We had 2 liters of vegetable cream, 75 chicken eggs, 5 packages of baking powder, half a salt shaker of silver powder and a whole variety of dyes of all varieties and colors, Indonesian cocoa, as well as cognac and rum for impregnation, a bag of flour, a package of pure cream cheese and 2 dozen chocolate bars. Not that this is a necessary supply for a home pastry chef, but once you start stocking up on ingredients, it becomes difficult to stop. The only thing I was concerned about was the artificial flavors. Nothing in the world is more helpless, irresponsible and vicious than the pastry chef who uses them. I knew that sooner or later we would switch to this rubbish.
- Oh, this Katka, she sculpts crooked and askew figures, and charges money for cakes! - this is how Maria, one of the competing confectioners in my city, spoke about me behind my back.
I never planned to become a home pastry chef. Actually, I'm a journalist. It all started when I took an online sales course to help my accountant mom find clients. We were taught to write selling texts, introduced a little to the psychology of sales - we were told to read R. Cialdini’s book “The Psychology of Influence.” For the first time in my life, I baked a very beautiful “Real Napoleon” cake for my birthday. And just for fun, I decided to write an advertisement that I was making such cakes.
How I wrote one ad and received orders for 20 thousand
At the training, we were taught to write selling texts using the AIDA formula (attention-interest-desire-action), I made an ad “The Real Napoleon” and put it up for a local auction (similar to “Avito”). After a couple of days, I noticed that the cake was viewed much more than my mother’s advertisement for registering companies, although an advertisement was launched on my mother’s.
I realized that cakes are a popular topic, and I decided to try taking orders.
Once I wrote a text using the AIDA formula for a landing page - I wanted to launch a course on making money from cakes. A friend of mine took this text and converted it into an advertisement for her course on daily rentals, replacing some words. I decided to read what she came up with. The landing page was so convincing that I finally bought this course on daily rentals. This is probably the only case when a person sold himself something unnecessary.
It worked to my advantage that it was the end of December - the best time for home pastry chefs. I immediately received 3 orders and earned 5 thousand rubles without deducting cost.
At that time, I had not yet thought through the issue of packaging; I had to make some kind of improvised stands, covered with foil, and cover the top with cling film.
Orders continued to arrive after the New Year. For many confectioners, January is a low season, but for some reason my ad worked, maybe because I connected advertising for 2,000 rubles. per month. In general, at the end of December and January, I sold 20 thousand rubles worth of cakes. Sometimes I baked 2 cakes a day.
Making Napoleons was perhaps my most successful project - the cost of this quiche is minimal, unlike other expensive recipes. It takes some work to bake it. But I soon got used to it and got the hang of rolling 10-12 cakes very quickly. Everything then took me 2–3 hours.
Costs associated with making one cake
All ingredients are quite cheap, with the exception of confectionery mastic. When I made the cake for the first time, I bought quite a bit, but for serious production, it is best to buy in large quantities.
It is sold in online confectionery stores and wholesale markets, in small one-kilogram buckets. Each bucket contains mastic of a certain color. It is very rare to find buckets with several flowers.
The cost of one kilogram of confectionery mastic is 200 rubles, plus or minus 20 rubles.
Confectionery chocolate is not cheap. The average cost of one kilogram is 450 rubles. In order to save money, it is best to take tiles weighing 2-3 kilograms.
To bake one cake weighing 1400 - 1700 grams, you will need:
- 6-7 large eggs – 40 rubles;
- butter – 100-150 grams – 60 rubles;
- 5 glasses of flour – 15 rubles;
- 1 glass of kefir or sour milk – 20 rubles;
- boiled or plain condensed milk – 60 rubles;
- 400 grams of sour cream – 40 rubles;
- 400 grams of chocolate – 120 rubles;
- confectionery mastic – 100 rubles;
- a glass of sugar - 10 rubles;
- salt, soda, a couple of pinches of vanillin - 10 rubles.
Result: 475 rubles are spent on the production of one cake.
Sometimes, the costs associated with producing one cake can be higher. It’s also worth adding the cost of a cardboard box – 15 rubles.
Study of cookies
When I was looking through the sweets section at the auction, I noticed that there are cakes that cost not 700 rubles/kg like mine, but 1100 rubles/kg - beautiful ones with mastic.
I decided to learn how to make cakes with fondant. I learned to bake, decorate on forums, read confectionery topics on “Khlebopechka.ru”, “Cook”, Say7, watched sites with step-by-step sculpting of figures, master classes on YouTube.
At first, sometimes it wasn’t even possible to simply bake a sponge cake; it would burn or not rise, so I had to do it again in a hurry. But then I got better at it, found suitable recipes, and everything became easy.
I posted a new ad for auction that I make birthday cakes with any design. First I had to post a photo from the Internet.
The first cake with fondant was “Masha and the Bear”; I decorated it very carefully according to MK from the forum. It seemed to me that it turned out to be a masterpiece. Now, looking at him, I understand that something is clearly wrong with Masha. But everyone on my VKontakte page was delighted, and the client liked it too.
Then I made a cake in the shape of a car for a friend. This is one of the most difficult designs, but it all worked out.
How to formulate a pricing policy
The issue of price is always a very relevant topic for craftsmen who sell handmade items or products. The result of manual labor cannot and should not cost as much as a similar factory-made product costs in a store. On the other hand, a handmade product is forced to compete with mass-produced goods. That is why it is important to maintain a balance and find a middle ground when setting prices for your products. You need to find a price so as not to offend yourself and not to scare away the consumer.
When forming a pricing policy, consider the following factors:
- prices at which competitive products are sold (for example, cakes in the nearest pastry shop or store);
- prices at which competitors work;
- income and financial capabilities of your potential buyers;
- the cost of consumables for making a cake (food, as well as electricity, gas, water);
- time costs for making one or another type of cake.
Compare the answers to these questions, and you can understand what price level is acceptable specifically for your cakes, for your region and for your customers. Determine the minimum price below which you cannot go in any way in your work. Be prepared to make changes to your pricing policy depending on the market situation. So, during the seasonal downturn, prices may have to be lowered a little. During mass orders (for example, for national holidays such as Christmas and New Year, graduations in kindergartens and schools), you can afford a slight increase in prices.
Video: how to calculate the cost of your work
The first year you work on tools and materials
That's what my experienced pastry chef friend said.
And so it happened.
At first, my cakes were not perfect, especially the figures. At this time, famous masters constantly came to my city with various confectionery courses. I took courses on sculpting figures from mastic, making sugar flowers, and painting with glaze. The courses lasted from 2 to 5 days and cost 22–30 thousand rubles. every. And you also had to buy tools and materials that were sold by the craftsmen there. After all, I had nothing. In general, in the first months I spent about 100 thousand rubles. for training and materials. It took about a year of baking cakes to return this amount.
