How to Start a Home Bakery of Your Own

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KEEP IT SIMPLE

One of the beauties of a home bakery is that you don't need a heck of a lot of equipment to get you started. Just a stove, a few pans, some ingredients and that "special" recipe. If you want to get a little fancier, you'll find a timer (to keep you from over or under cooking an oven full of goodies on those busy days when you're preoccupied with more than you can remember) well worth its small investment. As is an oven thermometer if, like us, you have a temperamental stove.

Whatever you feel you need to launch your enterprise, don't forget to check the thrift stores first when you go shopping. We've had great luck finding everything we've wanted secondhand. We even bought an old Mixmaster for just $4.95!

THINK CLEAN, THINK QUALITY

When you operate a family-sized home business, you quickly realize that there's no one to pass the buck to when you goof something up. You-or your family-alone are responsible for any slipshod work and, if you expect your enterprise to grow and thrive, you're well advised to set high standards for yourself and to constantly make every effort you can to exceed them.

For example: If you, as we do, shell the nuts which go into your baked goods make double danged sure that you do the job with utmost care. People are finicky-and rightfully so-about the food they eat and, especially in today's hard times, they want value for their money. Even one small chip of a shell, passed over and left in with the nut meats in one of your pies or loaves of bread, could be enough to turn off your best customer.

Another example: Don't be too cheap to invest a few cents in giving your products a quality image. Plastic bags and even cake boxes can be purchased from paper wholesalers for just a penny or two apiece. The cost, in short, is hardly anything at all compared to the atmosphere of care and the "guarantee" of cleanliness that such packaging adds to your goods.

HOW TO PRICE YOUR PRODUCTS

If your baked goods are really above average, don't underestimate them. We've found (to our pleasant surprise), that the individual or family with something tasty to offer has no trouble commanding a fair price for his, her, or their products. There's so much prepackaged and machine-made food on the market these days that genuinely mouthwatering goods are welcomed with open arms. If what you have to sell is really in demand, don't be afraid to ask a premium price for it.

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