How to Make Money Baking Vegan Food at Home
(*** Disclaimer: The information provided on this website is not intended to be legal advice of any kind and should not be taken as such. It’s your responsibility to make sure that you do the proper research and speak to legal professionals to ensure you are running a legal business. ***)
Have you been praised for how delicious your vegan homemade baked goods are and have a dream of selling your vegan food from home?
Do you need clarification about what to do next?
Well, today I will be providing some information on how you can make money baking vegan food at home.
Before we move forward I want to make it clear that I’m not a lawyer, an accountant, or anyone in the legal profession. This is me providing my non-legal advice to you to help you have an idea of what may be needed to get your home vegan bakery business started. I want to help your business grow and thrive!
Also, this information is only for people within the United States. I’m not familiar with the process of starting a home business in countries outside of the United States.
Can I Sell Vegan Baked Goods From Home?
Now, let’s get started. You may be wondering if you can sell vegan cakes or other goodies from the comfort of your home and become successful. Even though generally the answer is yes, make sure you research your state and local city/town to see if you are even allowed to sell food from your home at all. If so, then great! Let’s proceed.
You don’t need to have a brick-and-mortar location to sell. You can start and run your vegan baking business from home!
Some benefits of doing this are:
Being a stay-at-home parent and still being able to make money.
Creating your own, flexible work schedule.
Starting a side hustle or business while still having a full-time job.
Not having the expense of renting a commercial kitchen.
How to Have a Legal Vegan Home-Based Baking Business
(I Know, I Know. Not the Fun Stuff.)
First, consider taking a Home Bakery course to help make sure you have all your legal ducks in a row.
Decide on a business name and register it. (Also, research to see if the business name that you want has an available domain name and social media usernames. It’s nice when your business name, domain name, and social media usernames match for cohesive branding, to look professional, and to make it easier to be found.)
Apply for a federal tax identification number, also known as an Employer Identification Number (EIN).
Apply for a sales tax permit.
Check your state and local city/town to see if you need a food license or permit. Also, check if there is a Cottage Food Law or if you need any other required legal documents. While some states don’t require home bakers to have a license or to have inspections done, some require you to label your goods with an ingredient list and prohibit you from selling certain foods. Providing an ingredient label can help protect you and the consumer. Make sure you look into this thoroughly.
Here are some resources to check out about Cottage Food Laws:
Get insurance (If you ever forget a customer’s dietary restrictions or somehow they get exposed to an ingredient they are allergic to, you can be held responsible.)
Getting Help With Your Business
Small Business Administration (SBA)
You can get free or low-cost assistance and advice on how to protect your small business. To get local assistance you can go here.
Accountant
Some accountants offer free consultations, so you can ask them questions to help get more clarity. They can help you determine the best structure to set up your business. For instance, do you want to be set up as a sole proprietor, a single-member LLC, or a S-corporation? The type of business structure you select will determine how your business is taxed and managed. It can be confusing and overwhelming, so speaking to an accountant can help you get the clarity you need.
If you have difficulty finding someone who offers free consultations, make sure you ask how much they charge. You don’t want to be in a situation where you are price-shocked or unable to pay after getting their help.)
Lawyer
Consider having a lawyer draft a contract that you can use with clients. Having a contract in place can give you peace of mind when you take on custom orders and offer services at special events.
What Vegan Baked Goods and Services Can I Sell at Home?
(The Fun Stuff!)
There are so many vegan goods and services you can sell from home. Before you start to sell, make sure you work on creating irresistible vegan recipes that will make people’s toes curl, if you haven’t already!
Here are some ideas of what vegan homemade baked goods and services you can sell:
Vegan Pastry Chef:
You can offer private vegan pastry chef services for special events. If you want to specialize in making custom vegan wedding cakes or cakes for other special events you can charge a higher price. By doing so, you may only need a few orders or bookings a month to make your financial goals.
An alternative is to focus on other baked goods, such as vegan cookies, brownies, cupcakes, muffins, breads, and pies.
Niche down even more by focusing on peanut-free, nut-free, gluten-free, sugar-free, corn-free, non-GMO, and/or organic ingredients that are locally and sustainably sourced.
Vegan Nutritionist:
As a vegan nutritionist, you can offer coaching services and teach how to bake healthy vegan pastries, so your clients know how to make and incorporate them into their daily lives.
Vegan Catering Services:
You can offer services for corporate events, birthday parties, family gatherings, and even weddings. It’s possible to start with small weddings and progress to large events in the future.
Teach Online Vegan Baking Classes:
You can have options for all levels. People who are new to vegan baking, at an intermediate level, and even professional bakers love to learn and continue to develop their vegan baking skills. The classes can be live, on-demand, or a combination of both. Initially, they can be live and if someone is unable to make the live session they can still learn at a time that fits their schedule with the on-demand option. You can also have guest vegan chefs to assist with a particular class.
Write Vegan Baking Cookbooks:
You can make your best vegan recipes and take high-quality photographs of each finished baked good for the book.
Vegan Food Recipe Developer:
Develop vegan recipes for restaurants, bakeries, cookbooks, and other food companies. This is an often overlooked area.
Create a Vegan Baking Blog:
Initially, you could blog about vegan baking recipes and then you can progress into offering classes, and monetizing your blog by becoming an affiliate marketer. I only suggest affiliating with related products that you use and love though.
How to Market Your Home Vegan Bakery Business
To help sell your products and services you should have a brand and website created for your business.
It’s important to have the right branding down for your vegan business and to make sure it is carried over to your website. When you have a professional website you can sell your vegan products and services, have delivery options, showcase a menu, and have your audience book appointments and events too. A properly designed and built website will help market for you 24/7.
I do provide brand and website services and would love to chat with you! You can schedule a free 30-minute discovery call to see how I can help you.
Other Ways to Market Your Home Vegan Bakery Business:
Create a marketing plan.
Create a business profile on social media platforms that are available. (Initially, you may not use all of them, but later you might decide to. By the time you want to use a specific platform your desired name might be taken.)
Promote your products, services, and vegan baked goods on social media by posting photos of what you recently baked or created and letting people know you are selling. People can’t buy unless they are aware you are selling them. You can start by selling to your family and friends, wait to get feedback from them, make some adjustments, if needed, and then branch out to selling to co-workers and people online.
You may also be able to sell at farmer’s markets and PTA meetings. First, check to see if you need a permit to sell, though.
Keep telling people about your vegan home bakery because word of mouth can be huge!
Conclusion
There are many ways to make money at home by baking vegan food. You can always remain a home-based vegan business. Down the road, if you want to open up a physical location outside of your home you can do so. Don’t feel pressured. Make sure you follow what works for you and your lifestyle.
Remember to keep going after your dreams and goals!
Are you ready to get your home vegan bakery business started?
If you would like help with having a brand and website strategically designed and developed to help your business grow and thrive, please take a look at my services and schedule a free discovery call by clicking the button below. I would love to chat with you!