50 Baking Business Ideas

If you enjoy baking, there’s a huge customer base of those who love baked goods out there.  That means there are plenty of opportunities out there for entrepreneurs to build businesses around baking. Here are 50 different baking business ideas you can use to showcase your talents as a baker.

Baking Business Ideas

Bakery

If you want to start your own baking business, the most obvious choice would be to open a bakery where you can sell a variety of different creations.

Home Baking Business

Where permitted, you can also start a baking business where you simply make the items in your home kitchen and then sell them online or to local bake shops.

Online Treat Sales

Sites like Etsy allow you to sell cookies and other specialty baked goods from an online shop. Then you can ship those items directly to your customers.

Wholesale Cookie Sales

If you don’t want to start a whole bake shop on your own, you could just sell your creations to local bakeries or coffee shops on a wholesale basis.

Pastry Chef Service

You could also work as a pastry chef either for personal clients or on a freelance basis with local restaurants or bake shops.

Healthy Bake Shop

Baked goods aren’t usually known for their nutritional value. But you can carve out your own unique niche and take advantage of a growing trend by offering some baked goods that are a bit healthier than those found at your average bakery.

Wedding Cake Creation

Wedding cakes are always in high demand. So that can make for a profitable niche for anyone with some baking skills.

Cake Decoration

Or you could get even more specific and offer your services as a cake decorator, making unique creations on wedding cakes and other items.

Cake Sales

You don’t have to specialize only in wedding cakes though. You could simply open a cake shop where you sell items for birthdays and other occasions as well.

Bread Making

Bread is another popular item for bakers. You could open your own bread shop or bake bread for use in various cafe items.

Cupcake Shop

If you want to specialize in a smaller type of baked item, you could open a cupcake shop with lots of specialty flavors and sell batches or individual cupcakes to customers.

Cookie Sales

Or you could bake batches of various cookies and sell them online, in a cookie shop or in other stores in your community.

Artisan Donut Shop

Artisan donut shops are a growing trend right now. Start your own by creating your own unique flavors and menu items.

Cake Pops Sales

Cake pops are also becoming increasingly popular. So you can specialize in this type of treat and offer them in batches or single servings.

Pie Making

You could also specialize in baking pies and open your own pie shop or restaurant that sells pies as its specialty dessert.

Candy Making

Or you could make various candy products in large batches and sell them online or on a wholesale basis to stores.

Invent Your Own Unique Treat

You don’t have to specialize in one a category of baked goods that’s already popular. As an entrepreneur, you can come up with an idea for a whole new type of treat — or at least put your own spin on an existing favorite, like giant cookies.

Gluten-Free Bakery

There aren’t as many baked goods out there for people with gluten allergies. So that can be a profitable niche for bakers who want to provide baked goods without any gluten.

Vegan Bakery

You could also specialize in making baked goods that don’t use any egg, dairy or animal-based products to appeal to vegan consumers.

Organic Bakery

Or you could start a bakery or brand that only uses organic ingredients to appeal to health and environmentally conscious consumers.

Coffee Shop Owner

Coffee shops often also include plenty of baked goods like muffins, donuts and scones on the menu. So you can start your own coffee shop and offer those items as well.

Breakfast Shop

Or you could open up a breakfast restaurant or shop where you sell pastries and other types of baked goods that people can enjoy in the morning.

Event Catering

If you’re a skilled baker and chef, you could start your own catering business where you provide dessert along with your main course items.

Dessert Cart

You could also start a mobile business to show off your baking talents by utilizing a cart or other setup that you can wheel around to various locations.

Dessert Food Truck

Or you could capitalize on the growing food truck craze and simply put a baking twist on it by offering dessert items.

Fair or Carnival Vending

Desserts are particularly popular at fairs, carnivals and similar events. So you can start a business where you travel to those events and set up stands offering various baked goods.

Farmer’s Market Vending

Even though farmer’s markets are known more for produce and healthy items, there are some that will allow people to set up stands selling prepared food items. So you could bake items and then sell them directly to customers at local markets.

Dessert Delivery Service

Instead of setting up shop at a fixed location, you could offer baked goods to customers where they are. Set up a website and menu and then let customers order specific items for delivery within your general area.

Gift Basket Service

You could also offer more general products that simply incorporate the items you bake. A gift basket service can be a great way to accomplish this.

Holiday Treat Making

Around holidays, plenty of customers go out of their way for specialty baked goods during holidays like Christmas and Halloween. So you can offer treats that are specifically suited for those events.

Edibles Sales

In states where medical and recreational marijuana is legal, you can create a baking business where you sell various edibles and dessert items to businesses or customers who qualify.

Artisan Dog Treats

Even pets enjoy specialty baked goods. So you can use your baking skills to create dog treats and then sell them to pet stores or directly to customers.

Freelance Cafe Baking

If you want to bake at an actual bakery but don’t have the time or resources to set one up, you could travel around to different cafes and bakeries to offer your services as a guest baker or on a freelance or contract basis.

Baking Supplies Store

For those interested in owning a retail business, you could open a store that sells baking pans, cookbooks and other essential baking supplies.

Specialty Ingredients Sales

Or you could specialize in selling actual ingredients, especially those that might be difficult for bakers to find at general grocery stores.

Baking Teacher

You could also start your own baking school where you teach some of the basics of baking to students, or even specialize in more advanced baked goods.

Online Course Creation

Or you could create courses and offer them online to share your expertise with students from other areas as well.

Cookbook Authoring or Publishing (or Both)

You could also write a cookbook with various baking recipes and tips in it.

Food Blogging

Or if you want to constantly update your readers with new recipes and content, you could start a food blog with recipes and tips specifically about baking.

YouTube Personality

Video is also a popular format for sharing recipes and information about food and baking. So you could start your own YouTube channel where you share recipes and more.

Baking Video Sales

Or you could create video tutorials and sell them individually online, similar to online courses but on a bit of a smaller scale.

Baking Competition Organizing

Baking competitions are popular on TV and in person. You could organize your own event where you make money from admissions or sponsorships to highlight local baking talent.

Baking Kit Sales

To help other bakers make specific items, you could sell kits that include all the items needed to make a specific types of desserts.

Baking Subscription Service

You could also set up a subscription service with supplies and ingredients for other bakers to make various items regularly.

Baked Goods Subscription Service

Or you could set up a subscription service that includes the actual finished desserts instead of the supplies needed to make them.

Cookie Cutter Manufacturing

You can get a bit more specific with the products you offer. For example, you could specialize in creating cookie cutters in fun shapes for other bakers.

Cake Mold Manufacturing

Or you could make and sell cake molds and pans to help cake makers obtain quality supplies.

Baking Product Reviews

You could also serve as an expert who reviews various baking supplies and equipment on a blog or other publication.

Printables Sales

You might also consider selling recipes or other printable guides online. It’s a way to offer some content for sale without having to put together an entire book.

Baking App

For those who are tech-savvy bakers, you could even put together a mobile app that offers baking tips, recipes and other baking related content for users.

Baker Photo via Shutterstock

This article, "50 Baking Business Ideas" was first published on Small Business Trends