So, you are planning to start your own business? Well, having a business does have some perks which no job can provide. For starters, you work at your own pace. You take up as many assignments as you can handle comfortably. You are your own boss and you do not need to report to anyone. The biggest benefit - you get to keep all the profits! Plus, if your business is an extension of your hobby, you get to do things that you love to do and earn hordes of money too! Making and selling cookies is one of such businesses, which is ideal for those who have a passion for cooking and baking. Tips to Help You Start a Home-based Cookie Business Planning... Before starting a full-fledged cookie business and investing your hard-earned money in it, a good idea is to try to sell cookies to your friends first. So, call up your friends and tell them that in case they need cookies, instead of buying the packaged ones from the market, they can purchase homemade, freshly baked ones from you. This will serve two purposes. Firstly, you will earn some money out of the transactions which you can use once your business gets started. Secondly, after you have sold the cookies to your friends, you can ask their opinion on the taste. This will help you to improvise on your cookie recipes. And, if you think that your friends really like the taste of your cookies and order the same from you again and again, it's time to seriously consider starting your own cookie business. Formalities... The first thing that you need to do for opening up a cookie business is to decide on a name for the same and get the mandatory paperwork done. Most states will require you to have a license in order to start the business. Some would require you to have a food permit too. You would also need to check with the authorities whether you can operate your business from home or you would need to rent some other place. Another very important thing to decide is the scale at which you want to operate your business i.e. whether you want a small business or something on a large-scale where you have employees working for you. A large business would require more investment, not only to pay the employees, but for adding storage facilities and marketing the business as well. Depending upon your business requirements, you would need to invest in equipment for your business, such as, mixers, baking dishes, utensils, measuring devices, wrapping papers, gift boxes, amongst others. Also, if it's a large business, you would need to insure it too, to avoid risks. Innovation... Once the legalities and the financials of your business have been worked out, it is time to work on your product list. Come up with an innovative one, something special and unique, so that your customers have lots of variety to choose from. Keep the prices competitive. Call up a few people who are already into this business and get the rates from them. Accordingly, set prices for your cookies. Also, to differentiate your product from others, sell the cookies in interesting packaging like colorful gift baskets, gift boxes, etc. You may experiment with different shapes and decorations for your cookies too. Marketing... Next step is to market your business. For this, start a website which has your contact details, information on your product list, a few colorful pictures of your cookies to incite your potential customers as well as the procedure for ordering the cookies. Besides this, some other means of marketing that you can use are - sending emails to potential customers, getting your business cards and brochures printed and passing them around. You can even get in touch with the local departmental stores in your area and see whether they allow you to keep your business brochures at their counter along with perhaps some sample cookies. In this business, word of mouth is the best publicity, so if you want to increase your sales, along with advertising, work hard on making your cookies delicious and unique! As you can see, opening up a cookie business is not a big deal. However, to make it a success, you would need to be innovative, creative and would have to go the extra mile. If you are ready for this, you will be able to enjoy the flexible timings and a recession-proof career, by way of your business!