The COVID-19 pandemic crisis has caused historical unemployment. Because of this, many people are looking for ways to earn money from home. Do you have a great recipe? Do people always tell you, you should sell these? If so, a cottage food business may be the solution you’ve been searching for. It is legal in most states, has low startup costs, and is in high demand from local consumers.
Food Safety
Are you worried about your homemade food possibly transmitting a virus? There’s good news on that front: according to the University of North Carolina Extension Service, there is very little risk of virus transmission with food. Check out their link, which has many helpful resources for COVID and food safety. A cottage food business can be an excellent and safe home business with low startup costs during an uncertain time. Additionally, you can add safety precautions to your business, like cashless payment and porch pick-up or drop-off.
Think Outside the Box
Traditionally, many cottage food businesses have focused on decorated cakes and cookies for celebrations like weddings and birthday parties. Since COVID-19 caused the postponement or cancellation of many of these events in the spring and summer of 2020, cottage food operators had to find alternative ways to generate income. It’s time to get creative with your offerings, but always check your state’s cottage food laws to make sure the type of food you want to sell is allowed under the law. Here are some ideas for your home food business that do not involve large group gathering; they are also allowed under most states’ cottage food laws.
Ideas
Homemade bread: Homemade bread is in high demand. Consider setting up a bread delivery service, or even a subscription plan: your customers pay ahead for one or two loaves a week, delivered on pre-determined days.
Mini-desserts delivered: 4 or 6 mini-cakes that serve 2-6, delivered on demand.
Cookie delivery: Cookies delivered hot and fresh, by the dozen or half-dozen.
Dry mixes: Develop your own line of dry mixes like pancake mix, biscuit mix, cookie mix, cake mix, pizza dough mix, seasoned salt, hot cocoa mix, or soup mix. These items store well for a long time, so customers won’t be pressed to eat or use the item right away.
Breakfast pastries: Hot fresh breakfast pastries every Saturday or Sunday. Consider cinnamon rolls, scones, doughnuts, beignets, muffins, or homemade kolaches, a Czech treat made of soft enriched dough and filled with fruit or cream cheese. Use social media to build buzz about your pastries and encourage pre-orders so you know how much you need to prepare, with no leftover waste.
Cookie or cupcake decorating kits: Kids are home, and they are bored. Sell undecorated cupcakes or sugar cookies, along with icing, sprinkles, and an easy to follow picture guide with decorating ideas. You can offer a new kit every month, and vary it for holidays.
Popcorn or trail mix: Develop your own line of long-lasting snacks like flavored popcorn, caramel popcorn, trail mix, or cereal mix. These are also foods with a long shelf life and infinite possibilities for flavor combos and variations.
Fudge, divinity, nut brittle, truffles, or toffee: It’s a stressful time for everyone who wouldn’t love something sweet to brighten up their day?
Marketing
Make use of free resources on social media like Facebook and Instagram. Get your friends and family talking about your product and sharing pictures and reviews. When you’re starting out, considering delivering some product for free to local first responders like police, fire, or EMS (they may give you and your product a shout-out on their social media).
Dollars and Sense
The first thing you’re going to want to know is how much your product costs you to produce, and how much you should sell it for. That’s where CakeBoss Software comes in. Sure, we’ve got “cake” in our name, but our proprietary software can cost out any recipe in no time. We count among our clients personal chefs, chocolatiers, pie bakers, and even dog treat makers! Here’s our costed out recipe for trail mix. We know that every recipe costs $11.77 to produce. Then, we combine the recipe with materials, like a cellophane bag, label, and ribbon, and calculate the complete cost to sell every package. When you know how much your product costs you to produce, you can be confident in your prices. CakeBoss Software also tracks orders, generates shopping lists based on your orders, keeps a calendar of your orders, lets you directly invoice your customers, and more.
You could be the next Tiff’s Treats. Ready? Read our article on starting a cottage food business for more advice.
