What you bake
A business plan for cakes and online sales
A two page plan that tells you what to bake, what to charge, and where the orders come in.
On this page
What to remember
- Keep it to one or two pages you will actually reread.
- Use real numbers for startup costs and prices, not round guesses.
- Check your state cottage food rules before you name a single cake for sale.
- Decide now how orders reach you, so you are not juggling DMs and texts.
- Write down your break-even number and keep it where you shop.
A plan does not have to be long. What matters is that the numbers on it are real, so a busy month does not leave you guessing whether you made money. If you are still working out whether you can sell at all, start with can I make cakes at home to sell and come back to the plan after.
Put real numbers on the page
A complete bakery plan example includes real startup costs, a sample profit and loss statement, a break-even analysis, and marketing. You can shrink all of that to fit a home kitchen. The point is to see, before you bake, what a month has to bring in to cover the pans, the boxes, the ingredients, and the gas.
List what you will sell
Cakes, cupcakes, and boxes. Keep the list short enough that one person can bake all of it in a week.
Add up what it costs to start
Pans, boxes, a scale, and ingredients for your first test bakes. A home bakery checklist covers legal setup, pricing, equipment, branding, and marketing with real costs and actionable steps.
Price each item
Work out the ingredient cost for one cake, add packaging, and set a price that leaves something behind for your time.
Find your break-even
Break-even analysis shows how many cakes you need to sell in a month before you are working for free.
Write down how you get paid
Cash, card, or transfer. Decide before your first order, not in the middle of it.
Plan your marketing
Pick the two or three places you will post, and one link you will send people to.
Know the rules before the menu
Cottage food laws decide what you can sell from home, where you can sell it, and how it has to be labeled. Read cottage food laws before you print a menu or take a deposit. It is a short step and it protects the whole plan.
Plan how the orders reach you
Online sales need one place to land. A guide to starting an online bakery covers the legal and practical side of building that from scratch, and a cake business guide covers the tools you can use to launch an online home cake business. Pick one spot and send everyone there, rather than splitting orders across messages, texts, and screenshots of your notes.
Brevl gives you a shop you customize with your own photos, colors, and web address, and it works on a phone and on a computer. You take card payments through your own Stripe or Square account, plus Venmo, Cash App, Zelle, and cash. We set it up with you and move your old shop over, products, photos, reviews, and dates included.
Try the free bake pricing calculator
Free, no signup.
Keep the plan where you will see it
A plan written once and filed away is a decoration. Put your break-even number and your top three sellers where you look before you shop for ingredients. Update the numbers when flour or butter moves, and read it again before you take on a big week. If you are still sorting out your kitchen, what do I need to sell cakes from home covers the setup, and home bakery licenses covers the paperwork.
Common questions
Do I need a full business plan to sell cakes from home?
No. A short plan with real numbers for costs, prices, and break-even is enough to run by. Templates exist that guide you through products, pricing, startup costs, and marketing with practical examples.
What goes in a home bakery business plan?
Your products, your startup costs, your prices, a break-even figure, and how you will market and take orders. A home bakery checklist covers legal setup, pricing, equipment, branding, and marketing.
Can I sell cakes online from home?
That depends on your state cottage food rules, which decide what you can sell from home and how it must be labeled. Check those before you build a menu or take a deposit.
How much does it cost to start?
Add up pans, boxes, a scale, and ingredients for your first test bakes. Write the total down so you know what your first few orders have to earn back.
How often should I update the plan?
Whenever a cost changes and before any big week. Your break-even number is only useful if it matches what flour, butter, and boxes cost right now.
Sources
General information, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Cottage food rules differ by state, so check your own state's rules and talk to a professional about your situation.