Ive decided that I want to start to sell cakes outside of my family. Ive already had a few paid orders, but its been through family friends. My brother-in-law rents moonwalks, tables and chairs and he said that once I make up business cards, hed be happy to hand them out with his. (Which is awesome because he usually has a lot of business its a home business.)

Anyway, I really dont know where to start. Itll be a home bakery, and for now Im not worried about it being licensed b/c Ill be happy if I get at least one cake order =) As far as pricing goes, Ive decided on a starting price of $1.00-$1.50 per slice. Ive got a good variety of cake pans, know where to get supplies, and need to print all of my cake photos (they are all digital), but dont know if I should do anything else. Im a computer geek as well, so I was thinking of setting up a Web site (via geocities.yahoo.com), and email. Also, I dont have pictures of some of my earlier (better) cakes, so Im wondering if maybe I should redo some of them so I can add those photos to my portfolio. (But I guess I could just use dummy cakes, huh?)

I know this is long (sorry), but PLEASE any help/tips/advice/suggestions before I start this would be GREAT!!!!!!

Thanks fellow cake-decorating lovers!!

How exciting! Well, you can get the postcards or business cards cheap from VistaPrint or wetinkprinting and then I would start giving out samples to local churches, businesses, hospitals, large office buildings & at your childrens school ( if you ahve kids). Hand these out along with your cards and I'm sure you will get calls for more

You need to be careful how much you advertise. Missouri has counties where it is not allowed to sell home baked goods. The fines can be very steep. A website can lead the authorities right to your door.

You should be worried about getting licensed....you could get fined and possible get your brother-in-law and yourself sued if someone gets sick causing him to lose his business and you to lose everything. I'm not trying to be rude or give you a lecture but advertising and selling baked items to people you don't know could be a disaster.

I think you are not charging enough for your area. I am by Ottawa Kansas, about an hour or so from you and the Walmart charges 1.75 per serving. Just a suggestion.

In order to be a commercial baker, there are certain things you should not be with out. A business license, liabitlity insurance and a health inspection. If you don't you are courting disaster. All it takes is one person to put you under.

You will find there are alot on people on here that do sell from home but they are word of mouth. They don't advertise. Not that they wouldn't get into trouble but they feel safer being on the down low. There is an article on the homepage about starting a business and it will give you links to your state. Most states it seems require a completely separate kitchen from your living area, meaning there can be no access to the kitchen from your living space, along with additional requirements for the kitchen. Along with business license, county license, etc.