If you are considering starting a baking business, it’s good to have an idea of what the set up is going to cost.

It is possible to set up on a shoestring, but a few extra well placed investments will get your business going that much better.

In this blog, I’ve divided the costs into;

Must haves – essentials for start up

Good to haves – extras that will really get you off to a good start

Fabulous to have – if you have the funds

Firstly though… let’s have a look at what you might already have…

The chances are if you are a passionate baker, you will already have equipment… bowls, utensils, cake tins, food mixer etc. I wouldn’t spend any more money on extras that you think you might need… wait until you get orders before you invest in different sized cake tins, cookie cutters etc. Price your products properly, with good profit margins, and it is that profit that will help you to buy new equipment.

Saying that… if you are planning to bake wedding cakes, a good set of cake tins from 4 inches up to 12 inches will be needed eventually, so you might consider these as a start up necessity.

So, what about the MUST HAVES?

When you set up your baking business, you need to register with your local council, and eventually you may well have a kitchen inspection. There is no cost for this.

Although not a legal requirement, insurance is essential to run a baking business. You need product and public liability of at least £1million, more if you are planning to trade at markets. The cost of premiums very much depends on where you live and what business activities you’ll be undertaking… but expect to pay upwards of £15/£20 a month. Look at Simply Business or Direct Line to give you an idea of the premiums for your business.

You will need to notify your home insurance provider too… but in my experience, this doesn’t raise the premium.

However, you will be expected to complete a Food Hygiene certificate, but these can be done online for between £10 and £20, and the recommendation is to re-do them every three years.

You also need to complete allergen training, but this is also free via the FSA website.

For the kitchen inspection, you will need a copy of the Safer Food Better Business pack from the FSA. This is free to download, and can be printed out… though bakers some prefer to buy a ready printed and bound copy, which are available on eBay and Amazon for around £15.

You will also need to check your cleaning sprays have the required BSEN numbers. If they don’t, you will need to buy them, but supermarkets own brands comply for only a few pounds. You will also need disposable cloths and possibly aprons and gloves too. You could probably get all the cleaning things you need for around £10

You will need to set up social media accounts, and start to get yourself visible. You can do this without spending any money on ads… just get on, get known and gather a following!

You’ll need some photos of your products… it is possible to do this with a phone these days… just create a good set up with decent lighting. 

Get yourself a business email… to start with a free gmail is all you need, but consider getting one with your own web domain sooner rather than later.

And finally, set yourself up a Google Business profile, this will help you to be found in Google searches. This has no cost. 

Totals:

Registering: £0

Insurance £20 a month.

Kitchen inspection: £0

Food safety certificate: £10 – 20

FSA Food allergen course: £0

SFBB Pack – £0 to download

Printed SFBB Pack (optional) around £15

Cleaning sprays and cloths: around £10

Setting up social media accounts: £0

DIY Photos : £0

Gmail email address: £0

Set up Google Profile: £0

These must haves will get you ready to legally trade. 

So let’s now look at a few GOOD TO HAVES.

There are two ways of creating a logo…

1. DIY – use an app such as Canva to create your own. Canva is a fantastic resource, you can create more than just logos… I make all my social media posts, reels and stories in there… plus PDF presentations etc. There is a free version, which will let you access certain features… but good to have is a subscription, which allows you to do so much more… this is currently £10.99 a month.
2. Find a Graphic designer. It’s fairly true to say with most things that you get what you pay for, and this holds very true with finding a designer for your logo. There are sites that will create a you a logo for between £10 and £50… but beware. You may well end up with a stock logo that has also been given to someone else and may not exactly reflect you and you business. Pay a bit more, and find a designer who will chat with you, find out about your business, and how you work, and they will create a unique design. They will also be more likely to share colour palettes (Hex numbers are really useful to know, you can colour match exactly using these) and different sizes of logo. Expect to pay upwards of £300 for a good one.

The next item I’ve put in this section, because it’s not essential to have when you start trading… but it something you should seriously consider having at some point, as the benefits are so good… is a website.

With a website you have your own ‘shop window’, where you can display what you sell, and be contacted by potential customers. If you rely completely on social media, you run the risk of being hacked or shut down, and messaging can be very hit and miss.

The first thing to do is to buy your domain name. It’s worth remembering that even if you buy this from somewhere like GoDaddy… you don’t have to set up your website there…you can take your domain name wherever you like. Cost is often £1 for the first year, then around £10 annually after that.

There are many ways to set up a website.. the most expensive is finding someone to do it for you… but be prepared to lay out thousands for that. Less costly would be one of the DIY versions, and which one you choose would depend on how tech savvy you are.

You can create a WordPress site, which takes a fair amount of know-how. You would need to purchase your own domain, and then find a hosting service such as Siteground. This is around £70 a year.

Alternatively, you might prefer a build your own ‘drag and drop’ website, such a Wix or GoDaddy. These will incur a monthly cost, (or slightly cheaper if you pay a whole year at once) and the cost depends on what you want your website to do. For a basics you’re looking at around £10… if you want to set up an online shopping option, you’re looking at around £25 upwards.

Once you have your domain, you can then set up an email address. This will give you a more professional look than a free gmail account. I pay around £70 a year for mine.

Photographs It’s good to have some quality photos… both of yourself and of your products. You can do this yourself with no cost, but a good photographer will provide you with a decent set of professional looking photos… which are more likely to get you noticed online. Costs obviously vary greatly, but expect to pay upwards of £500.

Food Mixer – I was debating whether to put this into the ‘must have’ section, but decided to put it here. If you are planning on any sort of volume of cake production, you will need a decent mixer, if you haven’t got one already. You could be that baker whose niche is doing everything by hand… just make sure you price you time accordingly, but otherwise a mixer will save you loads of valuable time and effort. If you do get one, get the most expensive that you can afford. I’ve had my Kenwood for 10 years…my mum’s lasted over 40… so pay more, and the chances are you’ll never have to buy another!!

Totals for Good To Haves:

Canva graphic design app: £10.99 monthly

Graphic designer: £300 +

Website domain : £1 initially, around £10 annually after a year.

Website hosting: around £70 annually

or

Drag and drop website subscription: from £10 a month

Photographer: £500+

Food Mixer: upwards of £200

HBP Membership: £25 monthly

Fabulous To Haves

Now it’s worth pointing out here, at the risk of stating the obvious, but if you have a good amount of money with which to set up your business you still need to be mindful of where you spend it. Do your due diligence on any major purchases; get reviews, testimonials etc.

Photographs.

Mentioned in the previous section as ‘good to haves’… but if you have the budget, spend it on a brand photographer for a day, not a wedding or portrait photographer, but one that specialises in branding for business. They will talk to you about your business, and will make sure that the photos they take fit into your business plans. If your home space is not suitable you can hire a shoot house… and with a hair and make-up artist too… you will get yourself a whole range of fabulous photos that you will be able to use for years. Cost around £1500 upwards.

Website: Want someone else to design and manage your website? For any amount upwards of £1500 you can find someone to set up your site… though expect to pay a monthly fee is you also want it maintained too. 

So there you have it. A brief description of the must have and good to have costs for opening a baking business.

If you’re not a member already, join my free facebook community The Home Baking Business Community UK, and let us know how it all goes!!

Annie ran her baking business, Leading Lady Cakes, for 10 years, following a career in primary teaching. She is now combining her teaching experience and her passion for baking to teach and support others who wish to set up for themselves.

Find out more about the Home Baking Business Academy here;