Want To Start My Own Small Cupcake Business But Need Advice

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Have you been through a business plan or done any cashflow forecasting ? What happens if your ingredient costs go up by 30% or your cooker gives out ? Have you checked your home insurance ?

I have had small businesses for years and I can promise you this, the list of income has only one entry but the list of expenses is 100 items long !

I even went through a business appraisal for a similar desert / sweet / pastry business a few years ago and unless you had absolutely no other way of bringing in any money (even benefits), the thin margins and myriad of expenses together with limited volumes (either demand or capacity) etc. made it a worthless proposition.

I would, as suggested, take a step back and sell the supplies to those knocking themselves out trying to make a mint flogging angel and fairy cakes before they go off.

motorguy

lara26 wrote: »

I'm not stupid I wouldnt be thinking about doing it if I thought it wouldnt make me any money. But thanks anyway.

As above, noone is saying you're stupid.

However, there is quite a difference getting positive feedback and being able to bake for family and friends (who i suspect are either getting 'free' or not at full price) and who will quite happily tell you you're onto a great thing here and you'll make a fortune, and what will happen in the real world.

lincroft1710

pineapple wrote: »

I do hate this 'cupcake' americanism. It seems to have crept in these last few years. I'm guessing 'queen cake' and 'fairy cake' are no longer pc!

I remember my mother regularly baked "fairy cakes" in the 1950s/60s (for family, not business). Very nice but no way today would I pay £1 for one.

eeeeeee

just pm you
i admire anyone who wants too give it a go .. give it a try ... instead of sitting on their butt .. get a grip and listen too the too the thread instead of being negative... sent you some good ideas/thoughts too your inbox hope the help

motorguy

eeeeeee wrote: »

just pm you
i admire anyone who wants too give it a go .. give it a try ... instead of sitting on their butt .. get a grip and listen too the too the thread instead of being negative... sent you some good ideas/thoughts too your inbox hope the help

Why not share your thoughts on here, so that everyone can benefit?

raineshoe

Have to say there are a lot of people doing this.

pitkin2020

eeeeeee wrote: »

just pm you
i admire anyone who wants too give it a go .. give it a try ... instead of sitting on their butt .. get a grip and listen too the too the thread instead of being negative... sent you some good ideas/thoughts too your inbox hope the help

No one has been negative, just realistic. They have only told the OP to make sure of some things before setting up. The OP has also been told to get in touch with the council with regards to getting the kitchen checked.

I worked with atleast 10 of these cup cake businesses last summer during the boom. I know atleast 6 of them are no longer doing it 6 months on.
The last 2 I worked with in November both told me how they were going to make a mint because there was no one else in the area doing it. We live in a small town so they either chose to ignore the other 8 I knew of (probably more) or they didn't do their research correctly.

Like any business you need to know if the market can support another one, especially if you intend to just do the same as another business and you need to know your costs. The margins in cupcakes is going to be low but I suspect many people with the idea of a cupcake business only look at the material costs vs sale price whilst forgetting about all the other costs.

stephent82

Hello. Well done for wanting to start-up.... you have done the easy bit thinking that you want to do it, the hard part is actually doing it.

What market are you going to target? Is it families, weddings, local businesses? What are your costs going to be? Make sure you add in any delivery and pick-up costs. Where are you going to get your ingredients from? It is likely that you will have to bulk-buy to ensure maximum profit. Do you have space to store these? etc.

I know of a couple of people have went down similar tracks to this and have been successful. The first started it as a craft, and sells her wares at a few car-boots each week. She spent a while looking for a car boot that had no catering and as such has done well for herself.

The other guy invested about £20k at the start. he created a professional kitchen, had a shop unit - all you could imagine. He now specialises in intricate cakes and has been featured on TV (he is very, very good). Needless to say he is doing very well and employs several people. He started doing cup cakes again a year-or-so again. From what I gather (his amazing and very yummy) cup-cakes are a very small part of the business.

I would recommend doing the cup-cakes if that is what you want to do, but try and look past that too. If you can do low-cost, quality birthday cakes you may be able to strike up a few deals with local attractions and soft-play areas for kids birthdays?

Have a think about what you could do that would make you stand out from the rest? How about bizarre 'I'm a Celebrity' cup cakes topped with dry ants, crickets etc? How about striking deals with local businesses that offer them a %age if they offer 'reward cakes' for their staff if the sign-up for a delivery every week/ month?

Anyway, good luck & let us know how you get on.

BigAunty

Go to the business link website,work through the site to complete a thorough business plan. A quick peek to see if anyone else is making cakes in the area and an expectation that your mates will buy them and then you'll expand, is not a business plan...

If you rely on working tax credits, note that HMRC are clamping down hard on low profit businesses asking for proof that the claimant is working the x number of hours required. Lots of claimants are falling foul because their record keeping of their time, marketing, sales, etc, is so poor.

Note also the changes proposed under the Universal Credit system for the self employed. I know the mention of benefits may not apply to you but tax credits has encouraged lots of people to set up microbusinesses which can never help a person become self sufficient from the state.