KeeperSide Hustle Index
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Food & culinary

Baking & cottage food

You bake at home and sell locally under cottage food rules. Custom orders for parties and holidays are where it adds up.

3.94 reviewsLast review 2 weeks ago
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Median monthly earnings
$275
Middle 50%: $175 – $375
Effective hourly
$29.25
Earnings over the hours people logged
Hours per week
8 hrs
Median across reviews
Startup cost
$500–1,000
To get up and running
Time to first $100
1–4 weeks
From starting out
Monthly expenses
$150–300
To keep it running
Schedule flexibility
Fully on my own terms
Most common answer
Would recommend it
50%
2 of 4 say yes or probably yes
What people make in a month
Gross earnings people entered themselves, before expenses and taxes. 4 reviews.
1
1
1
0
0
1
0
0
0
Under $100
$100–250
$250–500
$500–1,000
$1,000–2,000
$2,000–3,500
$3,500–5,000
$5,000–10,000
$10,000+
By platform
How many reviewers use each platform. Many people work more than one.
Facebook Marketplace
1 reviewer
Squarespace
1 reviewer
How it scores
Happiness7.8 / 10
Would do it again50%
Schedule flexibility4.5 / 5
Pay predictability2.7 / 5
What surprised people most
Every option reviewers could pick, most common first. 4 reviews.
Unexpected expenses
2
How much I could earn
1
How much time it takes
1
How difficult it is to find customers or clients
1
How competitive the market is
1
How little I could earn
0
How difficult it is to get started
0
Taxes — how much I owe
0
Nothing really surprised me
0
Reviews
Everyone here is anonymous. Nobody sees who wrote what.
Facebook Marketplace· 2–5 years in · 2 weeks ago
Monthly $2,000–3,500Hours 40–60 hrs/moHourly $55.00

I love the flexibility of making my own schedule and the joy that what I do brings to people. Start small only buying the things you absolutely have to have. If I could change anything it would be how little people know about running a home bakery

· 1–2 years in · 2 weeks ago
Monthly $100–250Hours 40–60 hrs/moHourly $3.50

I love baking and always have. The first time I made bread, it was an absolute disaster and I vowed to never do it again. I did try again and I am so thankful. I made my own starter. I do pretty much monthly events. I have met some really kind people. Sourdough is more forgiving than you might think. If you genuinely enjoy baking and want to make some extra dough (no pun intended), give it a try. Each state has different laws regarding cottage food so definitely do some research

Squarespace· 1–2 years in · 2 weeks ago
Monthly Under $100Hours 10–20 hrs/moHourly $3.33

What I dislike most about my hustle is that I am in the wrong geographical market. I am not new to the food/CPG industry, but this side of it has been so challenging because it's not restaurant and it's not production, which I find to be less frustrating than bootstrapping as a cottage food/commercial kitchen baker. I have brought my product outside of my state (which has mostly strict regulations about interstate commerce) to specialty events or gifted to colleagues, and it has been well-accepted in CA, NY, NJ, etc; but I cannot market to them due to this limitation. If I were to try to scale up, I need to then invest tens of thousands into manufacturing to properly meet demand. I would find out a template check mark list that you review every quarter for finances, your business plan, and any SMART goals as well as how each ROI matches the different categories you have spent in them. And have Plan B, C, D, through Z for your business drafted out. I guess I wouldn't change it -- I would change the income stream source (i.e., don't rely on producing baked goods; using them for content creation, etc).

· 1–2 years in · 2 weeks ago
Monthly $250–500Hours Under 10 hrs hrs/moHourly $75.00

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