I'm a newbie to the cake biz. In fact, right now I'm not even officially a business but making cakes for family and friends. My name is just starting to get spread around to people I don't know. So, my questions to you are... what were your biggest challenges when you first started out? If you could give one piece of advise, what would it be? Is there anything that I should consider that many don't in the beginning?

Thank you so much!

Best piece of advice - get legal.

I'm with Leah... #1 priority should be calling the Health Department and finding out your state's regulations regarding home kitchens. After that it depends on what you want to do. You want to sit down and price out all of your recipes and figure out your costs of operation so you can accurately figure out what you should be charging to make a profit. Call around to other custom cakers in your area and get an idea of what they are charging so you aren't undercutting your competition. Things like that.