Cupcake Business

marshmallowbliss

Hi ,

A friend and I are starting up a cupcake business and we were wondering if anyone had any hints/tips for us ?

Thanks

MoneySaver82

Are you two broke girls by any chance??! (Sorry couldn't resist!!) :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

vax2002

Do you mean Buns ? baked in bun cases. ?
Cup cakes is a American term, they are buns, plain old simple buns that have a bit of a daft craze on now.

whitelabel

vax2002 wrote: »

Do you mean Buns ? baked in bun cases. ?
Cup cakes is a American term, they are buns, plain old simple buns that have a bit of a daft craze on now.

may be american name but so many things are

a bun is an old word as you said
its not a craze, its accepted terminology in my 30 odd years ive never called them a bun... perhaps it is a regional think like a barm or somthing else silly that is really only used locally which Id never heard of before i saw an episode of coronation st

if I order a current bun, or chelsea bun or iced bun... it wont come in one of those cases..
order a cupcake however and it will


check tesco et al
http://www.tesco.com/groceries/product/search/default.aspx?searchBox=cupcakes

http://www.tesco.com/groceries/product/search/default.aspx?searchBox=bun

and get with the times

Bun cases brings up one item on tesco... a muffin case
http://www.tesco.com/groceries/product/search/default.aspx?searchBox=bun%20cases
cupcakes are not muffins

Steer100

I don't have any expertise but just general advice is make sure that you are legally covered, have told HMRC and I am 100% certain there is some sort of hygiene certificate you need to sell made food.

A business such as that will rely heavily on word of mouth and recommendations, so perhaps give your first few customers a very good deal with little profit margin just to put your name out there. Just a quick thought as writing this, what about tiny sticker adverts you could stick on to the underneath/inside of the cupcake holder. A free website from weebly or webs could be useful while you see how things pan out and leaflets, adverts in your local paper and shopwindows could attract some attention.

Sorry I am not an expert but those things popped into my head and something there may be useful.

Goodluck!

pinksk8

My friend started a cupcake/bun company before it got hugely massive and there is a lot of red tape regarding health and safety if you are planning on making them at home. But if you can get through that, they are hugely popular.
Good Luck x x

marshmallowbliss

We have done the health and safety course and informed the council of our business.
We are going to be doing it from home..

Two Broke Girls getting married this year & next !
Any ideas on how to advertise ? Cost being a min obviously !

scaredofdebt

Get in touch with large businesses/call centres in your area to see if you can have a stall inside them.

Where I used to work (massive office, about 4,000 workers) there were a couple of "cup-cake" stalls that came every month.

They would bring around 500 cakes with them each time and sell out by about 3pm charging £1.25 a time. The company charged them £50 a day for the stall.

The key to sales seemed to be presentation.

ekkygirl

Advertise free on facebook by telling all your friends to tell all their friends attach photos offer to deiver to local companies free cake for the birthday girl etc

marshmallowbliss

That is such a great idea ! Never even taught about that.


We do have a Facebook page set up all going good.
We have an event on Sunday to attend also. So fingers crossed were going good.

We are hoping to charge £1 for plain with icing and £1.50 for filled cupcakes.

We are going to do deals on bigger orders etc.

scaredofdebt wrote: »

Get in touch with large businesses/call centres in your area to see if you can have a stall inside them.

Where I used to work (massive office, about 4,000 workers) there were a couple of "cup-cake" stalls that came every month.

They would bring around 500 cakes with them each time and sell out by about 3pm charging £1.25 a time. The company charged them £50 a day for the stall.

The key to sales seemed to be presentation.

JAYk_2

marshmallowbliss wrote: »

Hi ,

A friend and I are starting up a cupcake business and we were wondering if anyone had any hints/tips for us ?

Thanks

As you want to set up a business as opposed to a hobby you will need to get the legal, important parts done.

Legal / Important:

1a. Legal set up decide Sole Trader, Partnership or Limited Company. The HMRC and BusinessLink websites have the info and steps.

1b. Register with your local environmental health department. They’ll want to come and inspect your kitchen if you’re going to be selling to the public. They can also send to you a catering documentation pack and leaflet to help you to prepare for the visit. Don’t be afraid to ask them lots of questions, it’s within their interest to help you and to ensure the inspection goes smoothly.

2. There will obviously be costs for baking ingredients, cupcake equipment and tools. However don’t forget to budget for the cost of marketing such as your new shiny website, business cards, packaging and marketing literature. It’s worth investing in marketing in order to stand out from the competition.

3. Purchasing cake decorating tools and equipment is rather expensive, and you can easily become carried away if you’re passionate about decorating cupcakes . Invest in tools that you are likely to use again and again and will make a return on, not those that you’ll use just once.

4. Obtain your food and hygiene certificate (you can do this course online). It’s not compulsory however it’s worth having to show you understand about handling food, and you’ll also score brownie points when you have your kitchen inspection.


Marketing / getting sales:

1. As a user mentioned, word of mouth for this type of business.

2. Online ?

(sources: Magentacakes uk blog, HMRC, BusinessLink, knowledge). Hope it goes well for you both.