Getting started
How to Start a Baking Business: 6 Steps and First Costs
The six steps from kitchen to first paid order, with the costs and the rules check before you bake.
On this page
What to remember
- Rules first. One web page can save you a fine.
- One product, costed properly, beats a menu of ten.
- Your hours are a cost. Price them in from day one.
- Your first five orders should come from people who already know you.
This guide covers how to start baking business in the order that keeps money in your pocket: rules, then cost, then price, then orders. Every step fits into a week. You do not need a logo or a website to take your first order.
What to settle before you bake anything
Cottage food rules are set by your state, and they decide what you can sell, where you can sell it, and how much you can take in. Georgia removed its cottage-food licensing requirement on July 1, 2025, according to the NCF Alliance state guide, so there is no state application, renewal fee, or routine licensing inspection there. Your state may not work the same way. Read cottage food law for your home baking business before you take a dollar.
Write the answer down where you can see it while you bake. If your state requires a label with your name, your address, or an allergen note, put that wording in your notes now. It is much harder to add later, after you have printed 100 labels.
The six steps from kitchen to first paid order
Check your state cottage food rules
Find your state agriculture or health department page. Write down what you can sell, where, and any label wording you must use.
Choose one product
Pick the item people already ask you for and that you can make the same way every time. One product is easier to cost and easier to repeat.
Cost one full batch
Add ingredients, packaging, and the power you use. Divide by how many you get. Then add your own hours at a rate you would pay someone else.
Set a price and a minimum order
Price so the batch pays for ingredients, packaging, power, your time, and your monthly costs. Set a minimum order so small orders still make sense.
Take your first five orders from people you know
Friends, family, and neighbors. Ask for the order in writing so you have a date, a count, and a pickup time.
Put every order in one place
One list of orders, one place to get paid, one place to check what you spent. Texts and screenshots lose money.
What it costs to start, with numbers
Your first spend should be small. You already own the pans and the oven. The new costs are packaging, one ingredient top up, and a way to take orders. Brevl is one flat $20 a month with a 14 day free trial, so you can test taking orders before you pay for anything. See how to start selling baked goods for the first costs in order.
Do not buy a logo, a website, or a printed banner for your first order. Those are costs you take on before you know if anyone will pay. Spend on the things that touch the product: packaging that keeps it fresh and a label that carries the right wording.
Say you bake 24 muffins. Ingredients come to $9 and packaging, liners and labels, come to $4. Power for the oven and the dishwasher adds about $1. That is $14 of materials, or 58 cents a muffin. Two hours of your time at $18 an hour adds $36, so the batch really costs $50, or $2.08 a muffin. Spread your $20 monthly cost across 200 muffins and add 10 cents, so $2.18. Sell at $3 and you keep about 82 cents on each one.
How to set a price that pays you
A price is not a guess. It is your batch cost, your time, your monthly costs, and a margin, divided by how many you sell. Write the number down and keep it. When someone asks for a discount, you are deciding whether to give away part of that margin, not whether to give away flour.
Check the number against what people in your area already pay for something similar. If your price sits well above that, shrink the portion or simplify the recipe. Do not cut your own hours out of the sum to make the price look better. That is the same as working for free.
Mistakes that cost you money in the first month
The first mistake is pricing from ingredients alone. Flour and sugar are the smallest part of a batch. Packaging, power, and your hours are bigger, and leaving them out means every sale loses money slowly.
The second mistake is taking orders in five different places. A text here, a comment there, and a message you forgot to answer. You lose track of who paid, who is picking up, and what you promised. One list, one place to get paid.
The third is baking a wide menu too soon. Every extra product is another cost sheet, another set of labels, and another thing that can go wrong on pickup day. Add a second product only when the first one sells out twice.
The fourth is not writing down what you spent. Keep every receipt in one envelope or one folder on your phone. When you sit down to price again, you will have real numbers instead of a guess.
When to stop running orders out of your texts
Move to one place for orders when you are juggling more than a handful a week, or when you cannot answer the question of who still owes you money. Brevl gives you a shop with your own web address, your photos, and your colors. It works on a phone and on a computer, and you can take cards through your own Stripe or Square account, plus Venmo, Cash App, Zelle, and cash. There is no cut of your sales. See what to use to take orders and get paid.
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What to do this week
Open your state cottage food page and write down the rules in your own words. Cost one batch of the product you want to sell. Then message five people you know and offer that product for a date next week. That is a business with a first order, and you can build the rest from there. A home baking business plan helps once you have those numbers.
- Cottage food law for your home baking business
- Home baking business plan: 5 numbers before you bake
- Home baking business insurance: 3 checks to make
Common questions
Do I need a license to sell baked goods from home?
It depends on your state. Some states require a cottage food application and a fee, and some do not. Georgia, for example, dropped its licensing requirement on July 1, 2025. Check your state agriculture or health department page before you sell anything, and write down what it says.
How much money do I need to start?
Start with what you already own. Your first spend should cover packaging for one batch and one small ingredient top up. Brevl is $20 a month with a 14 day free trial, so you can test taking orders before you pay for anything.
How do I take payment from customers?
You can take cards through your own Stripe or Square account, and also Venmo, Cash App, Zelle, and cash. Brevl charges one flat $20 a month and takes 0% of your sales, so whatever your card processor charges is separate from that.
What should I bake first?
One item you can make the same way every time and that travels well to a pickup. Pick the one people already ask you for. A single product is easier to cost, easier to label, and easier to repeat on a busy week.
Do I need a website to start?
Not for your first orders. A shop with your own web address helps once you have repeat customers and want one place to send people. Brevl gives you a shop you can customize with your photos and colors, and it works on a phone and a computer.
How do I know my price is right?
Cost the full batch, add your time at a rate you would pay someone else, add your monthly costs, then compare the price with what people in your area already pay. If it is too high for your market, shrink the portion or simplify the recipe before you cut your own pay.
Sources
This is general information, not legal or tax advice. Cottage food rules and tax rules vary by state, so check your own state page before you sell.