Should I do it?

[Rosiie]

I’m thinking of starting my own business in couple months, something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. It’s a cake business and I live really close to my local market, I was thinking of having a stall there and sell cupcakes and cakes, and take orders.

The problem is, I’m in two minds whether I should employ my next door neighbour who’s a friend of mine, she’s also a SAHM.
I’m scared that I’m gonna come to regret it and something’s gonna happen. It would be nice to have someone help me transport the cupcakes and just be there with me in the market and it would only be for 3-4 hours whilst the kids are in school. I will do all the baking, she will just be there with me at the stall for those few hours. I’m hoping to open a shop one day.

Should I employ her or should I just bite the bullet and do it myself?

I see you’re in Ldn?id imagine it oversaturated down there with cakes at farmers markets/fairs etc
Cup cakes and cakes is oversaturated market. I agree with the gluten and veg options
at my school a mum bakes cakes & sells cakes, I think lots of folk do likewise

I’m sure there was someone the other day who was wondering whether to set up a baking business, and their friend had mentioned they might want to do it together. But they didn’t want to set up a business with the friend and thought they might employ them instead.

Hang on, I’ll have to search. It’ll bother me otherwise!

Don't do it OP. Not unless you can comfortably afford to lose a lot of money early on. Get it up and running first. Find your feet and figure out what works and what doesn't and how you like things done. Build up some cash reserves. Then, when you're happy that you've got something that you can build on, consider employing someone and think about the qualities that that person should have.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/3176263-would-you-be-offended-if

This one. Not your friend is it

LittleMiss Lol no i don't know her, I haven't even told my friend I want to start this business. I didn't want to speak to her about it until I've decided what I wanted to do.

And the OP of the thread wants to open a cafe, I want to sell at the market. Stall vs cafe, big difference.

Would you sell at numerous markets,various locations or a static pitch

Oh! You’re in London! There is an amazing vegan baker in London, that the young woman I know went to work in for a year, to improve her already considerable skill. Btw, Pinterest has some good recipes.

You don't need help transporting cupcakes?! I've baked, decorated, boxed, transported and set up 200-400 cupcakes in a VW Golf, and worked a stall for up to 8 hours on my own, don't need permanent help at all, only for really busy markets. And if you earn enough to pay yourself I'd be impressed, never mind an employee.

Sounds more like a hobby than a business
Add in a friend and it sounds like a good way to lose money.

Could you ask her to help you out on a temp basis - to help you out for the first month. If you find it useful you could ask her if she wants to make it more permanent, if not you just end things as agreed. Explaining at the start that you would only be able to afford help for the first month and would love it if she would consider helping.

Positively thank you for your suggestion. I will try and make vegan cupcakes, I'm new to this so have to practice. What do you sell at your stall If I may ask?

Foggymist I'm thinking of selling 200-250 cupcakes, depending on how things go. How did you transport the cupcakes from the car to your stall? What did you do with packaging?

Get a wheelbarrow

I put them in big plastic underbed storage boxes that carry 50 each, stack them, carry 100-150 cupcakes at a time that way. Packaging as in what I sold them in? Paper bags, a box of them is easy to carry as they are so flat and light.

Lipstick I'll just stick to one market and sell at fairs few times a month maybe

Rosiie, I used to run a toy stall, many years ago and it was hard work, but fun. I run a pet care business now. I ran on a loss for the first six months, the average for most people is a year. If you go into it expecting a loss at first, then any profit is a bonus. It can be soul destroying at times, but so long as you don’t get into debt and work seven days a week, you could run a successful business. It’s not like you see on tv, where the hard worker still looks gorgeous. It’s shit at first, but now I’d do nothing else.

If you employ a friend you will have one fewer friends.

If, when the business is going, you need an assistant advertise and employ the best applicant.

Also do you realise that if you employ one person you will have to provide a pension scheme for them? Register for national insurance and tax? Become liable for SSP & SMP? Have employers insurance as well as your public liability insurance? And so on

When you say you’re new to this, do you mean vegan baking or baking fullstop?

I’m not from London and I can name three beautiful cupcake bakeries off the top of my head where I’d go over a market every time. Please do come back and tell us if you’re successful, but you sound rather naïve.

Stripey, unlikely to need to pay any of those for a min wage job for 4 hours per week.

Lobsterface I also know a few cupcake shops in London, one of them started at a market stall and now owns a shop.

The thing is nobody starts out perfect, you learn as you go.

You didn’t answer the question

Dairy free and gluten free cupcakes would prob be a hit as loads of kids don't have dairy now so kill two birds with one stone combining the two

I wouldn't employ neighbour

Stripey yes I'm aware, I know there's a lot of paperwork, I know what needs to be done. I'm just nervous about the physical side of the business, being at the market that's all.

Lobsterface sorry, I meant I'm new to vegan and gluten cupcakes, only baked normal cakes and cupcakes.

My exw gave up work to start her own cake making business she was very good at it did wedding / Birthday / cupcakes / craft stalls / FB page etc....
Even with my help collecting all the ingredients and dropping off the orders around my own job she never made anything like minimum wage even the electric bill tripled due to the oven constantly being on .

That all said she enjoyed doing it but it would never have become a business to employ another person , start off alone give it a couple of years and see how it goes.

Good luck and All the best

Op I know you said you've done your research but I think you need to factor in your packaging as well. Not just the storage boxes (I used underbed storage boxes too, they're great) but also the paper bags, cake boxes etc and anything you need for your stall - cake stands, trays etc. Best way to buy the packaging is at a cash and carry ime, so you're buying in bulk which can be a big outlay. I hope it works out for you, I did it for five years and loved it but it was bloody hard work and lots of times where I came home feeling defeated, barely breaking even and with loads of stock left over (turns out there really is only so much cake you can eat!) good luck