Most food businesses go to a lot of effort marketing their products to customers, but not Sari!

Ever since Sari Stevenson opened The Keto Bakery Box in 2018, the demand for her products has been relentless. In that first year, she often had lines of customers waiting at her home to pick up their orders!

She started her business under California’s cottage food law, but she hit the $50,000 sales limit in less than a year, at which point she transitioned from her home kitchen to a commercial kitchen.

She now bakes her products in Costa Mesa, CA and sells most of them through a number of stores in Southern California.

Her secret? She spent many months (and countless test batches) creating keto-friendly baked foods that actually taste great! At the same time, the keto diet was becoming increasingly popular in her area, and nobody else was focused on selling baked goods like hers.

Sari is not only an expert in everything keto, but she is a certified ketogenic living health coach. In this episode, she not only shares her business journey, but also describes some of the common misconceptions of the increasingly popular keto diet trend.

• What a keto diet is, and who it’s for
• Why it is so difficult to create keto-friendly baked goods
• What types of baked goods can be found in a keto bakery
• How Sari sold over $50k of baked goods within her first year of business, with only word-of-mouth marketing
• How much of Sari’s sales comes from wholesale, direct, and shipped orders
• When Sari knew it was time to quit her day job
• What it’s like to rent a commercial kitchen
• How to price a product when you have no competitors to compare to
• How much it costs to buy a keto baked good
• Why Sari started selling keto meals
• Why she only allows customers to pickup orders, and doesn’t offer delivery
• Why getting a commercial permit in some CA counties is easier (though more expensive) than getting a cottage food permit
• What’s involved in getting a PFR (processed food registration) in CA, and why it’s so complicated
• How Sari’s bakery has helped change people’s lives
• How the bakery led Sari into being a ketogenic living health coach

The Keto Bakery Box Website

Facebook Page / Instagram Feed / Yelp

Naturally Living Keto (Sari’s coaching website)

California Cottage Food Law

Get full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/39

Anne’s chocolates certainly make an impression! It’s easy to see why her truffles instantly captivate potential customers.

Anne Reist lives in Holladay, UT and sells hand-painted chocolates with her confection business, The Chocolate Palette.

Anne built her business from her home kitchen using Utah’s cottage food law (not their food freedom law), and recently expanded by building a commercial kitchen into her home.

Through mostly word-of-mouth marketing and a very strong brand, she has grown a following of loyal customers fairly quickly!

• What types of chocolate to use for high-quality truffles
• The difference between the cottage food and food freedom laws in Utah
• Whether you should have labels printed professionally, or print your own
• What equipment you need to start a chocolate business like Anne’s
• The process for making hand-painted chocolates
• How much Anne prices her truffles at, and how many she can produce in a week
• Her most popular truffle flavors
• How to make a seasonal candy business sustainable year-round
• Packaging considerations for chocolates
• How to ship chocolate year-round
• Where to get colored cocoa butter
• How Anne’s business grew through the pandemic
• Whether to rent a commercial kitchen or build one in your home
• How to build a commercial kitchen in your home

The Chocolate Palette Website (Facebook | Instagram)

Ecole Chocolate (online chocolate-making classes)

Cocoa Dolce Artisan Chocolates (in-person classes — potentially discontinued)

Zebra Label Printer

Box & Wrap Packaging

Chef Rubber (colored cocoa butter)

Choco Transfer Sheets (colored cocoa butter)

Utah Cottage Food Law

Utah Food Freedom Law

Get full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/38

A few months before Jim & Crystal Whitmarsh were expecting their first child, they started roasting coffee beans at home with a $20 popcorn popper. At that time, little did they know what their new hobby would grow into!

Jim & Crystal live in Kasson, MN and sell small-batch roasted specialty coffee with their business, Trail Creek Coffee Roasters.

They initially leveraged Minnesota’s cottage food law to start and grow their business from home, and after a couple of years, they moved into a brick-and-mortar storefront to expand their business.

Although their loyal customers rave about their coffee, it’s likely their continued marketing efforts that have had a greater impact on their business. They are constantly finding new and creative ways to collaborate with other businesses and organizations, and then they showcase those collaborations through social media.

A far cry from their initial popcorn popper roaster, they now own a commercial-grade roaster that costs tens-of-thousands of dollars! Their path to success hasn’t necessarily been the quickest or easiest, but through a double shot of passion and persistence, their small business continues to grow!

