Anyone on the board familiar with starting a cooking / baking business?

[agame2323]

I'll be the first to say, I personally don't know anything about cooking but my wife is a GREAT cook and has a passion for cooking and baking. I keep suggesting she should take that passion and look to capitalize from it.

She's not even worried or concerned about the potential income (she's a nurse and makes good money from that). This all about someone having the freedom to do what they love.

We spoke about opening up an actual small restaurant that would serve breakfast and baked goods and she's open to it but doesn't want anything to do with handling the business side. She prefers I do that. My background is in Sports Management. As an agent I have plenty of business experience but the food industry is new to me.

Anyway, for now I'm just seeking knowledge and looking to take baby steps. If you have some success stories about how you opened up a business in your community or even just made a profit from doing this online, I'd love to hear about it. I appreciate any feedback you can provide.

Thanks!

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Yours is a recipe for failure. You can lose your shirt if you don't know the business. And neither of you actually know the business. There's a huge difference between being a great cook in the eyes of family and devising a menu and products at a price point with sufficient quality and volume that can get sufficient revenue to keep the business afloat all while being within code requirements for a restaurant. Finding the right niche can be very difficult.

If someone ever says take your passion and capitalize, I am wary. There's a huge difference between baking and cooking for family and doing the same in volume. Many a person passionate about the former would considers the latter drudgery. Heck. Even those chefs on the restaurant fix em up shows that talk about passion on TV shows aren't in their restaurants much any more. And when they are, they aren't in the kitchen. So much for their passion buckets eh?

A restaurant is not something to get into part time while keeping another job. It's a business that requires full attention. Also, it is very difficult to keep any restaurant afloat without lunch and dinner service. One just can't cover the over head with Breakfast and bakery.

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

I know that it is the hardest kind of business to be successful at with the highest failure rate...

 

[BadPinkTink]

I am a chef and have worked in the catering industry for over 10 years. About 6 years ago I changed careers and now work in in marketing. I totally agree with everything @Cannot_Wait_4Disney has said.

My family background is cooking. I was taught to cook at aged 10 by my grandmothers, then between age 12 to 18 I did Home Economics in school and in state exams. I then did 3 years in catering college and got a professional chef qualification.

Working in the industry as a chef is a tough tough world. First off there are so many legalities and health and safety legislation, and procedures you need to know. Then you need to know cooking processes , knife skills and menu planning. You need to have imagination and be a creative person, have huge attention to detail, work well under stress and be a team player.

Working as a chef is not the glamorous life people think. Most jobbing chefs work between 50 to 60 hours per week.

Your wife will have to start at bottom, and learn the skills before any talk of opening a business. The first rung on the ladder is called commis chef. This is how everyone starts. Its the most basic of the kitchen jobs and she will get taught the skills as she goes along. Look at local job sites and in local restaurants. See if anyone is advertising a commis chef job, get her to take a weekend job in a restaurant. She will know very quickly whether its something she enjoys or not

 

[Teresa Pitman]

Here's something she might consider: my daughter-in-law's father decided to get a booth at the local farmer's market and sell his homemade bread there. It didn't cost too much, was one day a week, and his breads quickly became very popular. Because they did well, he also got a booth at another local market (a 40 minute drive away) and started selling there, too. The bigger market is open two days a week, so he added that day too. Now he sells his breads three days a week, almost always sells out everything, and has several employees (including his/my grandson) to help out. He loves doing it and they are making pretty good money.

Even if your wife ultimately wants to open a restaurant, this could be a way to start out and see if her food sells well, etc.

 

[Allison]

Do not open a restaurant. You need to start a lot smaller such as selling at local farmers markets.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

I know know a couple people who tried, but it didn't work (at least the first time). One of them tried to do a bakery and it didn't last long. Another tried to start a restaurant and failed... but later tried again and it was very successful. It was so successful the restaurant has opened new locations. Don't let anybody tell you it can't be done, it is just not easy.

 

[mefordis]

I think a lot of people get started catering. Not sure the details involved in that but there is a lot of demand for catering parties and events.

 

[Allison]

I also wanted to add that a restaurant is a huge time commitment even if you are only open limited hours. I don't know how the person responsible for the food could also have a career as a nurse.

 

[barkley]

You need to start a lot smaller such as selling at local farmers markets

a great suggestion-but if she decides to try this make sure to review your local regulations and laws pertaining to these types of sales. where we live the preparation and sales for this is covered under 'cottage food' laws and rules-and they are very specific on health, sanitation and safety, permissible vs. 'potentially hazardous products' that can be sold, the kinds of formal plans that have to be filed when you apply for your permit (as well as the other individual reports/permits/licenses you have to have in place like a food worker card, water supply testing report, master business licence....).

more goes into it than many realize-and before you start spending money to pursue it do a quick check on the zoning where you live, some areas are strictly residential and won't permit cooking in a home kitchen for these purposes.

