check down below this video again. Fiverr.com has a lot of artists that can create logos for you in a matter of a couple of days, very quickly, and it doesn't cost a lot to do that. But perfect your packaging and your brand and create an image for your product. As you evolve, and then you begin to sell online or you get into a commercial kitchen of your own, then you're going to have a brand look already with your packaging.
"Can I Make Baked Goods at Home and Sell Them"
You're not going to start from scratch. So try to create a concept and idea of how you want to package your products and then, from there, you can go forward. Number five, you want to create a website. Yes, even though you're selling a product from home, you want to have a website where people can go to find your product. If they go to a farmer's market or find your product in a local market, they want to check your website out. They want to know more about your products. They want to know more about your business. So, even though you are starting a dessert business from home, a website is something that eventually evolves into e-commerce.
Then you can add products and sell those products online. So create a website. Number six, finally a set up. Start getting the word out. Now, how do I promote a home-based business, Damian? How do I do that? I don't know anything about how to get the word out. Go first to Facebook. Local Facebook groups within your city and county are going to be a gold mine of people that you can touch base with, that you can connect with, and that you can network with. Join local Facebook groups, and then begin to post information about your local food business, about your desserts, etc.
"Kitchen Requirents for Home baking business"
Maybe the possibility that, if you can do it in your city or county, you could cater events with your desserts. Connect with others on Facebook; it's completely free.And it costs you just a little bit of time to do it. But that's going to expose you to a lot of local people within your area, and that is the fastest, easiest, and, of course, cheapest way to expand and grow the awareness of your dessert business from home. So those are six actionable tips. Of course, there are quite a few other things that are involved with that.
I could sit here and talk to you for another two or three hours, but these are six very, very important first steps, and then that will help you create a dessert business from home that you can expand and grow, and hopefully eventually turn into an e-commerce business or start selling wholesale to local restaurants. So if you have any more questions about how to start a dessert business from home, let us know down in the comments section and I'll get to it as soon as we possibly can. I'll see you guys at our next podcast, and check us out on YouTube.