For a while now, I've been kicking around the idea of starting an Etsy bake shop. You know, a store front on Etsy from which I sell baked goods (like cookies, brownies, pies, cakes even), but I'm hesitant for a couple of reasons:
1. I'm not quite sure I understand how to ship baked goods. When I read about it on Etsy and on the USPS site, I feel very confused about how to go about that.
2. Not sure where my customer base would come from. I want to make some money off this venture, so I need to build a customer base (like you, friends!).
3. I'm not sure how much to charge. I want to have fair prices, but also need to include realistic costs, as well as my own time.
4. Should I build a menu of choices and then also allow special orders? (ie, gluten free)
So, blog-reading friends, I can you provide me answers for these questions? Should I build up social networking (Facebook, Twitter) to notify people of my ventures? Would any of you be willing to be guinea pigs for me, placing orders, allowing me to ship to you, getting discounts for being loyal customers?
And as a random last note, I do want to make my own wedding cake, but am definitely going to do a trial run. Anyone want to volunteer for taste-testing that?
Feel free to post answers/comments/questions I need to consider below.
Thanks!
Photo is of a peach pie I made this week.
