These tough economic times are forcing a lot of us to look for ways to increase our incomes. If cooking or baking is your passion, you can start a successful home business without breaking the bank. Have a look at these ideas, and see which one is right for you.
IMPORTANT: As with any business venture, check with local authorities regarding registration, taxes, zone restrictions, as well as insurance coverage.
Personal Chef
Consider starting your own personal chef business. Instead of setting up your own kitchen (which would cost you a lot) you cook in client kitchens. Make your business unique by targeting a niche to provide specialized services such as locally-grown organic low-carb or vegetarian menus.
Personal Cooking Classes
Why not follow up the above by holding with cooking classes in clients’ own homes? Advertise these for occasions like showers, hen parties, men’s night in, etc.
Specialty Baking
If you are expert in baking cookies, cupcakes, or cakes, there is a lucrative market waiting for you. Start by taking orders for your friends and relatives initially. Once you feel confident of your ability, you can expand your operations to local cafés, restaurants, and caterers.
Cooking Classes for Kids
Offer personalized cooking classes for birthday parties or other kids’ events at clients’ home. Provide simple, easy, all-organic recipes. If you can afford to, create a small chef’s kit (hat, apron, small bowl and wooden mixing utensil) that you can include in your package price. Be sure that the hat and apron carry your business name and website.
Kid’s Cook Book
As an added feature, compile a few of your recipes into a simple ‘Color-and-Cookbook’ to sell at the classes. If you can’t draw, get an artistic friend to do simple drawings for a cut of the profits. Or hire an art student; the student can use the work as samples for his or her portfolio.
Recipe Editor
Who doesn’t have a pile of magazines, tear sheets, and recipes on bits of paper cluttering up drawer space? You can gather up these recipes for clients and make personalized cookbooks in a binder that they can add to. If you have a scanner with character-recognizing software, scan the recipes and create an instant book on CD for your clients.
Preservation Arts
With the economy going downhill, people are starting to fall back on cost-savings ways that their grandparents took for granted. Putting up preserves is one way to save food costs. If you know how to make preserves, you can show others how to do it – right in their own kitchens. Again, use your non-refundable deposit to purchase any equipment and produce you will need. Later you can gather up your recipes and publish them using one of the online POD publishers like Amazon.com.
Animal Crackers
If you like baking and also love animals, making dog biscuits and other homemade animal treats would be perfect for you. The treats you prepare can be marketed online to vet’s offices, kennels, crafts fairs, and other places as your business expands.
Your love of cooking or baking can lead to a viable business. Before you start, research any similar, successful businesses in your area and see what added service or product you can create to make your culinary business idea truly unique.