Sugar flowers are difficult to distinguish from real ones
Purchase of raw materials
At the very beginning of your entrepreneurial journey, you can and even need to purchase raw materials from markets and hypermarkets. Because you don’t need a lot of products to make the first “batch” of cakes. You should buy dairy products, butter, honey and nuts at markets. In hypermarkets you can buy sprinkles, chocolate (for further grinding or making glaze) and other products suitable for decoration. You should also get a good liqueur or rum, syrup for soaking cakes. Perishable ingredients must be purchased on the day the specific cake is made.
As the business begins to expand and demand for products increases, it will be possible to buy some items in bulk. Both physical companies and online stores sell confectionery raw materials. The latter are preferable due to the rich assortment and delivery. It will be physically difficult for a person without a personal car to carry 10 kg of liquid flavor or 7 kg of cocoa powder. Of course, the quantity of purchased products must be calculated according to production volumes.
Entrepreneurs specializing in the production of natural and healthy cakes are not recommended to add palm oil, flavorings, or preservatives to their products. All these components reduce the cost of production and extend the life of the product, but they are in no way suitable for making so-called eco-baked goods.
In large online stores you can buy absolutely everything, from mastic to candied fruits. You will have to invest a lot in additional ingredients, but it is still much cheaper to buy products in bulk.
Baking and pastry mold
If you decide to make custom cakes, then you will have to buy:
– Rolling pins, silicone mats.
During the figurine sculpting course, I bought a special rolling pin for 800 rubles. During the course on flowers, it turned out that this rolling pin is not good enough, and I need to buy another one for 900 rubles. Now I understand that you can roll out a petal with any rolling pin.
– Molds for decorating cakes, as well as for flower petals. During the course on sugar flowers, for some reason I bought molds for a huge number of types of flowers, some of which I had never made. They lie there and rust. It’s just that when you’re a beginner, you don’t know what you’ll need. – Airbrush and food coloring. – Dry and gel dyes. – Molds that help you quickly sculpt figures. We bought medical silicone, which dentists use, and made the molds ourselves. For example, you could stick this silicone around the doll. It froze and a doll-shaped mold was obtained.
One pastry chef worked in a supermarket on custom cakes, making 8 cakes a day. It helped that she had a big bag of molds for every occasion. That is, she did not sculpt the figures, but simply stamped them with these molds.
– Sets of stacks, special sticks with different tips for working with mastic. – Flowers require special wire and tape. – It is advisable to purchase a food printer, because cakes with sugar printing are very profitable - they are made quickly, and they turn out beautifully and effectively. But a printer, ink, and sugar paper are also expensive. My pastry chef friend believed that it had not paid off for her even after several years. I never bought it. – Baking molds, silicone molds for mousse cakes. – Ingredients: cocoa, chocolate, etc.
We really loved going to the confectionery base with our child. There, the kind movers poured half a bag of Belgian Barry Callebaut chocolate for him - white, milk and black circles. They generously poured in half a kilogram or a kilogram. This chocolate cost 600 rubles/kg. This lasted for a couple of years until the head of the base was replaced.
– And many, many more: paper cupcake molds, pastry bags and nozzles, fondant iron, packaging, brushes – the list is endless. “And I bought a pastry mold here,” one of the girls on the course shared. “Imagine, you go out to a client and bring out a cake, all so beautiful, in uniform.”
Then I also bought a pastry mold. By the way, it later came in handy for me many times, for example, for filming on television.
Where to start at home
Before you start cooking, read your chosen recipe carefully. Make sure all ingredients are available in sufficient quantity. In addition to the ingredients, pay attention to any tools needed: measuring cups and spoons, bowls, pans and molds, mixers.
Coming back to the fact that baking is a kind of science. A well-thought-out recipe contains ingredients in prescribed quantities—something that produces the expected reactions. Baking powder or baking soda helps baked goods rise; eggs, flaxseed flour, applesauce (in a certain amount) help bind all components.
Quick results with simple recipes
The irony is that although cake is one of life's simple pleasures, it is often not so easy to bake. Luckily, there are plenty of recipes with simple preparation and simple steps that will help you achieve perfect baking.
I want to learn how to bake cakes, where to start? A decadent chocolate cake from celebrated British chef Marcus Waring. The cake does not contain flour, so it retains a buttery and moist texture after cooking.
Step by step recipe
Ingredients
for test:
- 300 g dark chocolate
- 150 g unsalted butter
- 5 medium eggs
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 100 g powdered sugar
- lubricating oil
for covering:
- 200 g dark chocolate
- 100 ml heavy cream
Preparation:
- Preheat the oven to 180°C.
- Grease the inner surface of the mold with a small amount of oil. Place a cut out circle of greaseproof paper on the bottom.
- Break the chocolate into pieces and place it along with the butter in a heatproof bowl. Fill a small saucepan with water (3 cm high) and bring it to a boil. Reduce the fire. Place a bowl on the pan (the bottom should not touch the water). Stir gently so that the ingredients melt evenly. Remove the chocolate-butter mixture from the water bath, stir and set aside.
- In a large bowl, beat the eggs and add the vanilla extract.
- Add the sugar and continue beating at high speed until the mixture becomes a thick, mousse-like consistency with lots of air, pale in color - about 5 times the volume of the original mixture.
- Combine the chocolate-butter mixture with the mousse, without whisking, but carefully and thoroughly stirring with a metal spoon or spatula.
- Pour the prepared batter into the prepared pan and bake for 35 minutes until firm and slightly moist in the center underneath the crust.
- Remove from the oven and place the pan on a wire rack. Remove the cooled cake from the pan by turning it upside down onto a flat plate or cake stand and removing the greaseproof paper.
- To top, pour the cream into a large heatproof bowl and add the chocolate chips. Melt in a water bath. Once the mixture has melted by half, remove from heat and whisk until smooth.
- Pour the chocolate-cream mixture evenly over the cake.
How to learn to make cakes? Simple recipes for popular cakes:
- Honey cake with sour cream - simple honey cake
- Napoleon
- Sour cream recipe, any beginner can handle it
- Bear in the north
- bake a cake + at home: step by step children's cake
- Anthill
- bird's milk
- Depression cake
- Italian cake 12 spoons
- Cake Paul Robeson
- Mrs. Walewska
- Banana cake
- Cake Baby
Selection of equipment and tools
The equipment needed for a home bakery depends on the type of baked goods and the volume of sales.
To make large batches, the home baker may need a commercial mixer (for mixing dough, making frosting for cakes). Commercial mixers operate similarly to kitchen mixers, but vary in size, from countertop models to stand-mounted models capable of mixing up to 500 pounds of dough or more. Prices for commercial mixers vary depending on the brand.