• How to start micro-batch coffee roasting with a popcorn popper
• The different equipment options for roasting coffee beans at home
• Why educating customers is especially important when selling small-batch roasted specialty coffee
• When Jim & Crystal knew they were ready to transition from cottage food into a commercial space
• What to do if you don’t feel ready to take the next step in your business journey
• How to promote your business to your local area
• How to build your business through collaborations with other businesses and organizations
• How to leverage Facebook lives while you’re selling at a market
• The upsides of starting a business while raising a young family
• How to work with your spouse as a business partner
• How they have changed their pricing and packaging of coffee beans over time
• Where to source green coffee beans in bulk

Trail Creek Coffee Roasters Website (Facebook | Instagram)

Sweet Maria’s Coffee Library (learn about home coffee roasting)

Mill City Roasters (commercial-grade roasters & supplies)

Minnesota Cottage Food Law

Get full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/37

It all started with a Facebook page. Back in 2018, Beverly Clutter decided to start showcasing her decorated cookies on social media, but she had no idea that it would soon turn into a business!

Beverly lives in Fairmont, WV and sells custom decorated sugar cookies, cakes, and other baked goods with her cottage food business, WV Cookie Jar.

At the recent national cottage food conference, Beverly earned the top spot on the leaderboard as the most active attendee (out of 900+ attendees), and her submissions into the photo contest were equally impressive.

Whether it is posting on social media, being hyper engaged at a conference, or teaching decorating classes to her local community, Beverly consistently puts herself (and her business) out there and focuses on serving others.

The result? A successful side business that has grown organically, brings her plenty of joy and freedom, and provides her family with some extra income.

• The benefit of showcasing your hobbies on social media
• How a simple giveaway can boost your Facebook page
• Some tips for improving your food photos
• Why Beverly is glad that her business got reported to the health department
• How to transition a hobby into a business
• Where to source packaging supplies
• How offering classes can boost your business
• The benefit of having a separate bank account for your business
• How Beverly’s nursing job helped prepare her to run a cottage food business
• The busiest times of year for a decorated cookie business
• What type of person should start a cottage food business
• Tips for when you’re just getting started with your business

WV Cookie Jar Website (Facebook / Instagram)

CK Products (cookie boxes)

Clear Bags (cellophane bags)

Ann Clark Cookie Cutters

West Virginia Cottage Food Law

Get full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/36

The Parchmans weren’t trying to start a cottage food business. Back in 2012, little did they know that their small garden of tomatoes and peppers had the seeds for so much potential!

Nathan & Nicole Parchman live in O’Fallon, IL and sell salsa, pickles, and sauces with their business, Nitro Family Foods.

After strong demand from family, friends, and (sometimes) complete strangers, they started selling “Nitro Salsa” at their local farmers market in 2019. And they haven’t looked back since!

Despite working fulltime jobs plus significant side jobs, as well as raising a family, the Parchmans somehow manage to find time to produce and sell over 200 jars of salsa and pickles each week!

In addition to the farmers market, they now also wholesale to stores and are in the process of building their own brick-and-mortar commercial kitchen and storefront.

In this episode, you will learn what makes this dynamic duo so successful!

• How sampling their salsa at a yard sale kicked off their business
• Why most people say that their salsa is the best they’ve ever had
• Some of the hoops you may need to jump through to make your business legal
• Why there are so many regulations for canned food products
• How to cater to both men and women at your farmers market booth
• The importance of making your brand fun and memorable
• Why their sales skyrocketed during the pandemic
• How to move from a cottage food business to a commercial food business
• How they manage fulltime jobs, side jobs, a family, and a cottage food business all at once
• Why networking is critical to growing a business
• Why some of the biggest things in life may be sitting right in front of you
• How they are making over $1,000 of profit at each farmers market!
• The importance of communicating with customers at markets
• How to save tons of money on ingredients and equipment when you can buy in bulk
• How much it costs to convert a building into a commercial kitchen (hint: it’s not cheap!)

Nitro Salsa / Nitro Family Foods website (Facebook page)

Square (for taking and managing sales at a farmers market)

Cricut Machine (for creating branding & signage)

Fillmore Container (bulk canning supplies)

Cottage Food Law in Illinois

Get full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/35

As a successful TV producer, Jennifer Jacobs never thought she’d run her own business someday. But as coworkers discovered her delicious desserts, her baking hobby started turning into a little business back in 2013.

And now that little home business is booming, with customers sometimes lining up down the street to get her baked goods. Jennifer sells custom cakes, cookie sandwiches, and other baked desserts through her brick-and-mortar bakery, the Wandering Whisk Bakeshop, in Pinellas Park, FL.

Jennifer didn’t start out with a business or culinary school degree, but she did understand how to market her products. As a producer for the Home Shopping Network, she spent countless hours watching the TV hosts sell anything and everything.

But she has marketed her baking business completely organically, without ever paying for ads. She has a large Instagram following and has been showcased locally and nationally in newspapers, magazines, TV shows, and more.

In this episode, Jennifer shares how to grow your cottage food business from part-time hobby to full-time brick-and-mortar without spending a dime on advertising.

