8 Tips on how to start a Home-Baking business in Kenya

We’ve noticed a lot of comments and feedback from all our wonderful blog readers, mostly on those who want to start baking at home.

Here are a few tips on how to get started. Hope this helps out any home bakers looking to home-based bakeries.

 Tip No. 1: – Do a lot of Market Research:

If you decide that you will sell baked products, select a target market of the types of customers you would like to sell your products. It is also important to select a location you would like to concentrate and sell your products in and of course; the products you would specifically like to have in your menu. We explain more on this in our Bakery Business Startup book.

Nairobi

 Tip No. 2: – Get the required equipment:

Make a list of the basic equipment you will need to get started. You can read all our posts on  Baking Equipment in Kenya to get an idea of the required: Pans, Ovens, Mixing equipment, Measuring equipment and Cake decorating equipment.

Muffin pan

Tip No. 3: – Buy in Bulk:

For all your required raw materials such as flour, sugar, eggs etc. Make sure you buy in wholesale shops; they are sold at a cheaper price than in retail stores. Make sure you get price quotations from wholesale shops nearby to get the best bargain for all your purchases.
For more information on ingredients used in commercial baking, visit our Baking For Business Page.

Buy flour in bales

Tip No.4: – Have Consistent Recipes:

When you decide what kind of products you will sell in your menu, try out all your recipes and taste test them. When you have the desired results, record all your recipes and keep them standard for consistency throughout the menu.

If you’re just getting started; you can get our Baking with Amari E-book with 58 triple-tested recipes on Cakes, Cookies and Breads to get you started – available on Amazon. You can also get it directly from us, click here for details.

Amari line of Coconut products

Tip No. 5: – Work on having a kitchen dedicated for baking for business only

When you start baking at home; you are probably going to be baking in your home kitchen. That’s a good place to start, but it’s best to work on getting a dedicated kitchen for just your cake business or pastries business. This is beneficial to you for many reasons; it’ll help you separate your ingredients and tools for the baking business. You also have full control of the cleanliness and food safety of that kitchen as well. It is also a Kenyan county council law that a kitchen used to manufacture goods (e.g. cakes, breads, etc.) should not be adjacent to sleeping areas, etc (this applies to the kitchen in your house). There are many options of how you can do this; if you live in your own land or an area where you have lots of space to build, you can build a small kitchen space just for that work. It can be within your compound or literally built against the house wall – as long as the room isn’t connected to the inside of the house. You can also choose to get a small shop in an outside area over time where you can be able to bake and sell your goodies – just give yourself a time goal to achieve this (e.g. I will get a small kitchen/shop within 6 months of starting my home-baking business). Another option; if available to you, can be to rent out kitchen space periodically. Just ask around for commercial spaces that would be willing to offer such a service.

Tip No.6: – Get Business Permits and Licenses:

When you are fully prepared and want to start your business; get the required licenses and permits.
You should make sure your business has a name and it’s registered. These days you can conduct the whole process online and pay via Mpesa. First you will do a name search; go onto the online portal (ecitizen.go.ke) and click on E-business. Sign up for an account then apply for name search, it costs (between Kshs.100 & 150) for each name search. The name will be held for you for 30 days, so then you should pay to register the name that passed, it costs Kshs. 850. You wait about a week or two and your registered business name certificate is available to you in your account once everything is approved. This has now become a combined process on Ecitizen.
The second option is to register as a company, for that you will  require the services of a lawyer. It costs from Kshs. 25,000 to 50,000 (or more); depending on the lawyer or advocates firm you use. They do all the required activities to ensure registration of your company and you get a certificate of incorporation after completion of the process.

You will need an annual business license to run a bakery which starts at around Kshs. 8,000 per year for a bakery from the City Council (Depends on size of your bakery). You also require Food Handlers’ Certificates for yourself (If you’re baking) and any other employees, they are Kshs. 1,000 for every six months. You will also require a Health Certificate for your kitchen; your kitchen gets inspected by a city council officer and approved, starts at about Kshs. 7,000. You will also need a Fire Certificate for your premise, find out from your area city council officer how much it will cost per year (usually Kshs. 4,500).
For any more information you should visit your area City council office and find an officer to explain all the necessary licenses and permits required for your business. You can also get the information on licenses from the Kenya Businesses Licensing Portal or from the City Council website.

 Tip No.7: – Marketing is Important:

Make sure you have a great marketing plan in place.
Get a website for your bakery to put all your products, prices and any other information on any services you offer. I will also strongly suggest for you to open Social Media accounts for your business to start posting on.
You should also create Social media pages in order to connect with your customers and potential customers and keep in touch with them, keep them updated on any new products or sale as well as for customer service purposes.

Get an IG page

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Get a TikTok account

Make sure you are constantly marketing your business to keep customers coming.

Tip No.8: – Have a passion for Baking and for Business:

If you would like to start your own business, make sure you have a passion for baking and for business. Passion is necessary because it will keep you going and no matter how bad things are, you will never give up. It keeps you courageous when things are very tough and don’t seem to be going your way. Make sure to be open-minded and always willing to learn.

If you would love to learn how to bake, we offer practical Baking classes. Visit our Baking Classes Details Page .

We also offer Online Classes, send us a Whatsapp DM to get full details.

If you would like guidance and mentorship; consider joining the Amari Baking for Profit Online Mentorship program – it’s an online program to help bakers start or streamline their home bakery business and grow profitable businesses – click here for details.

You can also e-mail us at: info@amaribakery.com

CONTACT: Call/text/whatsapp at: 0701796688.

P/S: Other Resources that will help below:

*First 4 Steps to take before starting a small bakery business (article)

*How to start a small baking Business (video)

*Why this is a good time to open a Home Baking Business (video)

If you still want to start your home-baking business in Kenya, make sure you are fully prepared. Good luck with your baking business and all the best ^_^