Jump to content

Starting a business

Kailyn

By Kailyn
in The Lounge

 Share

Recommended Posts

Kailyn

Kailyn

Posted
Posted

I make and decorate cakes as a hobby and friends have suggested I make a business out of it, but I don't know where to start.

Would I need special insurance to run it from my house? I've thought before about starting a website and have looked around and seen this kind of thing http://website.1and1.co.uk/website-builder but things like domain names make no sense to me.

Can anyone direct me to a simple guide to doing all of this?

Link to comment
https://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/topic/33167-starting-a-business/
Share on other sites
Sue

Sue

Posted
Posted

You need things like hygiene certificates, for a start.


My sister is a very talented cake decorator (she won an Ideal Home competition at Christmas) but when she looked into starting a business she was put off by what would be involved.


Pricing is also an issue, bearing in mind the amount of time involved (assuming you are spending a lot of time personalising the cakes, as she does).


I also wouldn't recommend 1&1 for hosting a website. My http://www.thegooseisout.com website is hosted with them, and I have been less than impressed with their service if anything goes wrong or you have queries.


If you do not understand basic things like domain names, and will have to get to grips with building a website on top of starting your cake business, I'd either pay somebody else to do it, or else think very very carefully about whether you have sufficient time to put into all this.


I don't want to put you off, so if you are really keen go for it, but I think you may be underestimating the work involved in relation to the potential financial return.


ETA: And building the website is only part of it - you then have to promote the business so that potential customers will actually visit your website!


And you will have to do tax returns every year as a self-employed person, which is a pain.

dbboy

dbboy

Posted
Posted

Kailyn, see http://www.food.gov.uk/business-industry/caterers/startingup/


I am a local business and management consultancy (see my website www.crownwestonassociates.org.uk) and would be happy to have an initial meeting with you at NO cost to help you move your proposition forward.


Yes it is a lot of hard work to start your own business, but well worth it in the long run. The key is starting small and then developing it from their. I look forward to hearing from you.

PN33

PN33

Posted
Posted
Start a Wordpress website. There are thousands of videos on YouTube teaching you about how to get it set up (in terms of domains, hosting etc) as well as customising your site, adding content etc. You really don't need to be technical, and I'd expect any semi-computer literate person to be able to get started in less than a day
Kailyn

Kailyn

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Brilliant, thanks everyone. No, lol, it's not a cupcake business, bigger cakes, usually birthdays, christenings, weddings, that kind of thing. I'll post a pic later, rushing to go out now.

Sue, (great website, just had a look) I'll bear all that in mind. It's early days yet and something I've only just started thinking about.

Thank for the replies :)

MrBen

MrBen

Posted
Posted

Go for it Kailyn. It doesn't sound like you'll be remortgaging your house to do it, low start up costs and you can build it up gradually, in your spare time or as fast as you feel like. What's the worst that can happen?


I'm guessing your turnover will be under certain thresholds, so if it's your only source of income you can keep things quite simple from the admin, tax side. You could set up with HMRC as a sole trader/self employed and likely wont have to register for vat etc.


Whether you are starting up as a one man cottage enterprise or looking to build a larger SME, a great reference book that tells you all is the FT Start Up guide 2013 by Sara Williams which is clear and assumes no prior knowledge : http://www.amazon.co.uk/Financial-Times-Guide-Business-Start/dp/0273778757/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1371105517&sr=8-1&keywords=FT+start+up


I would advise against spending a lot of time and money on a website. For your type of business I'd keep it simple, get a local SE22 designer (complete with a beard and Macbook pro) to do some nice fonts, create a decent logo for your "brand" and add a few pics, contact details and some links to help people find you for typical google searches like "custom cakes Dulwich" or similar. Thats all you need. The website is unlikely to generate huge amounts of sales, its more of a reference point for potential customers. Word of mouth is probably your best start up sales channel alongside a few other things. SE22 magazine can actually work quite well- or sponsor this forum for a few weeks?


Best of luck.

Peckhamrye

Peckhamrye

Posted
Posted

Get on Twitter and hook up with Band of Bakers - lots of amateur and semi-pro bakers there, some provide cakes for Anderson & Co on Bellenden Road to sell - will probably have good ideas. Also Ellie's Bakehouse. Twitter foodie scene in SE London is very big.


@peckhamryeeats

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing
  • Advertise Here

  • Latest Discussions

    • tomem
      Nursery school

      By tomem · Posted

      Not sure about changing hands but the Peckham Rye one is open and hasn’t had any random closures. Our child is very happy there but there was a resolved Ofsted complaint half way through last year.  Things don’t look good for the Devon nursery owned by the same company - looks like loads of issues with Ofsted which can be seen in its latest report. 
    • jazzer
      The going home for the weekend song thread...come on you groovey foookers

      By jazzer · Posted

    • Sue
      Have a great nhs dentist accepting patients

      By Sue · Posted

      I was in Forest Hill Road today, just past the Rye, and noticed there is a dentist next to the Herne (pub) that has NHS signs outside. I've never had any problems getting NHS dental treatment in East Dulwich, and I get regular check ups. I've been to three  different dental practices here over the years, all with NHS treatment. I think the difficulties are in other parts of the country. Malumbu has a good explanation above. I didn't hear the Radio 4 programme, but I'm guessing that a  radio programme is not going to have time to say where you CAN easily get NHS treatment, and is bound to focus on the negatives and the horror stories, otherwise it would be very boring! ETA: Re children's teeth, I think the major issue is not lack of dentists, it is children being given sugary food, drinks and confectionery which rots their teeth. The education of parents needs to be about this, not just about tooth brushing. And in some cases the poor diet may also be due to lack of money for healthy food. Though of course the lack of dentists doesn't help, if  the tooth rotting can't be rectified by fillings or extraction.
    • jazzer
      Boycotting US products

      By jazzer · Posted

      Well, I hope you like what you see, the hot air, lack of answers and continual blaming things on the last Government and the made up blackhole, I find are nauseating. The man needs to see reality, because I'd guess that if we had a snap election tomorrow and based on the first six months of this parliament, Labour would get trounced. When the election does finally happen and if that isn't before the people rise up and throw this lot out, Labour will not be voted back in for a millennium.  

East Dulwich Forum

Established in 2006, we are an online community discussion forum for people who live, work in and visit SE22.

Home
Events
Sign In

Sign In



Or sign in with one of these services

Search
×
    Search In
×
×
  • Create New...