How to Start a Home-Based Bakery Business

How to Start a Home-Based Bakery Business

POSITIONING YOUR PRODUCTS
To position your product successfully, you need to know the key benefits of your product. You then need to know:
• What your target market wants
• What benefits you can offer that your competition cannot
Then use this information to position your product. Publicize these benefits in all of your marketing materials.
There are several ways to effectively position your product:
• By price
• By attribute
• By quality
• By application
Price is the easiest way for consumers to compare you to your competition – people know the difference in cheesecake price when they’re choosing between The Cheesecake Factory and Susie's Cheesecake Bakery.
Positioning by attribute is common in the automobile industry. For example, Mercedes emphasizes quality and elegance, while Jeep emphasizes its off-road rugged ability. You may emphasize home-made goodness with no additives or preservatives, while a Wal-Mart cake may not be able to make that claim.
When positioning by application, this means by what the product will be used for. For instance, Folgers’s coffee is positioned as being the best choice for morning coffee. You may make the claim that your organic granola bars are the perfect afternoon pick-me-up, loaded with organic dried fruits and nuts, perfect for adults and children alike.
Lastly, a solution positioning strategy can work extremely well. Since public education does not have the funds for extra tutoring to help children stay up to speed with their math skills, Sylvan Learning Centers have solved this problem by offering after-school tutoring programs. If you are interested in using online wheat-free products, dairy/nut-free products etc., your Web site might be the educational hub for those interested in learning more about such products.
The positioning options are endless, and you can choose to emphasize whatever aspect of your product you want. Whatever you want consumers to think of when they think of your home-based bakery is the message you need to develop and communicate as effectively as possible.
Let's review this scenario: You are currently working for someone else, and you have an idea for a new pound cake. The question you are asking yourself is, "Should I quit my job and start a new business to sell this product?" The sub-question is "Will this idea work?" If the idea is going to work, and you can make a significant profit by starting the business and selling the product, then starting the new business is something you should consider. If not, then starting a new business is probably the wrong decision. To start your new business, you will need to quit your job, perhaps get a second mortgage on the house, work incredibly hard getting everything going, and so on. If the idea does not work after doing all of that, it will be a major disappointment and potentially a big financial loss.

Excerpted from HOW TO START A HOME-BASED BAKERY BUSINESS, by Detra Denay Davis. Copyright © 2011 by Detra Denay Davis.