Mobile cooling racks can be stored anywhere in the kitchen and used for temporary storage of baked goods. Commercial racks tend to be expensive. But initially, you can purchase a small wire rack with casters at a home improvement store until you can purchase a commercial model.
Ingredients must be preserved properly. A home refrigerator is not able to accommodate food for the family and “business” components, and according to Rospotrebnadzor standards, the purchase of a separate refrigerator is required. This may be a standard refrigerator, but the internal temperature will have to be monitored with additional thermometers to ensure cooling guidelines are met.
The oven at home will not be able to cope with the volume of production. Depending on your budget, you can install an additional stove, but the best choice is a convection oven with a countertop. Convection ovens use fans to circulate hot air throughout the oven, resulting in even baking. Additionally, new generation convection ovens use significantly less energy than commercial ovens.
Tools:
- springform baking pans, baking sheets;
- measuring utensils: measuring spoons, cups, jugs;
- mixing bowls: plastic, metal or glass depending on preference, but it's worth having heat-resistant ones, for example for melting chocolate in a double boiler. It's helpful to have at least two large bowls, given that most recipes call for more than one bowl;
- strainers for sifting flour, sugar;
- spatulas;
- pastry spatulas, scrapers;
- pastry brushes;
- rolling pins;
- corollas; hand mixer;
- wooden spoons;
- metal skewers for checking the readiness of baked goods;
- pastry bags with nozzles;
- cake decorating kits;
- rotating cake stand;
- parchment paper;
- marzipan coasters;
- tweezers with a long handle;
- scales;
- oven thermometers.
How to choose products?
A baker needs a large list of ingredients that can be stored in the refrigerator, freezer, or cupboard. But if you are a beginner pastry chef and are just setting up your workspace, you can reduce it to a few essential products.
The building blocks of your bakery pantry:
- All-purpose flour (a mixture of high-gluten hard wheat and low-gluten soft wheat). As needed, we add different types of flour to the “pantry”, which we store in airtight and moisture-proof containers on a cool, dark shelf or in the refrigerator: whole wheat, bakery, pastry, cake flour, corn, cornstarch, rice, oat, gluten-free flour and others .
- Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) is an alkaline chemical leavening agent that works when combined with acid and heat. Acidic ingredients that activate baking soda are dairy products, molasses, brown sugar, cocoa powder, citrus juice, vinegar. To make a leavening agent, baking soda is mixed with tartrate and cornstarch. Yeast is a biological starter that works much slower than chemical starters because the yeast cells take time to naturally metabolize and produce carbon dioxide. Active dry yeast or instant yeast can be stored under suitable conditions for several months.
- Granulated sugar is what recipes always mean when they list sugar as an ingredient. Other types of sugar needed by the baker: confectioner's sugar (or powdered sugar) used for making icings and toppings, brown (refined with molasses added), perhaps granulated (for decoration). If brown sugar is not stored properly, it can clump into crystallized lumps (due to the molasses). Other sugars and sweeteners - date, coconut, maple sugar, honey, molasses, agave syrup, maple syrup, cane syrup.
- Salt (granulated table salt, sea salt, kosher).
- Dairy products. Unsalted butter is the default choice for baking. An alternative is margarine for baking. Powdered buttermilk, plant milk (from soy, coconut, nuts, almonds). Cream cheese and sour cream.
- Basic fats. Vegetable oil with a neutral taste and confectionery fat (confectionery fat has a higher melting point than butter, so baked goods with it retain their shape better).
- Large eggs.
- Extracts and flavors (vanilla, almond, lemon, mint, rum, brandy...); add them to the collection gradually, starting with vanilla.
- Spices (ground cinnamon, cloves, allspice, ginger, nutmeg...).
A professional baker's pantry should contain:
- Various types of chocolate, including chocolate chips, unsweetened cocoa powder, Dutch cocoa powder for icing;
- dried fruits (raisins, cranberries);
- cereals;
- nuts;
- jams, jellies, canned fruit;
- peanut or almond butter;
- food colorings;
- crystallized ginger;
- matcha (powdered green tea);
- chia seeds;
- coconut (shredded or flaked)
Buy ingredients in bulk at farmers markets or wholesale stores.
Meet the confectioners
During the course, I became friends with Inna, a pastry chef who had been baking cakes to order for 8 years and was one of the first private pastry chefs in my city. She taught me a lot. She told me where the best shops and warehouses are. She suggested delicious recipes, design life hacks, etc.
It seemed to me that my cakes were quite beautiful right away. And Inna consoled me: “Don’t worry, you’ll work for a year and you’ll see how the quality improves!”
At the beginning, I did everything in accordance with the original recipes, for example, for tiramisu I specially bought expensive Marsala port wine. Inna was surprised to learn about this: “Probably no one in our city cooks with Marsala, I add cognac or rum myself.” Later I also switched to cognac or cream liqueur. But in the first year, customers were lucky to try the most authentic tiramisu.
What surprised me about the pastry chefs was that almost all of them used vegetable cream. After all, people order homemade cake so that everything is natural. Many also use special pastes - fruit, berry. It turns out very tasty, but still, this is no longer a homemade version, but more like a cafe product.
My friend Inna’s entire assortment was based on these pastes. It was called “Ice Cream”, and it could come in any flavor – cherry, banana, etc. The clients really liked it.
A world-class master who came to teach a confectionery course shared her experience. It turns out that in her super cakes she mixed vegetable and natural cream in half for the cream. This way the cake holds its shape better, she thought.
Another old-time pastry chef, Tatyana, said: “Yes, I will never take any assistant, because cooking is a responsible business, I know where I can save money so that clients don’t notice.” Inna told me that Tatyana uses some kind of powder to add flavor to the cream. This was considered bad manners; no one else did this. “Imagine how unnatural this is,” the girls said.
Of course, not all home confectioners use vegetable cream. If in doubt, when ordering, just ask the pastry chef to make sure it is without them. You can also add that you are allergic to them.
How to attract clients: planning advertising and marketing
The main channels for attracting customers for this type of business include word of mouth and social networks. As with most home-based businesses, your first customers will be relatives, friends and acquaintances. It is quite possible that at the start you will not earn a lot of money, but you will gain valuable experience that will help you fine-tune your business processes and better understand the business you are doing. Tell people in your inner circle about your idea, treat them to a culinary masterpiece, or give an exclusive homemade cake for a holiday. If people like your creation, they will remember it and be happy to talk about it. Make sure that, along with a piece of cake, each guest receives a business card with your contact information.
Which social networks to use
To decide where it makes sense to promote your cakes, you need to analyze the current market situation and answer several questions:
- What social networks are in demand in your region? Thus, according to official statistics, in the European part of Russia the VKontakte network is traditionally more popular, while beyond the Urals and to the Far East Russians prefer to spend their free time on Odnoklassniki. Facebook is popular in capital cities - Moscow and St. Petersburg - and among a rather narrow audience.
