‘Home-made’ businesses getting the ingredients right

Many successful businesses were started from someone’s comfortable home. It’s not really about how you start but how you finish, right?

If you are looking for a way to supplement your income or want to start a new business to support a lifestyle change, the preparation of baked goods or other food products could be the answer. Why not turn your hobby into a profit and whip up extra income?

Before firing up your oven, make sure you go through these tips to build a secure foundation for your new venture:

• Do your research. Find out as much as you can about the market you intend to service: who are your competitors, what do they sell and how do they market themselves?
• Have a unique selling point.  Something needs to set you apart – how is your product unique? Is your turnaround time super-fast?
• Form a business plan.Understand what costs are involved in the production of your goods and how much of your product you’d need to sell to make a profit.
• Market your business.Social media offers a useful, free way to market your brand and build relationships with current and future customers. Photos are eye candy; if you can’t take decent shots with your cell phone, find somebody who can and post those juicy images regularly!
• Capitalise on diet trends.Social media will also provide you with a way to keep an eye on the trends in your industry. Banting, Paleo and vegan diets could create several opportunities for “home-made” entrepreneurs.

• Check your insurance. Even though you may be working from home, you are offering goods for sale to the public, and may need business insurance. Share your plans with your insurer or broker to see whether you need to amend your existing home or vehicle cover to cater for additional risks. You might also need to take out some public liability cover. If your company will run from home for the next few years, make sure you have your home insurance in check or apply for an online insurance quote.

Remember, if you do the work you love, you will never work a day in your life. Starting a home-based baking or cooking business could just be your key to a happier, more fulfilled life – just get the basic ingredients right!