• How Jen went from TV producer to full-time baker
• How to sell your products without being salesy
• When you should quit your job to jump into a food business full-time
• Why you should leverage your local library to learn new skills
• Where Jen gets the inspiration for her unique flavors
• How a local baking competition kick-started her business
• How to transition from a cottage food business into a brick-and-mortar bakery
• Ideas for marketing your business without paying for ads
• An effective strategy for growing your Instagram following and posting consistently
• Why the quality of your photos is so important
• How to leverage popup events and email marketing to grow your business
• How to price your products and target higher-end clientele
• What it is like to be on a baking competition on the Food Network
• How to get on local morning shows on TV

Wandering Whisk Bakeshop (Instagram | Facebook)

Video & Article About Jen’s Business, by The Penny Hoarder

Le Cordon Bleu Textbooks

SF Baking Institute

FLIP Liability Insurance (use code “forrager10” for a $10 discount)

Florida Cottage Food Law

Get full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/34

When Safeera Inayath immigrated to the United States from India back in 2010, she had never baked a cake in her life. Now cakes ARE her life, and she has over 10,000 Instagram followers!

Safeera lives in Prior Lake MN, and sells custom cakes, macarons, and other baked goods with her cottage food business, Sugardust & Sprinkles.

Aside from creating amazingly elegant and high-end baked goods, Safeera’s food photos really stand out. Her photography looks truly professional, even though she takes all of her photos with a smartphone.

By investing in photography skills and focusing on Instagram, her business has taken off. Brands and organizations have contacted her with a variety of money-making opportunities, including teaching, promoting a brand’s products, and even designing new products.

• How Safeera went from zero baking experience to becoming known as the “dessert queen”
• The benefits of niching down to one type of cake style
• How to take professional-looking photos using a smartphone
• How to make extra money by partnering with larger brands
• How often to post on Instagram
• How much time it really takes to manage an Instagram feed with 10k followers
• The challenge of supporting a young family while growing a food business
• How to plan your baking schedule to prepare for a market or custom order
• Why Safeera prices her 6-inch cakes at over $100

Sugardust & Sprinkles website (Instagram Feed | Facebook Page)

Learn photography:

• Sadra’s Food Photography Course
• Adobe Lightroom

Learn cake decorating:

• Classes at Michaels
• Cake Style YouTube Channel
• Pioneer Woman, by Ree Drummond
• Barefoot Contessa, by Ina Garten

Safeera’s partnerships with brands:

• Global Belly cake & macaron kits
• Fancy Sprinkles (use SUGARDUST15 code to get a 15% discount)
• Noor & Zafir cake decorating tutorial

Minnesota Cottage Food Law

Get full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/33

With over 300,000 followers, Liz Marek has become very well-known in the cake decorating community! She lives in Beaverton, OR and teaches beginner and advanced bakers how to craft amazing custom-decorated cakes through her online business, The Sugar Geek Show.

Liz began her cake decorating business as a side job just 13 years ago. After running that business from her licensed home kitchen for many years, she started winning cake competitions and making more of a name for herself.

Liz has written books, appeared on television and the Food Network many times, and traveled around the world as a professional speaker. She is a mom to two young children, and she now focuses solely on teaching online through The Sugar Geek Show.

In this interview, Liz shares plenty of helpful tidbits about running a cake business, but what I found most compelling were her many missteps and consistent persistence along the way. Things often didn’t go the way she hoped or planned, but she still made something great out of it by constantly reinventing herself!

This is Part 2 of Liz’s interview (listen to Part 1 here). In this episode, Liz shares beginner tips for starting a cake business, what it was like to compete on (and win) Halloween Wars on the Food Network, and more about how the Sugar Geek Show has grown (and where it’s going).

How to determine the right time to start a business

• How to deal with imposter syndrome when your skills are at an amateur level
• Why Liz still teaches beginner level tutorials and skills
• How Liz started charging money for some of her content
• What it was like for Liz to become the breadwinner in her family
• How Patreon transformed Liz’s business, and why she almost didn’t try it
• How to find work/life balance while running a successful business
• Liz’s vision for where the Sugar Geek Show will go in the future
• What it was like to win Halloween Wars on the Food Network
• How to get on a TV baking competition
• The top tips that you should know when starting a cake business
• The most common problem that new cake makers experience
• Why it’s so important to create a cake contract
• Liz’s #1 tip that you must do before making and delivering a cake

Part 1 of this interview with Liz Marek (Episode 31)

Sugar Geek Show (YouTube / Facebook / Instagram / TikTok)

How To Make Your First Cake

Liz’s Cake Decorating Classes:

• Free Beginner Tutorials
• Cake Decorating Basics
• Wedding Cake Basics
• Intermediate Tutorials
• Advanced Tutorials

Liz’s Facebook Groups:

• Cake Newbs
• Sugar Geeks

Cottage Food Laws in the US

Get full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/32

With over 300,000 followers, Liz Marek has become very well-known in the cake decorating community! She lives in Beaverton, OR and teaches beginner and advanced bakers how to craft amazing custom-decorated cakes through her online business, The Sugar Geek Show.