- Who is your target audience, and what social networks do these people spend their time on?
- What social networks are your competitors present on? How successful are they doing?
- What kind of content are you willing to provide on a regular basis? If you have a lot of beautiful photos, Instagram is suitable; for a large number of videos, it is better to create an account on YouTube; people like to read interesting texts on Facebook and blogs.
Many marketers recommend creating accounts on several social networks at the same time so that your customers have more opportunities to find you. However, it is important not to overdo it here. It’s not enough to just create a page or community on a social network. You need to constantly engage in them, only then will they bring you profit. An abandoned account that is updated once a month with low-quality content will cause rejection rather than interest and trust. When creating accounts on social networks, be sure to keep in mind that they also need to be given time and attention.
It is important for a developing business to quickly gain a clientele: social networks are indispensable in this case
There are three ways to promote on social networks:
- Regularly publish interesting and useful content for readers on your page or community. You can write posts yourself or use the work of hired copywriters or photographers.
- Use the possibilities of targeted advertising on social networks. Setting up advertising campaigns can also be done either on your own or with the help of hired specialists. It is important to understand that in the latter case, in addition to advertising budgets, you will also have to pay for the work of the targetologist.
- Collaborate with other accounts: exchange advertising posts, come up with and carry out joint promotions, introduce a system of mutual discounts, and so on.
There are also “black” low-cost ways to promote on social networks, for example, mass adding users as friends and then inviting them to your community, sending spam messages, recruiting bots into subscribers and other quick and not so fast methods, but it is still not recommended to use these methods. Social networks are set up to combat this kind of methods; you will be identified very quickly and blocked from both your personal page and the community page. In addition, even if you “catch up” bots into your group for the sake of mass participation, these bots are unlikely to leave you a positive review, increase page traffic, or place an order. In this case, quality is more important than quantity.
Other advertising on the Internet
A good way to promote your services on the Internet is to create a website. A professional website inspires confidence among potential customers. Today there are quite a lot of designers that will allow you to create a website yourself and at minimal cost (for example, Wix, Mozello and others). However, just creating a website is not enough. Its promotion also needs to be done. You can also promote your website yourself or with the help of hired specialists. The cost of professional services varies from 10,000 rubles per month, depending on the number of search queries for which you want to advance, as well as the characteristics of the chosen niche (region of work, competition, and so on).
If you have your own website or community on social networks, you can use a tool such as contextual advertising for promotion. The user sees this advertisement in the search results of Google and Yandex when looking at the search results for a query that interests him. You can learn how to create such advertising, set it up and manage it yourself, or you can trust a professional and devote all your efforts to making cakes.
Another channel for advertising and promotion of services is advertising on thematic websites and forums. Register on culinary forums and portals, communicate with people and find your future clients in live communication, or order paid advertising from the owners of these thematic platforms. You need to spend some time experimenting so you can understand which method of work will be most effective.
Communication on thematic forums will help not only find new clients, but also improve your professional level
Offline advertising
Perhaps you will be able to find your clientele not only on the Internet. Try to get to know the candy stores, bakeries and cafeterias in your area or city. It is quite possible that one of them will want to sell your cakes as an intermediary. Of course, in this case, your earnings will be slightly less than if the client buys the cake directly, but with the right approach, you will be able to develop a certain client base and receive a series of stable orders. Perhaps you will find partners in the organizers of children's parties or anniversaries and weddings for adults.
In some regions, free newspaper advertising works well. Experiment to understand which advertising method will be optimal in your case.
Particular attention should be paid to the packaging of the finished product. In addition to the fact that the cake box will be beautiful and unusual, it must contain your contact information so that satisfied guests know who to contact for a delicious and unusual cake.
An original cake box is a great advertisement for your business: especially if it has contact information on it
Does expensive mean good? A few words about pricing
Imagine that you have a choice - to order a cake for 1,500 rubles/kg or for 800 rubles/kg? Which one do you think is of better quality? Often people make a choice in favor of an expensive one, considering it good by default, I remember this from Cialdini’s book. Therefore, I immediately set a price approximately the same as everyone else in the city - 1,100 rubles. per kg, despite the fact that I was a beginner. This is why one of my competitors disliked me.
Delivery was paid, 250 rubles. People willingly paid for it so as not to have to go for the cake. At first, I also made a box for cakes for a fee - 100 rubles. Otherwise, the cake was simply served on a base, packed with transparent paper on top, also quite beautiful. It’s just that many custom-made cakes, in principle, are not included in the box, or it requires a non-standard and expensive one.
Transporting cakes is not easy. I remember transporting a three-tier wedding cake weighing 11 kg in the trunk of a taxi. Plus, then it was necessary to drag him to the customer and open the door, or ask someone to help. In general, hard physical work.
How to legally sell homemade baked goods
Opening a full-fledged confectionery shop in a residential area is prohibited by law because:
- According to SanPin standards, residential premises are not suitable for production purposes. You can open a confectionery shop or workshop only by transferring the premises to the status of commercial real estate,
- government control authorities will not issue permission for home baking for sale,
But this does not apply to baking bidding services for individuals. You can also apply for a patent for the services of a home cook and travel to customers to cook in their homes.
Necessary documents for business registration
For small businesses, registration as a self-employed citizen is suitable. If confectionery is your hobby and not your main job, you can combine self-employment and paid work. But you cannot combine self-employment and individual entrepreneurs - you need to choose one thing.
Conditions for registering a self-employed citizen:
- the tax regime applies in the region where you operate (as of 2020, 21 regions participate in the program).
- you have no employees,
- annual income from this activity does not exceed 2 million 400 thousand rubles.
No additional documents are needed. You can register online - either on the Federal Tax Service website, or through the applications of some banks (for example, Sberbank, Tinkoff, Alfa Bank).
When choosing a type of activity, indicate “confectioner”. Registration is free; OKVED codes are not required. Verification of the application takes several business days.
An alternative is to register an individual entrepreneur. To do this, you need to submit an application to the tax office at your place of residence with a copy of your passport and a receipt for payment of the state duty. The fee is 800 rubles, the period for reviewing documents is a week.
You will also need to open a current account. Basic OKVED code 10.71 – Production of bread and flour confectionery products, cakes and pastries for non-durable storage.
You will need:
- Permission from the fire department.
- SES permission for the production of baked goods and a conclusion on the products.
- Permit from environmental assessment.
- Certificate of conformity of baked goods TU and GOST.
The LLC format is not suitable for home baking - unless you plan to launch full-fledged production in rented premises.
They traded, had fun, did the calculations and shed tears
At first I was very happy that sometimes you can earn 5-7 thousand rubles over the weekend. But then I calculated expenses and income. It turned out that from each cake I earned exactly 1,000 rubles. with a cake price of 3,000. That is, the profit was a third of the income. Earnings no longer looked so rosy.