 

[powellrj]

My mom catered for a few years. She turned their family room into a commercial kitchen. It was an expense, but it was cheaper than renting/buying a restaurant for them. She started as a cake decorator and moved into catering. The first thing you need to do is learn your local laws. She was board of health certified and had all the zoning laws to follow too.

She loved doing it, but it became too much for her and my dad to do after awhile and she moved on to a regular bakery and worked for them.

She has a friend that has done catering for years out of her home. She is now one of the top caterers in the area and is on all the lists for businesses as an approved caterer. She has turned her home into a kitchen and her living room into a catering room for rent.

I agree to start small with farmers markets. I have a friend who did this and found out she really didn't like it as much as she thought she would. She only had a small investment for supplies.

 

[tvguy]

I'd suggest your wife get a part time job cooking in someone else's restaurant to get a feel for it. No risk in that.

As for selling at farmers markets, I guess it depends on your local health laws. A friend who works full time in a deli started a side business making jams and jellies at home in her home kitchen to sell at the farmers markets here about a year ago. She would do 100 16 ounce jars in a batch, selling them for $8 each. 6 months in the health department asked to see the kitchen and shut her down. Inspector said it appears her product, procedures were safe, but local rules require commercial equipment in any kitchen. She was looking at about $60,000 in upgrades to her kitchen to make it legal for the health department. And those upgrades would never be approved because it is against the law to run a commercial kitchen in a residential area.

Now, I have family in Texas, and none of this would be an issue there. A guy 8 doors down makes fried pies (Like Hostess makes) in his garage that he sells to the local mini-markets. He has a huge propane fired fryer in the garage, rubbermaid trash cans with four and sugar in them, giant cans of pie filling, and a re-purposed stainless steel fish cleaning table to assemble everything and put them in little paper bags. Not exactly prepared under conditions I would my food fixed under.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

My DD had to do a project in her HS restaurant class last year in which she had to come up with a product to sell for a home-based business and research all it would take to do so (legally). I was actually surprised how relatively easy it was where I live. Many people sell products this way at places like Farmer's Markets. I agree that starting somewhere like there would make most sense if it's something she really wants to do. I just caution that something that's fun in small doses can turn unpleasant when there are orders to fulfill and deadlines, costs, logistics, etc., especially where she already has a demanding job to start. As others have said, opening a restaurant/bakery is a whole different ball game. (DH is in the business and it's tough. Everything everyone says here is true. I could add lots more but you get the drift.)

 

[scrapquitler]

I'll be the first to say, I personally don't know anything about cooking but my wife is a GREAT cook and has a passion for cooking and baking. I keep suggesting she should take that passion and look to capitalize from it.

She's not even worried or concerned about the potential income (she's a nurse and makes good money from that). This all about someone having the freedom to do what they love.

We spoke about opening up an actual small restaurant that would serve breakfast and baked goods and she's open to it but doesn't want anything to do with handling the business side. She prefers I do that. My background is in Sports Management. As an agent I have plenty of business experience but the food industry is new to me.

Anyway, for now I'm just seeking knowledge and looking to take baby steps. If you have some success stories about how you opened up a business in your community or even just made a profit from doing this online, I'd love to hear about it. I appreciate any feedback you can provide.

Thanks!

Being a good baker/cook and running a restaurant have nothing at all to do with one another. And if your wife decides to open a restaurant, she's not going to have ANY time for that nursing job.

I think the suggestion of catering on the side or doing the occasional farmers market is probably a better outlet for her desire than opening a restaurant (and without the huge $$$$$$ that a restaurant would require).

I have a friend that is a baker, and she was doing cakes for a very long time, and making a lot of money doing it.

She decided to open a bakery and has been successful with it for a couple of years, but she recently decided to close the bakery and reopen as a cupcake truck to save money on the location, and to cut back on how many hours she has to work (she's been working about 80 hours a week for the last two years).

 

[kirstenb1]

Here's something she might consider: my daughter-in-law's father decided to get a booth at the local farmer's market and sell his homemade bread there. It didn't cost too much, was one day a week, and his breads quickly became very popular. Because they did well, he also got a booth at another local market (a 40 minute drive away) and started selling there, too. The bigger market is open two days a week, so he added that day too. Now he sells his breads three days a week, almost always sells out everything, and has several employees (including his/my grandson) to help out. He loves doing it and they are making pretty good money.

Even if your wife ultimately wants to open a restaurant, this could be a way to start out and see if her food sells well, etc.

This is exactly what a friend of mine did. She did regular baked goods, and gluten free. Now she has a side business of preparing gluten free meals for families, and she delivers them.