Liz began her cake decorating business as a side job just 13 years ago. After running that business from her licensed home kitchen for many years, she started winning cake competitions and making more of a name for herself.

Liz has written books, appeared on television and the Food Network many times, and traveled around the world as a professional speaker. She is a mom to two young children, and she now focuses solely on teaching online through The Sugar Geek Show.

In this interview, Liz shares plenty of helpful tidbits about running a cake business, but what I found most compelling were her many missteps and consistent persistence along the way. Things often didn’t go the way she hoped or planned, but she still made something great out of it by constantly reinventing herself!

In fact, by the end of this episode, you will learn that if things had gone the way that she planned, she almost certainly wouldn’t be where she is today.

• Why Liz calls herself an “accidental entrepreneur”
• Why she quit her graphic design job to pursue cake decorating full-time
• Why she named her YouTube channel the Sugar Geek Show
• How to market a cake business through social media, bridal shows, and photo shoots
• How many photos of your work you should put on your website (it’s less than you think)
• How to manage all of the different tasks each week for a busy home cakery
• What to do when a customer demands a refund
• Why it’s important to use cake contracts
• How Liz won “best in show” at her first cake competition
• How Liz built a business and raised a family at the same time
• Why Liz’s business may have never taken off if starting her family went as planned

Sugar Geek Show (YouTube / Facebook / Instagram / TikTok)

How To Make Your First Cake

Liz’s Cake Decorating Classes:

• Free Beginner Tutorials
• Cake Decorating Basics
• Wedding Cake Basics
• Intermediate Tutorials
• Advanced Tutorials

Beautiful Then, Beautiful Now — Liz’s first competition cake, which won best-in-show at the 2014 That Takes The Cake! competition

Liz’s Facebook Groups:

• Cake Newbs
• Sugar Geeks

Cottage Food Laws in the US

Get full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/31

We often hear the same entrepreneurial advice: Start simple. Start small. Start a side hustle. Don’t throw all your eggs in one basket.

But when Debbie George started her custom decorated cookie business, she threw caution to the wind and took the opposite approach: go big or go home!

Except that Debbie pulled off the rare feat of going big AND going home! At the beginning of 2020, she started her cottage food business, Cookie Mill, from her home kitchen in Gilbert, AZ.

For starters, she bought seemingly every kitchen gadget or appliance available. A cookie oven, industrial mixer, 3D printer, edible printer, silhouette machine, dehydrator, dough sheeter, projector, stainless steel counters/racks, etc… all told, she invested in about $20k of equipment in the first year.

And most notably, she bought this equipment before she even needed it.

Part of me wants to say “Don’t try this at home”, but that’s exactly what Debbie did, and it worked! In that first year, she sold over 10,000 cookies!

This episode starts off with a crazy story about how she attended Cookie Con, and by the end, you’ll see a consistent trend of how Debbie’s positive mindset allows things to work in her favor.

It’s not just positive thinking though. Debbie is an expert networker, and she shares some great tips on how to network with other businesses.

Unlike most custom cookie makers, Debbie sells mostly to businesses by focusing on a B2B model (business to business), instead of catering to weddings, birthdays, graduations, etc with a more typical B2C model (business to consumer).

• Debbie’s crazy story about how she attended CookieCon
• How conferences can help jumpstart your business
• Why Debbie invested in expensive equipment from the start
• Why you should consider joining a BNI (Business Network International) chapter to network with other business owners
• The benefit of having an accountability partner when starting a business
• How to process large (1,000+) cookie orders from a home kitchen
• Why Debbie specializes in logo cookies
• How Debbie prices her custom decorated cookies
• How to make custom cookies that cater to business owners
• Why a wholesaler can’t deliver ingredients to a home address
• Tips for shipping custom decorated cookies in the summer
• How to do well in business without a fancy website
• Where to learn more about making custom decorated cookies
• How to use a 3D printer to create custom cookie cutters

Cookie Mill (Instagram / Facebook)

BNI (contact Debbie for sponsorship) / Debbie’s BNI Profile

CookieCon

Learn cookie decorating:

• The Colorful Cookie Club with Nancy Westfall
• Sugar Dot Cookies with Dotty Raleigh
• McGoo U with Arty McGoo

Cookie supplies & equipment:

• Bobbi’s Cutters on Etsy (cookie cutters)
• 2 T’s Stencils (stencils, tools, meringue powder and icing colors)
• BRP Box Shop & Uline (cookie boxes)
• Ender 3 Pro 3D Printer (for printing cookie cutters)
• Adcraft Convection Ovens

Get full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/30