I received this money for a day of hard work, often without sleep, because the figures, flowers, and decor required a lot of time. After each cake I had to recover for a couple of days.
In fact, it was not a business, but self-employment with a not very high salary. In addition, I was constantly worried whether the customer would like my cake.
Judging by the photo album in my group, I made 333 cakes in 4 years.
Assortment of baked goods
If customers like the cakes, then they will want to purchase other baked goods that are more suitable “for every day.” Therefore, in addition to cakes, you can make cakes, muffins, cupcakes and cheesecakes. In addition, this will provide a significant advantage, because customers will be able to purchase all the necessary baked goods for large celebrations (for example, weddings) in one place. If the seller only produces cakes, then there will be less profit.
Modern cake manufacturers are also recommended to “adapt” to the fashion for healthy eating and gluten-free food by adding several items that meet these criteria to their assortment. This can be low-calorie or dairy- and egg-free baked goods. For example: cakes based on yoghurt or porridge, fruit basket cakes.
Of course, the menu should also include classic items: Sacher, Napoleon, Honey cake, Count's ruins. Exceptions are those cases when the confectionery specializes exclusively in low-calorie cakes. You also need to add your own, unique options to the menu, made according to a “patented” recipe.
Particular attention should be paid to product design. Before starting a business, it is recommended to research artisan cake studios. Such products are very different from classic ones precisely in their appearance. It costs more and is more in demand, making it easier to create a recognizable brand.
Where to get clients? Group development in VK
“You don’t need any special promotion, make it tasty and beautiful, and there will be a queue of customers,” almost all the confectioners said so... And they immediately invited you to their Instagram, Facebook and Odnoklassniki, where they posted cakes.
All the confectioners did something to promote themselves: they posted ads on forums and were active on social networks. And even for the best, not everything always went smoothly, and there was not always a queue of clients. For example, Inna sometimes had to work as a taxi driver, despite her huge client base.
The first year I used a paid source - an advertisement at an auction, from which it all began.
I posted photos of cakes on VKontakte, and orders came from there. She created and began to develop a group. At first I was uncomfortable that there were few people in the group, so I bought 1,000 subscribers. Then she began to develop it through competitions where cakes were awarded. As I wrote in another article, I knew the technology for effectively holding competitions using invitations. This helped a lot. And then VKontakte deleted the purchased fake subscribers, but there were already many real ones. Now there are 3,000 people in the group.
I also tried live sales: I sold cakes piece by piece at a local role-playing reenactment festival. Since the price was set quite cheap, they bought it willingly, but the profit was small. One cake was bought entirely by a nearby food outlet that sold homemade shawarma. They increased the price of my cake and successfully sold everything at a profit for themselves.
And these are the cakes of a healthy person
After about a year, I was able to give up paid advertising; I had enough old clients and requests from the social network. I had few orders, about 1-4 per week. But I didn’t have enough strength for more, since I had a small child. Usually, confectioners who made a lot of cakes had children going to kindergartens or schools.
Stages of baking sponge cake with cream and berries
The sponge cake is the base for the cake. Probably every housewife knows how to prepare and bake a classic sponge cake made from eggs, sugar and flour. For those who are just learning the basics of baking, we remind you that it is enough to follow a few simple tips for the cake to rise and turn out as airy as a feather.
Ingredients and Tools
As a rule, a classic sponge cake does not contain fat, but its taste is enhanced by butter cream, impregnation, glaze, various fillings, berries and fruits. Some recipes contain a small amount of butter (chiffon sponge, genoise sponge, or genoa sponge), but not so much that the dough will not rise.
Depending on the size of the mold and the pan in which we will bake the biscuit, the following ratios are used:
- 12 cm wide: 2 eggs, 60 g all-purpose flour, 60 g sugar;
- 15 cm: 3 eggs, 90 g flour, 90 g sugar;
- 18/20 cm: 4 eggs, 120 g flour, 120 g sugar;
- 23 cm: 5-6 eggs, 150 g flour, 150 g sugar;
- 27 cm: 7 eggs, 210 g flour, 210 g sugar;
- 28 cm: 8 eggs, 240 g flour, 240 g sugar;
- 30 cm: 9 eggs, 270 g flour, 270 g sugar;
- 32 cm: 10 eggs, 300 g flour, 300 g sugar.
Use only large eggs (each egg weighs approximately 70 grams). Eggs should be at room temperature; if they are cold, then you need to immerse them in a bowl of warm water for a few minutes.
Making the dough
Separate the whites from the yolks. Then beat the whites into a thick foam, 2-4 minutes. Without ceasing to beat, gradually add sugar and add the yolks, one after the other. It is very important that the mixer (or whisk) rotates in one direction when whipping, otherwise the mass may settle. Beat eggs and sugar for at least 15-20 minutes at high/medium speed. The finished mixture should be pale yellow. Gradually add the sifted flour, gradually slowing the speed to a minimum.
To determine the readiness of the dough, you need to lift the whisk and draw a figure eight with the flowing dough. We count to 10, if the eight remains on top of the dough, then the consistency is correct. If the figure eight sinks after 10 seconds, then you need to beat it for some more time.
How to bake a biscuit correctly
Line the bottom of the pan with a sheet of parchment paper, aligning it along the sides so that it creates a collar that is 3-5 cm above the pan. Grease the bottom and sides of the pan with oil to prevent the parchment paper from sticking.
Biscuits can also be baked in ungreased pans. It is believed that this way the dough rises better; the batter sticks and “climbs” up the edges of the pan.
Place the biscuit in a preheated oven at 180 degrees Celsius
Place the pan in the center of the oven.
Do not open the oven door while the biscuit is baking, for at least 30 minutes, otherwise the dough will collapse. Bake for about 35-40 minutes.
After the biscuit is baked, turn off the oven and leave it inside, opening the door with a wooden spoon, for 5-10 minutes.
Remove the cake from the oven, let it cool for another 10 minutes, then loosen the edges with a knife and turn it upside down onto a wire rack.
Wrap the completely cooled biscuit in cling film and leave it in the refrigerator overnight.
Preparing cream and berries
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 and 1/2 cups unsalted butter, room temperature
- 220 g cream cheese (curd cheese)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 350 g strawberries (blackberries, raspberries), divided into three cups
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
For impregnation (lemon syrup)
- 3/4 cup warm water
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 4 tablespoons lemon juice
Mix 2 tablespoons of lemon juice with one serving of berries in a small saucepan. Cook over low heat for about 7 minutes, until the berries can be mashed with a fork. Strain through a strainer, pushing the berries with a spatula until only the seeds remain in the sieve. Let the berry puree cool to room temperature.
Mix butter, powdered sugar and salt; beat with a mixer until fluffy, increasing speed.
