Baking to Business

Baking to Business — The Home Baker's Business Guide
The complete guide to starting, running and growing a home baking business in the UK — legally, confidently and profitably.

💗 Why trust me? I'm Jess — and I've been exactly where you are.

I started my home baking business from my kitchen, built it into a fully booked bakery, and have since helped hundreds of home bakers across the UK start, grow and get inspection-ready through my guides, resources and community.
This guide is the foundation. Everything else builds from here. 💗

What's inside:
⚖️ The legal stuff — how and when to register as self-employed, understanding the tax year with real examples, what you can claim as expenses, how your income is taxed (including if you have another job or claim benefits), Making Tax Digital dates and what they mean for you, and how to register your food business with your local council

🔒 Insurance — exactly what cover you need

🏠 Your EHO and food business registration — who your Environmental Health Officer is, how to register, what the SFBB pack is and how to use it, and how to get your food hygiene certificate

🔍 Your home inspection — exactly what your EHO is looking for, how to prepare your kitchen, what the rating system means and how to achieve a 5-star rating

⚠️ Allergens and intolerances — all 14 major allergens explained, the difference between an allergy, an intolerance and a dietary requirement, how to take allergen information from customers and how to prevent cross-contamination

🏷️ Natasha's Law and food labelling — what PPDS means and whether it applies to you, what must be on every label, what makes a label legal (and why those Etsy stickers aren't), and how dietary requirements like vegan and gluten-free must be handled

🧼 Good practice — hand hygiene, temperature control, cleaning vs disinfecting, pest prevention and record keeping

💰 Pricing — a step-by-step formula for working out what to charge, a real worked example, how to factor in your time at the correct rate, and how to confidently increase your prices

✨ Branding and your USP — finding your niche, naming your business, building a visual identity and defining what makes you different

👯 Finding your customers — warm audiences, online platforms, local markets, word of mouth and building your reputation

💬 Customer service — setting expectations, communication, deposits, handling complaints and protecting yourself

📋 Managing orders — order forms, capacity planning, managing busy seasons and saying no gracefully

💳 Taking payments and protecting yourself — payment methods, terms and conditions, what to do if someone doesn't pay and how to spot scams

📱 Social media — choosing your platforms, photography tips, content ideas, hashtags, captions and staying compliant

🎂 Recipe — my classic celebration cake & buttercream recipe

Why this guide is different: Most baking guides focus on the fun stuff and gloss over the legal bits — or they were written years ago and haven't been updated since. Every chapter has been written specifically for UK home bakers, with real examples, real figures and real practical advice you can act on straight away. It's the guide I wish had existed when I started.

Instant digital download.
Read on any device — laptop, phone or tablet.
Start reading in minutes.

I also run a Skool community where bakers at every stage come to ask questions, share wins, and support each other — it's one of the best places to be if you're serious about building your baking business properly.