Introduction: Cookie Business

An individual may enjoy baking cookies and preparing desserts. People always tell him to start his own cookie business. Running a home-based cookie business can turn out to be a profitable business for someone who enjoys doing it. But he needs to do little market research before he starts his own business.

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There are many benefits to a home-based cookie business. You can use your creativity to do something that you enjoy doing. The funds required are just for the purchase of a set of baking tools and it offers the flexibility of baking at any time of the day at your convenience.

Steps to Start a Home-Based Cookie Business

When an individual becomes ready to turn his love of baking into a home-based business, he is required to focus his attention on the following steps:

• FSSAI Permits and Licenses: Any individual who wants to start a home-based cookie business is required to apply to FSSAI (Food Safety & Standards Authority of India) for the license required to run food-related business operations. FSSAI is an occupational and public health agency that is charged with regulating the food industry in India.
• Decide what kind of cookies you want to prepare. There are numerous kinds of cookies available in the market for customers. A Food Business Operator (FBO) can initially focus on only one type of product for which he can easily source raw materials or the one he has his specialty in. 
• Decide a name for your business. As all kinds of businesses, small and large, are considered as a going concern, an FBO has to decide a name for his business on which formalities of FSSAI license and others would be completed. He can make a list of different business names and get feedback from friends, family, and potential customers.  When he has finalized a name, he has to check its availability with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs at www.mca.gov.in. 
• Prepare a proper business structure. An FBO needs to decide the kind of company he wants to register. He can either register his business as a Sole proprietorship if he is willing to bear the full liability in case of business failure or he can opt for One Person Company (OPC) if he thinks that taking the liability is not right. In simpler terms, if a customer falls ill or dies by eating your cookies, you would not be required to pay for damages from your personal assets in the case of a Person Company (OPC) but in the case of a proprietorship, you may be required to sell you assets like house and car to meet the liability.
• Write a business and marketing plan.A Business Plan Document provides a detailed description of your product, how it is different from the products of your competitor, and how you plan to run the day-to-day business activity.  The Marketing Plan gives details of the steps undertaken to find and reach your customers.
• Decide the Price of your cookies. An FBO can calculate the price of his food product by totaling the cost of ingredients, time and overhead costs and adding the profit margin that he wants to earn. 
• He will have to bake a sample batch of his cookies and take pictures for designing of marketing materials such as brochures and a website.  He has to make sure that the photos are of the highest quality and that the cookies look appetizing.
• An FBO has to order packaging materials for the delivery of his cookies. The food packet needs to be printed with the business name, address, and dietary information of the ingredients.
• The next step is to sell your cookies to local coffee shops and other stores. He needs to package them nicely and distribute free samples and brochure. He can also get into business agreements for selling cookies at the establishment in writing so that there is enough clarity about the price and percentage sharing of profits.