Add a piece of cream cheese, mix thoroughly and continue beating until a fluffy mass is formed. Add berry puree one tablespoon at a time, continuing to beat until smooth.
Cut the second portion of berries.
Prepare lemon syrup by mixing granulated sugar and lemon juice in warm water.
Cake assembly and decor
Place the first layer of cake on the turntable, cut side up. Soak in 1/4 of the lemon syrup. Cover with cream and sprinkle with 1/3 of the chopped berries.
We do the same actions with the remaining layers. Place the last layer with the cut side down and cover the top and sides with cream.
Decorate the cake with roses, using a piping bag with a tip to create a rose. Decorate with the remaining portion of berries and sprinkle with crystallized sugar.
Cream roses, pain, returns, tears
-What kind of cake did they order for you? In the form of a ball? – Maria asked, “Oh, there’s nothing to do there, it’s very easy.” I can do this in a couple of hours.
I calmed down that they ordered me a light design and left little time for the cake. It turned out that a round cake in the shape of a ball is a very complex design. Especially if inside there is a delicate curd cream with peaches and strawberry jam. And on top of the ball it was necessary to place a heavy cup made of mastic. In general, the customer’s cake spread along the way.
“What are you saying, a ball cake is one of the most complex designs,” Inna exclaimed when she learned about this. “Why did Masha mislead you?”
Every pastry chef has failures. In a sales course they said that about 1% of dissatisfied customers is normal. I had a few of these at first. I always offered to return the money. But the customers of the ball cake refused to take the money back because they really liked the taste. And then they ordered more cakes from me, albeit of a very simple shape.
The biggest nightmare of all people who lived in the Soviet Union is buttercream roses, they all remember them and say: “But not with buttercream.” Interestingly, properly prepared cream from good butter and condensed milk is quite tasty. One pastry chef held a tasting of fillings, and people liked it the most.
Personnel selection and premises rental
To open a workshop combined with a confectionery, you need to rent a spacious room in an area with good traffic. You can choose an area where many educational institutions and companies are located. It is not necessary to rent a space in the city center, since this will be extremely unprofitable for a beginning entrepreneur with a limited budget. Dormitory neighborhoods with new buildings are perfect for a confectionery shop.
Basic conditions for the workshop: high-quality and extensive ventilation system, constant power supply. Industrial equipment will work for many hours, thereby creating a large load on the electrical grid. Energy costs must be calculated in the business plan, even if the production itself is organized at home.
The minimum number of employees required for a workshop combined with a confectionery:
- an experienced pastry chef (at first you can hold this position independently);
- courier;
- cashier.
The pastry chef must have a medical certificate. Also, when hiring a person, it is strongly recommended to look at his portfolio or ask him to make a “test” cake for a special order.
Friendship is friendship, but cakes are without a discount
What do confectioners dislike most? When asked to make a 1 kg cake with mastic. In a cake that is slightly larger than a store-bought one, the weight of mastic and decoration is exactly 1 kg. Or when they ask for a cake in two tiers for one and a half kg. Or a cake with an intricate design for tomorrow.
I also didn’t really like making orders for friends. After all, they want the cake at a discount, but it’s still just as beautiful and complex as without the discount. And it’s inconvenient to refuse.
Assortment development and portfolio preparation
In order for first-time customers to turn into permanent ones, it is very important to give them the opportunity to choose. In other words, the cook must know exactly what kind of cakes, when and for what money he can prepare. It is very important to properly design your culinary portfolio. Don't skimp on a professional food photographer and high-quality photo printing. Portfolios can be posted both online and offline. In addition, a portfolio in video format may also be useful to you. Of course, you can’t do this on your own and you will have to involve video filming and video editing professionals. But several beautifully and well-made videos will last a very long time and will definitely attract new customers to you.
Photo gallery: cakes from the CoolnwsFoods culinary studio
Cake “Baba Yaga” costs 3000 rubles per 1 kg
Cake “Bear with a pyramid” costs 3000 rubles per 1 kg
Cake “Emergency Service Worker” costing 3,500 rubles per 1 kg
Cake with berries and baby costs 2000 rubles per 1 kg
Be sure to think about the categories by which you will structure your portfolio. Depending on the needs of your target audience, you can divide your cakes, for example, like this:
- children's with characters from your favorite cartoons;
- wedding;
- themed (New Year, birthday, etc.);
- candy cakes;
- fruit cakes;
- classic products “according to grandma’s recipe”.
Video: how handmade cakes are made
The most unusual order, or When your cake goes to cooler places than you
One day on the weekend, a friend of mine, the owner of a barbershop, called me and offered to bake a cake measuring 1.5 m by 1 m in the shape of a black tombstone with the inscription “Prohibition.” Luckily, I had the necessary supply of mastic at home and a huge sheet of polystyrene to make the stand. I airbrushed the cake with black paint. It turned out pretty cool. Two people carried him. They say that the whole club at the party ate the cake, and then what was left was chopped with an ax right on the counter.
Pricing
An entrepreneur who bakes cakes at home to order must make a preliminary calculation of the material cost of products: without this indicator it is impossible to set the correct price for the product and calculate the overall profitability of production. The cost of raw materials will depend on the method of replenishment: for example, eggs or butter purchased in bulk from a farmer may be half the price purchased at a nearby grocery store.
Cost of cakes
Having such data, you can proceed to the next stage - the formation of a pricing policy. As a business, cake production requires mandatory consideration of not only material costs, but also other associated costs, which include:
- Overheads. Production processes are accompanied by the inevitable consumption of water, gas, and electricity. Fortunately, rates for individuals are much lower than corporate rates, so making baked goods at home for sale seems somewhat more cost-effective than working with an official SPD registration;
- Non-production expenses. The final cost of production must necessarily include other costs that are not directly related to the production of cakes, but are necessary for the successful operation of a home confectionery. This includes marketing expenses, cellular communications, Internet access and website hosting, as well as home-based cake baking training and various advanced training courses;
- Profit. Finally, it is necessary to take into account the confectioner’s remuneration - the amount he plans to receive for his work. Different specialists value their services differently: usually the amount of payment is determined not only by the skill of the performer, but also by his artistic taste, reputation, and also such an abstract concept as fashion.
How can a master get into magazines and TV for free?
I decided to strengthen my expertise through mentions in the media. Since I am a journalist, I know that newspapers and magazines need interesting information, especially free information. I sent letters to all publications in the city that I could write a confectionery column, and they offered me to write articles for the Academy of Home Cooking magazine. They even allowed me to add an email address under the author's name. I published articles in this magazine for a year. True, I haven’t received a single order from there. But, of course, I mentioned on social networks that here is my new article, I hope it worked for my image. Then I got tired of publishing for free.
