Starting your own business is a familiar dream. We are going to talk through the whole process of starting a Cake Stall, from initial idea right through to the start date – which will be your first trading day. The ONLY way to succeed in any business is to actually start it, so hold onto your hat because this is going to be a fast ride!
Let’s take the idea of a food business. Some food businesses will have a bit more regulation attached, particularly if they are a high risk business which will include meat, dairy and fish products. Your best bet in these circumstances is to either speak with your local Environmental Health Office or read up about requirements online. For an easy start, lets look at starting a Cake Stall. This can be set up and achieved in as little as a couple of weeks…
Consider and Action all of the next steps in the order they are given:
Idea No 1 – Cake Stall
So, you are a good baker and feel the world needs to sample some of your delights. Even if you are not known for your cake baking skills, don’t worry – practice makes perfect and you will certainly improve on the job. I remember that my first attempts at cake making were disastrous but I was determined to do this so I practiced and read books, learnt different techniques and I eventually became very much in demand for my cake baking skills. Selling cakes was an idea that I knew I could make money at, so I persevered.
Do the Maths
In this case, the maths is relatively simple.
| Ingredient | Weight | Purchase Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Elaborate Christmas Cake Recipe | £ | |
| Glace Cherries | 350g | 1.71 |
| Can Pineapple Pieces | 225g | 0.60 |
| Dried Apricots | 350g | 2.31 |
| Blanched Almonds | 100g | 1.00 |
| Sultanas | 350g | 0.87 |
| Self Raising Flour | 250g | 0.80 |
| Caster Sugar | 250g | 0.10 |
| Butter | 250g | 0.50 |
| Ground Almonds | 75g | 0.84 |
| Eggs | 5 | 1.00 |
| Total Ingredient Cost: | 9.73 |
The above cake is elaborate and expensive but if you offer a selection of something more interesting with traditional, less expensive favourites like Victoria Sponge or Chocolate Cake slices (£5 cost for cake, 12 slices @ £2.50 = £30) it makes it more affordable for you, but you are offering a variety of choice on your stall.
Is It Profitable?
If this cake cost you £9.73 to make then you must sell it at a price that will make you a profit. If it took you 2 hours to bake you will need to consider your time and the electricity cost. As this is a big luxury cake consider selling it by the slice.
How Much Will You Charge?
If you sold the whole cake you should charge a minimum of x 3 times the cost of it depending on your customers. Better profit will be if you sell it by the slice – 16 slices at £2.50 per slice = £40 (or £3 per slice = £48). Most of your cakes will not cost this much. Usually a large iced sponge cake should cost less than £5 to make. 12 large slices at £2.50 = £30. Brownies, and sliced tray bakes are faster to make and easier to package when selling. The more you can sell, the more profit you will make but remember – anything that you don’t sell will be down as a loss.
Where Will You Buy Raw Materials?
Buying your ingredients will be easy. Supermarkets really do sell goods cheaper than wholesalers and local farms will sell you beautiful free range eggs that will make a whole world of difference to your offerings. If you are going big on this, you will want to purchase key ingredients like Flour and Sugar in large 25kg bags from wholesalers to limit the amount of time that you spend going to the smaller suppliers.
How Much Can You Make?
How many cakes will you be able to physically make in a day? What kind of oven capacity do you need? If you can only make one cake and your profit on that cake is £25 and your stall is £25 then you will run at a loss. So you will need to look at the types of cake that you can make in one day. You could make some longer lasting cakes early on in the week (like fruit cakes) and the ones that need to be fresher (sponge cakes) the day before the market. Also, if you have a chest freezer, you can freeze cakes and make a quantity in advance. Organisation is key here. If you can get to the point where you can employ people to make your stock for you and you sell it, that is an option for the future.
How Much Do You Need To Earn?
Decide how much you need to earn from each market and then work backwards. If your market costs £25 and you need to make £300 to make a decent profit, then work backwards.
£300 takings ÷ £30 from each whole cake = 10 cakes needed (minimum)
Then minus the stall fee and cost of each cake
| £300 ÷ | Stall Takings |
| £30 | Amount from each cake sold |
| 10 | Number of Cakes Needed |
| £25 + | Cost of Stall |
| £50 | Cost of Raw Ingredients |
| £300 – £75 = £225 | Total Profit per market |
Contact EHO To Register Business
Once you have worked out if this might be profitable for you, then get hold of your local Environmental Health Office (EHO) and register your business. You only need to do this because this is a food enterprise. The EHO will probably not come to your premises immediately but you will be able to trade once you have received confirmation of registration. They should send you a letter confirming this.
Book Market Stall
After you have done your market stall research and read https://marketstallfacts.com/how-to-find-your-first-markets-tips-to-getting-a-pitch/ all you need to do is email or phone your local market operator and see if they can give you a pitch. Book a date in the future where you will allow yourself enough time to not only make your stock but also to …
Buy Packaging
Consider the way that you want to package your cakes when you sell them to your customer. Will you want to buy boxes, paper bags or greaseproof items? Will you need labels with your brand name on them or will you wait to see if there is demand for your cakes before you go ahead and begin your branding? Also think about the tools you will need on the stall itself. e.g. Cake knife, tongs, fish slice for cutting and handling the cakes. Hot water flask for cleaning equipment and paper towels for drying them.
Buy a Banner
You may want to purchase a banner for your first market, to help customers identify your stall or if you prefer to just use a blackboard to start with. A banner is an inexpensive way for customers to identify you and Amazon have some really inexpensive ones. Check these out: https://amzn.to/3xOa5nM
Once you have completed all of the above steps, made your stock and got your vehicle loaded up with your market stall equipment and stock, you are ready to drive off to your first market and begin your new business venture!
Check out our other Market Stall Business Ideas and see if there is an ideal business for you.
Happy Trading!
Idea No 2: Sausage Roll Stall
Happy Trading!