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Maci Reed with Bake-a-Reed

Maci Reed of Dover, NH shares how she rapidly built a successful cottage food bakery by focusing on helping others and fostering community, and eventually sold over 1,000 baked goods in a single day

Jondell Lafont-Garcia with Fluff Marshmallow Co.

Jondell Lafont-Garcia of Pflugerville, TX is one of the foremost experts in the homemade marshmallow trend and shares how she built her cottage food business despite facing a major personal challenge

Wynter Hosier with Etta’s Gooey Goodies

Wynter Hosier of Greentown, IN shares how she built her cottage food bakery into a successful storefront by persevering and giving back, despite facing many unexpected twists and turns along the way

Nicole DiMarco with All About The Freeze

Nicole DiMarco of West Deptford, NJ shares how she took the leap with a new product, and leveraged her sales, retail, and social media experience to quickly start a successful cottage food business

Ka’Terra Dettbarn with Sweet Addiction

Ka’Terra Dettbarn of Ocean City, MD endured lots of trial and error when starting a cottage bakery with her sister, but by persisting and listening for guidance, they transformed it into a success

Marci Larson with Kahler’s Cakes

Marci Larson of Sioux Falls, SD shares how she turned her longtime dream of selling baked goods into a reality and built a successful cottage food business by selling wholesale and at many events

Jenifer & Tristan Hoke with The Drunken Chef

Jenifer & Tristan Hoke of Tecumseh, OK share how they used sheer persistence to overcome early sales struggles, and found a business model that works so well that they now can’t keep up with demand

Elisa Marie Lords with Elisa Marie Baking

Elisa Marie Lords of Placentia, CA shares how she overcame early struggles with her sales and built a thriving cottage food bakery by focusing on community, consistency, and customer service

Monique Germaine with Kneading to Bake

Monique Germaine of Nashville, TN shares how she built and rebuilt her cottage food bakery in 3 different states, plus a crazy commercial food business journey that got her products into big retailers

Michelle Dukes with The Cookie Cutters

Michelle Dukes of Penfield, NY shares why she shifted her business model after 10 years of running a cottage food bakery, while keeping focus on the most important aspect of her business: having fun

Eric & Denise Steilberger with Fudge De Fûge

Eric & Denise Steilberger of Ocala, FL sell their homemade fudge all year long and share how the lessons they learned from running a cafe in Alaska helped them build a successful cottage food business

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

Angela Awunor with Angyono Cakes

Angela Awunor of Glenn Dale, MD shares how she moved her thriving custom cake business from a commercial kitchen into her home, and how she maintains work-life balance with two full-time careers

Denae Spiering with The Sugar Shack

Denae Spiering of Bridgeville, DE shares how she realized her long-time dream of building a brick-and-mortar bakery despite life getting in the way and pausing her cottage food business for many years

Deanna Martinez-Bey with The Fiery Whisk Bakery

Deanna Martinez-Bey of Wake Forest, NC is a multi-faceted food entrepreneur and shares her experience in building a cottage food bakery, writing books, managing social media, and running pop-up events

Live In The Moment with Alisa Woods

Alisa Woods of Des Moines, IA shares how she promotes her home bakery by networking with others, getting TV spots, building Instagram followers, competing in state fairs, and living in the moment

Back To Basics with Lora Friemel

Lora Friemel of Scranton, AR shares how she sells homemade jams, jellies, and other canned goods as a way to support her lifelong dream of running a sustainable homestead for her family

Men Bake Cookies with Mike Skyring

Mike Skyring of South Lyon, MI shares how he started a gourmet cookie bakery totally by accident, and how he quickly grew it into a very successful business by leveraging many marketing techniques

The Power Of Two with Heather & Corrie Miracle

Twins Heather & Corrie Miracle of Fairfax, VA share the backstory that led them to create their extremely popular Facebook group about marketing for sugar cookiers and other cottage food entrepreneurs

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?