The TV people themselves found me after seeing my gingerbread houses on VKontakte. First, they filmed one story for the news, then the correspondent shared my phone number with other colleagues. As a result, I starred in a dozen stories and was on morning shows twice, where they were preparing something.
My kitchen wasn’t photogenic enough, so I asked relatives who had a beautiful kitchen to film. Once they filmed a story about a chocolate vase - you take a ball, pour melted chocolate on it, it all freezes, you get a fancy vase. I tried it at home and it worked. When they started making it in the relatives’ kitchen, they apparently overheated the chocolate and the ball burst, causing chocolate splashes to appear all over the walls and furniture. Fortunately, I had the first version of the vase with me, so we completed filming the plot. And the chocolate washed off well in half an hour.
Find the differences
Equipment and furniture
“I want to open a pastry shop, what equipment should I choose?” This is a question that novice entrepreneurs who have no experience in the catering industry often ask themselves. Since the share of costs for the purchase of various machines and accessories is up to 80% of the initial investment, many try to save money and buy household units. However, practice shows that their service life in production conditions does not exceed several months: in this situation, it is better to find used professional equipment or lease new models.
Equipment for a confectionery for 20 places
| Equipment | price, rub. | Quantity, pcs. | Amount, rub. |
| Production | |||
| Convection oven | 232000 | 1 | 232000 |
| Electric stove | 24500 | 1 | 24500 |
| Flour sifting device | 30500 | 1 | 30500 |
| Cream cauldron | 68000 | 1 | 68000 |
| Whipping machine | 42000 | 1 | 42000 |
| Proofing cabinet | 19500 | 1 | 19500 |
| Wiping machine | 21500 | 1 | 21500 |
| Ovoscope | 1200 | 1 | 1200 |
| Mixer | 33000 | 1 | 33000 |
| Dough mixer | 48000 | 1 | 48000 |
| Waffle iron | 39200 | 1 | 39200 |
| Hood | 10800 | 3 | 32400 |
| Pastry table | 27500 | 1 | 27500 |
| Production table | 17200 | 1 | 17200 |
| Solid rack | 18500 | 1 | 18500 |
| Freezer | 24500 | 1 | 24500 |
| cooling chamber | 25000 | 1 | 25000 |
| Scales | 5400 | 2 | 10800 |
| Washing tub | 12000 | 1 | 12000 |
| Baking equipment | |||
| Cake molds | 120 | 10 | 1200 |
| Cupcake pans | 80 | 50 | 4000 |
| Nozzles, pastry bags | 90 | 10 | 900 |
| Sieves, whisks, spatulas, scrapers, knives | – | – | 5000 |
| Shopping room | |||
| Coffee machine | 175000 | 1 | 175000 |
| Coffee grinder | 18000 | 1 | 18000 |
| Coffee maker | 22000 | 1 | 22000 |
| Cocktail mixer | 25000 | 1 | 25000 |
| Blender | 17900 | 1 | 17900 |
| Chocolate machine | 22800 | 1 | 22800 |
| Juicer | 31000 | 1 | 31000 |
| Juice cooler | 57600 | 1 | 57600 |
| Ice crusher | 2000 | 1 | 2000 |
| Trade equipment and furniture | |||
| Confectionery showcase | 60000 | 4 | 24000 |
| Vertical showcase | 88000 | 1 | 88000 |
| Refrigerator cabinet | 55000 | 1 | 55000 |
| Cooled table | 56000 | 1 | 56000 |
| Counter | 12200 | 1 | 12200 |
| Cash machine | 16000 | 1 | 16000 |
| Trading rack | 18000 | 1 | 18000 |
| Chair | 1200 | 20 | 24000 |
| Table | 6500 | 5 | 32500 |
| Hanger | 2500 | 4 | 1000 |
| Dishes | |||
| Tray | 250 | 20 | 5000 |
| A tea set | 180 | 20 | 3600 |
| Coffee set | 160 | 20 | 3200 |
| Glasses, wine glasses, glasses | 60 | 60 | 3600 |
| Sugar bowl | 150 | 5 | 750 |
| Plates, dishes | 120 | 40 | 4800 |
| Dessert spoons, tea spoons | 80 | 40 | 3200 |
| Dessert fork | 110 | 20 | 2200 |
| Table knife | 150 | 20 | 3000 |
| Juice jug | 180 | 10 | 1800 |
| Tubes, stirrers | 2 | 1000 | 2000 |
| Milkman | 60 | 20 | 1200 |
| Other equipment | |||
| Lamp | 2500 | 15 | 37500 |
| Air conditioner | 35000 | 1 | 35000 |
| Bathroom set | 15000 | 2 | 30000 |
| Total: | 1573250 | ||
What about Christmas trees? New Year is a hot season
Remember the joke that a provincial actor was offered a leading role in Hollywood in December. And he said: “No, it won’t work, but what about the Christmas trees?”
The New Year for confectioners is about the same as Christmas trees for actors; the number of orders increases many times over. It happens that people bake 20–30 cakes in a few days.
During the first year, I learned how to paint with icing very well, so in December I organized several workshops on gingerbread houses. I wrote to various anti-cafes that I wanted to give them a master class. The owner of the cat cafe, Irina, turned out to be the friendliest; she offered excellent conditions. Then I found out that in St. Petersburg, gingerbread competitions are also traditionally held in cat cafes. Irina’s MK cost 1,100 per person, I gave her only 200 rubles.
I conducted MK for about 30 people that December. And since then I have done this every year.
The most profitable thing is to conduct MK for schoolchildren. Once a culinary studio approached me, offering to conduct a MK for a class, I received 800 rubles. per person. Of course, I got a little tired of making gingerbread houses with a crowd of teenagers. But in the end, for 3 hours of work I received 16 thousand rubles, a net profit of about 10 thousand.
Business registration
It is best for beginning businessmen to register (individual entrepreneurship). This registration option has a number of advantages, including:
- smaller amount of documentation (which will need to be created or filled out, as well as submitted at the end of the reporting periods);
- simplified taxation (an individual entrepreneur pays less to the state than, say, the founder of an LLC);
- the ability to do all the paperwork yourself.
Accordingly, if a person is going to do his own accounting, then he needs to understand this. It is recommended that you enroll in courses or take online training. Hiring an accountant will cost 15-25 thousand per month for regions and 30-40 thousand for central cities.
Download confectionery business plan
The simplified taxation system is 6% of the total income of an entrepreneur excluding his expenses or 15% only of net profit.
In order to register yourself as an individual entrepreneur, you need to register with the pension fund and the FSS (social insurance fund). Well, to fully register a business, you will need to pass all kinds of checks. The premises in which confectionery production is carried out must meet all sanitary and fire safety standards.
A business permit can be obtained from the prefecture. But this is only if all commission checks have passed satisfactorily.
