Megan Shonka with Happy Mango Bakery
Megan Shonka of Papillion, NE shares the highs and lows of her home-based bakery journey, the importance of being involved in her community, and her plans to expand into a brick-and-mortar storefront
Growing A Movement with Lisa Kivirist
Lisa Kivirist of Browntown, WI shares an update on the past, present, and future of the cottage food and food freedom movements, and how she’s helping support them with many different resources
Get Passionate About Sales with Amanda Schonberg
Amanda Schonberg of Baton Rouge, LA shares tons of business tips for generating more sales, building a following, managing mindset, improving time, growing an email list, and scaling up a bakery
The Feel Good Factor with Juno Rosales
Juno Rosales shares the incredible story of how she built an international brand by selling her frozen desserts from home in the Philippines before adding a second location in Los Angeles, CA
Find Work That Fulfills You with Jenny Berg
Jenny Berg of Bend, OR started baking sourdough bread during the pandemic and shares how she turned her new hobby into a home business that has finally given her a sense of fulfillment in her work.
Struggling To Find Consistent Sales with Tiliwannia Ealey
Tiliwannia Ealey of Lithia Springs, GA sells popcorn and other homemade treats, and shares her struggles with finding the time to run her business, as well as achieving consistent sales.
Can A Product Be Too Good? with Janna Paterno
Janna Paterno of Charleston, WV shares why she wasn’t making money in her custom-decorated cookie business, despite having phenomenal decorating skills and more customers than she could ask for.
How To Build A Food Business (And Life) That You Love with Sari Kimbell – Part 2
Sari Kimbell of Fort Collins, CO shares tons of advice about growing a food business, including pricing, choosing products, branding, selling wholesale, scaling up, find a commissary kitchen, and more.
How To Build A Food Business (And Life) That You Love with Sari Kimbell – Part 1
Sari Kimbell of Fort Collins, CO shares the importance of having a strong “why”, what type of mindset you need to be successful, and what you should focus on when starting or growing a food business.
What I Learned From 50 Podcast Episodes
David Crabill takes you behind-the-scenes and shares what he learned from producing the first 50 podcast episodes, including the top 8 traits of successful cottage food entrepreneurs.
Top Business Tips For Cottage Food Entrepreneurs
In this special 50th episode of The Forrager Podcast, hear from 16 Facebook group owners who share some of their best tips about starting and growing a cottage food business.
If You Don’t Like The Law, Change It with Shelley Erickson
Shelley Erickson of Big Lake, MN shares how she became the leader of the cottage food movement in her state, by improving her state’s cottage food law and starting a cottage food association.
From Sugar Geek to Online Influencer with Liz Marek – Part 2
Liz Marek of Beaverton, OR talks about running a cake decorating business, winning cake competitions, teaching around the world, and creating The Sugar Geek Show, which has over 300,000 followers.
From Sugar Geek to Online Influencer with Liz Marek – Part 1
Liz Marek of Beaverton, OR talks about running a cake decorating business, winning cake competitions, teaching around the world, and creating The Sugar Geek Show, which has over 300,000 followers.
How To Live On What You Make with Lisa Kivirist
Lisa Kivirist talks about living off the land, moving away from the corporate life-style, creatively packaging products, diversifying income streams, advocating for laws, and everything in between.
California’s New Homemade Food Law Comes With A Nasty Surprise
California’s new law (AB 626) has some lofty goals, but some of the bill language will keep it from making much of an impact. Cottage food bills have made some mistakes over and over again, preventing them from achieving their full potential.
Should You Build A Website For Your Small Business?
Cottage food operators often put too much stock into having their own website. They might think that their home food business will be hampered if they don’t have one, or they’ll be behind the times without one. Sometimes they even spend hundreds of dollars to get one designed and built, only to later find that it’s not generating much business for them.
Is a website worth your time and/or money? What are the benefits and what are the costs? Why are some websites successful while others are not?
Starting A Cottage Food Operation – Zoning
Zoning laws may be the largest barrier to starting your cottage food business. Learn about why zoning laws exist and what you can do to comply with them.
Starting A Cottage Food Operation – First Steps
For most of us, starting a business isn’t easy. Let’s say you want to start your home food business — what do you do? Depending on where you live, there could be any number of barriers between you and your first sale. Learn about a couple of the first steps to take when starting a cottage food operation.
Everyone Starts Somewhere
Have you thought of starting your own food business? Learn about what it takes to get started… you might need less than you think!
The Truth About Running A Business
Maybe you’ve read articles about entrepreneurs going from rags to riches overnight, but every business owner knows the real, unwritten story.
The Most Important Ingredient In Your Business
Are you using the most important ingredient in your business? If you are using it, then you know how powerful it can be; and if you are not using it, then simply put, you are not leveraging your business’ most important asset!
Why Online Marketplaces Fail
It’s that time of year again: cottage food laws being introduced, home bakers starting CFOs, and some entrepreneurs launching their cottage food marketplaces. As I’ve written before, Forrager was initially intended to be a cottage food marketplace, but now we have abandoned that idea. However, on the face of it, the idea seems to be… [read more]
Build For Sale, Not For Scale
I’m a dreamer. I can see my fudge business taking off… I can see it on store shelves, I can see huge batches being made, and I can see that I often get a little ahead of myself! With a new year comes renewed energy for our homemade food businesses. Maybe you’re looking forward to… [read more]
Get Out Of Your Kitchen!
Do you wonder if your homemade food item would sell well? Are your sales lower than you would like? Learn about one of the common food startup mistakes that can prevent your business from taking off.
Stop Worrying About Your Sales Limit
People often wonder if the cottage food laws are too limiting. Should they use it to start their homemade food business? Is it worth their time?