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
Healthy Grains, Wealthy Gains with Tamara Ketchian
Tamara Ketchian of Orange, CT sells gluten-free vegan granola and shares how she’s gone from stay-at-home mom to starting a cottage food bakery to now scaling her business with a commercial kitchen
Don’t Be Afraid Of Failure with Jana LaViolette
Jana LaViolette of Clovis, NM shares her incredible journey from cottage food to food truck to storefront, and how she overcame many obstacles by constantly trying new things and never giving up
The Freeze Dried Trend with Janna Newcomb Walworth
Janna Newcomb Walworth of Choctaw, OK has rapidly grown her cottage food business selling freeze dried candy, fruits, veggies, etc, and shares why she doesn’t think this trend will end anytime soon
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
Priorities, Passion, & Profits with Leah Livingston
Leah Livingston of Kenosha, WI shares how two personal tragedies led her to build a successful custom decorated cookie business that allowed her to quit her job and eventually expand into a storefront
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?