Other sources of income
Do you know a joke? A man was asked what he would do if he became king. And he replied: “I would still sew a little.” So I was always looking for some additional sources of income.
Special offers
Before the holidays, I made special offers, for example, that you could take a master class at my home: learn how to make a beautiful cake, decorate cupcakes, make sugar flowers. Sometimes a girl wanted to make a cake for a guy with her own hands, and I just helped her. It cost the same as a regular cake, but I liked it because it’s more fun together.
Sales
Once I needed to quickly collect a certain amount of money. I held a sale: that is, for several days you could order a cake for less than 1,100 rubles. per kg, and 900 per kg. I collected 15 thousand rubles. prepayment I repeated this from time to time.
Infobusiness
Then I became interested in training. And I tried to make and sell a course on how to make money on custom cakes. True, only one person managed to sell my custom marathon. But I earned 7,700 rubles. And then, as a sign of gratitude, I recommended this pastry chef to everyone who asked. By the way, the student liked the course, and she still successfully bakes cakes to order.
Search for customers (clients)
The first three months there were few orders. If my memory serves me 3-5 per month. These were friends of friends, relatives. Word of mouth worked, but at some point I realized that you won’t earn much with this approach.
For all three months I was at a crossroads: either go to work and send my child to a private kindergarten, or wait until they provide a place in a state kindergarten and bake cakes at that time.
I don’t remember who suggested me to create a group on the VKontakte social network. I was advised to use all possible social networks, but I only used one and was very successful. Creating a VKontakte group, posting examples of your cakes there and indicating prices is not enough.
You need to attract subscribers. I started with all my friends. I asked you to repost it on your pages. But this was not enough. Then I started climbing in other subgroups of our city and spreading information there.
These were mainly communities: “mommies on maternity leave”, “my baby”, “mommies”. In general, wherever there is at least some hint of children. She also invited women with children to join the group directly.
Women who have children eagerly joined the group. Every cake that I made and posted in the group was heatedly discussed and praised. Things went well.
I didn't even expect that it would give excellent results. Orders began to arrive almost every day. Largely thanks to the large population of our city.
I asked everyone who bought a cake from me to post a photo on a social network and sign under the photo: “Cakes to order: 8 – – – .” I didn’t keep track of who made such a post and who didn’t, but I assume that not everyone is ready to post photos from the holiday and sign it with such text.
Soon, people began to contact me to make wedding cakes. Baking a masterpiece weighing 4-5 kilograms is not an easy task, but it is profitable.
Confectionery surprises
Unlike intellectual types of income, cakes have a cost. And sometimes it unexpectedly increased.
For example, my girlfriends admired some oil, how good it was. I bought it, it turned out to be smelly and with a aftertaste. I had to go and buy a new pack, wasting time and money.
I don’t have my own car, which also created difficulties. It often happened that in the middle of the night I realized that some ingredient was missing. We had to call a taxi and go to the night supermarket. Costs were rising and profits were falling sharply.
Franchise business
A franchise is a kind of agreement between the owner of a brand and a person who wants to sell products on behalf of this brand. This model can be applied to the culinary business as follows:
- the entrepreneur has his own famous confectionery shop;
- he decides to sell the rights to use his trademark;
- a novice entrepreneur (franchisee) appears who buys the rights and begins to produce products under the “wing” of a well-known brand.
In addition to the costs of renting premises, purchasing raw materials and other industrial issues, the entrepreneur spends on purchasing a franchise. What does this give him? In most cases, franchise “holders” train their “wards”, reveal some business secrets and share their recipes. In addition, the franchisee automatically receives customers who trust a particular brand.
The average cost of a franchise is 250,000 – 300,000 rubles.
Is it worth buying a franchise? Such a business scheme is not suitable for everyone, since it requires additional costs. In addition, the franchisee works not for his own brand, but for someone else’s, thus the development of his business directly depends on the other company.
The confectionery business is no longer a cake
The era of mousse cakes, macaroons, and marshmallows was coming. I would have to re-invest in training, equipment, ingredients, or change my field of activity. Then I started writing texts to order. And, lo and behold, it turned out that I could earn the same and more money much easier: without sleepless nights and surprises from the oil side.
Almost all home confectioners work illegally. Because there are requirements: a room of a certain area with tiles, ventilation, etc. Which is impossible in an apartment. For example, Inna registered an individual entrepreneur, but indicated the type of activity as “production of sugar flowers.”
There was a period when the tax authorities began to frequently check confectioners and fine them. In general, I thought this was a good time to finish the activity.
The last few months of baking cakes have been quite enjoyable.
I had already gotten my teeth into it, I had proven recipes, I learned how to decorate well. But then I stopped. Because, it seems to me, custom cakes are a physically difficult, nervous and not very well paid occupation. It’s really possible to succeed in it if it’s really “yours” and you really love this type of income. But I'd rather do journalism. lichnyy-opyt-iz-zhurnalista-v-domashnie-konditery-i-backno
Cake baking courses
The confectioner will need to constantly improve his skills: master new methods of preparing and decorating cakes, and study advanced production technologies. But at the very beginning of your journey, you should learn the basic skills of baking. If a person does not have a pastry education, it will be very difficult for him to implement some recipes. The best option is to take courses, the duration of which usually varies from 3 to 8 months. The price of training in the regions is from 15 thousand rubles, in central cities – from 25 thousand rubles.
We recommend reading:
- production of cotton candy –
- caramel production as a business –
- homemade jam for sale –
- milk powder production –
Baking business: choosing equipment
Typically, aspiring home bakers start a baking business with their own kitchen equipment. But for professional activities, it is advisable to have separate equipment - especially when sales volumes increase. Household (non-professional) appliances are not intended for constant use and usually fail quickly.
What you can buy:
- household dough mixer. It costs about 20,000 rubles. This machine will make the work easier for those who have to knead several kilograms of dough every day.
- plate . Usually, any stove found in every kitchen is sufficient. But if necessary, you can buy a separate baking stove - larger, more modern, with a timer and several modes.
- dishwasher – washing dishes by hand is time-consuming and labor-intensive.
- refrigerators and freezers - for storing ingredients and finished cakes.
- hood.
- tables and cabinets.
- Baking sheets, cutting boards, frying pans and pots, rolling pins, knives, baking dishes, meat grinders, dishes - if necessary.
Before buying utensils and equipment, work out your baking technology. This is important for understanding the characteristics of dough mixers and other equipment.
If you work not at home, but in a separate room, you can buy a single mini-bakery complex that combines baking equipment and a retail outlet. In this case, it is important to choose the location of the bakery taking into account logistics.
Requirements for the bakery premises:
- not a basement or a garage,
- water supply, sewerage and ventilation,
- walls up to a level of 1.75 m and the floor are covered with tiles,
- separate room for dry bulk products.
- availability of locker room and toilet.
