Marci Larson with Kahler’s Cakes

The Forrager Podcast for Cottage Food Businesses

Marci Larson lives in Sioux Falls, SD and sells baked goods, canned goods, and other items with her cottage food business, Kahler’s Cakes.

For many years, Marci thought about selling her baked goods, and she finally took the leap in 2019 and started selling to family and friends.

But things really took off when she sold out at her first event a couple years later, and she hasn’t looked back since. Over the past few years, she’s sold at dozens of different events year round, and now sells wholesale as well.

Marci’s only regret? Not starting her business sooner. So if you’ve been on the fence about getting your cottage food business off the ground, hopefully this episode will inspire you to start selling sooner than later.

What You’ll Learn

• The importance of starting your business sooner rather than later
• How a strong social media presence can significantly boost your cottage food business
• The benefits of joining local farmers’ markets and events to sell your products
• The value of building relationships with customers face-to-face
• The impact of using family recipes to differentiate your products
• How trial and error helps refine your product offerings over time
• The role of straightforward packaging in appealing to customers
• How to juggle multiple roles while running a home-based business
• The significance of feedback in improving your business operations
• That offering a variety of products can attract a wider customer base
• How consistent posting on social media keeps your audience engaged
• The benefits and challenges of participating in both summer markets and winter craft shows
• That balancing a day job and a growing business is challenging but achievable
• The advantages of selling wholesale to maintain consistent sales
• That there are multiple paths to success in the cottage food industry

Resources

Kahler’s Cakes Facebook Page

South Dakota Cottage Food Law

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Get full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/118