AIBU to ask if you’d buy this considering the situation?

[chocolatetreats21]

I have a new business idea, I want to make chocolate covered treats from home and sell them. I just don’t know if people would buy it considering the whole COVID situation? What do you think?

[RunBackwards]

I don't buy anything from Facebook sellers unless it's as a favour to someone I know and then I begrudge it and am almost always disappointed with the quality.

To buy food products from anyone wfh, a very strong recommendation would have to come from a very trusted friend.

Finally, I'm highly unlikely to buy these kinds of things because they're so expensive for what you get. I understand handmade, hourly rate etc, but a cupcake (or whatever) isn't worth £3+ to me.

[saraclara]

My Facebook feed is full of people selling cakey stuff. Usually cup cakes with half a sweet shop on top, or loaded brownies. Not my thing at all, and no, I wouldn't buy something from a random person's kitchen, covid or not.

[Summone]

I think doing vegan stuff is a good suggestion from pp.

[Oatbaroatbar]

I see things like that on fb marketplace all the time, sorry

[Mimishimi]

A friend/client has a thriving cake business that she runs from her well appointed home. It's not impossible.

[SonjaMorgan]

I grow my own strawberries, out of season ones taste of nothing.

[chantico]

Bear in mind that we're going in to very tough times and people will not have the spare money for treats (or not many, if at all)

Or if they do want to buy cake/decorated biscuits etc, they are more likely to do so from cheap suppliers, possibly suoermarket bakery with their regular shop. Paying for delivery of one, more expensive, item is not going to be done that readily.

Or have you researched your local conditions and found otherwise?

[tulippa]

No I wouldn't buy them - sorry. They look too 'handled'.

[RaspberryCoulis]

There's a woman near here doing all that sort of stuff from home and yes I'd buy from her. I am not an "ewwww germs from homemade" person and anyway, why would you be at any more risk buying from someone making at home than buying from a commercial business where dozens of people are involved in production?

However the woman i know who does this sells mostly through school fairs, farmers markets that sort of thing, your products are an impulse buy unless you're planning a party or other big event. Problem is that there are no school fairs, no farmers markets and no big events either.

[SimonJT]

[quote MJMG2015]@SimonJT

A friend is a confectioner and cake maker, he has a small shop where he smells ready made items

He'd probably be more successful if he sold them instead...just a thought 🤷🏻‍♀️

Seriously though, I'm sorry to hear he's struggling. I hope he stays afloat making them to order. With so few Events, even with a goid client base that's not going to be easy.[/quote]
Haha, true true 🤣

[sarahc336]

No I thought that was advised against st the min as you can't be sure that the product isn't contaminated with covid xx

[dontdisturbmenow]

Go for it OP. They look gorgeous (and I don't even like Chocolate!).

If we go by the craze that happened at my local Sainsburys when they released the 50% of toys so that they had to reintroduced queuing and it was a very long one, I'd say people have more money than what we hear, at least to prioritise gifts.

As long as you've got a good business case, done research and know what you are doing, go for it.

[RiseUpWiseUpEyesUp]

I would if you had certificates and everything and were local, there aren’t many local people here making nice treats (unsure whether that’s because there’s no demand, though)

[NoIDontWatchLoveIsland]

I usually find that the price point people need to charge for this sort of stuff to actually make it profitable, is not a price I'm willing to pay. It's quite easy to do yourself at home, even with glitter/fondant/decorations. Those skills are ones which a lot of people have and enjoy as a hobby, so they don't value them highly enough to pay other people for them. Cake/sweet makers are ten a penny.

If you are trying to find a business idea and one which you can do from home, try and find a skillset which very few people can do themselves or which requires expensive specialist equipment. You will also make more money if it's something people need, chocolate treats are an indulgence and will be the first spending people cut as belts get tightened this winter with lots of redundancies.

[MotherPiglet]

OP try making them for your family at home before you even consider setting up a business and selling them.. you might find they are harder to decorate nicely than you first anticipated.


Also fresh strawberries in the winter... where you going to get good sized strawberries from out of season? Strawberries are significantly smaller outside of season

[RiseUpWiseUpEyesUp]

Also I don’t think that “I could make those at home” is a good argument for baked goods. There will always be people that say and think that, but cake makers are still in business. Anyone can take a box of cake mix and make a cake, and yet it’s still a huge market!

[borntohula]

It wouldn't be the pandemic that would put me off buying them.

[Seaswims]

OP just go for it! We have a few home bakers in our little area who do treat boxes and doorstep deliveries. We've used them a few times since Covid hit, to send to friends we couldn't see and to treat ourselves. They have all done really well, I think the key is good advertising, so Instagram and Facebook, great photos etc. Good luck!

[ElementalIllusion]

Things like that always look far easier than they actually are, especially getting a final product like the ones you have posted photos of.

I have a friend who is a professionally trained pastry chef, she has also had a ‘home bakery’ business while she was at home with her small dcs.
It’s a very hard area to make a profit in, even if you are well trained and talented, most people just don’t want to pay realistic prices, especially for small favour type treats like you are suggesting.

How much would you be hoping to charge for 5 or ten of your strawberries, cakesicleles, orios?

[TheGirlWithAPrince]

My area also has chocolate covered treat sellers

[Racoonworld]

The pandemic wouldn’t put me off. But I agree there are so many people doing this it’s not exactly a new business idea. Have a look on Etsy. I actually thought they looked nice and thought about buying for an event in summer but they were £2 each so really not worth the money. If you could do them for cheaper then I would have bought them.

[HasaDigaEebowai]

I wouldn’t, covid or not. I would be concerned about hygiene standards

[Fromthetopmakeitdrop]

No, but if you could make cupcakes I'd buy those! I would only buy things I couldn't make myself. (Not saying mine would be as good as yours but I could make an equivalent - cupcakes & celebration cakes however I would outsource)

[purpledagger]

I wouldn't buy them, not because of covid, but because I'm not interested in paying a premium for a 'pretty' strawberry or biscuit.

I don't want to put you off your idea though. My suggestion would be to find your USP. As other posters have said, the market is saturated, so rather than just copying what others have done, do something different.

Do your market research - talk to family and friends and ask what types of goods they would be interested in buying eg vegan or sustainable. Experiment with different flavours and ingredients.

[sst1234]

OP well done for trying to be enterprising. It could very well work. The problem is that at small scale your prices wouldn’t be competitive. Sorry to say but small businesses are often not reliable, don’t offer speedy delivery and are not competitive on price or selection. You have to jump through hoops to get what you want as a customer. Unless you can overcome this by having proper production facilities and delivery offering, you cannot compete.