136. What I Wish I Knew Before I Started Selling Sourdough Bread

Hello and welcome back to the Breadwinner podcast. So glad you're here. I'm your host Caroline and this is the show where we talk all things sourdough, micro bakery business. This is July 2026 and this is the two year birthday of the Breadwinner podcast this month. And we are celebrating by bringing back a couple of listener all time favorite episodes. So I went and dug through and looked at what are some of the episodes that get listened to all the way through that have higher than normal number of downloads and the ones that I landed on our episodes 82 and 85. I shared 85 last week and I am re-sharing 82 this week. This is a look back on my first year in business. I'm coming up on year three in business. So the numbers have changed but the principles haven't. Here coming up on your unwrapping up my third year in business, I am now operating in a brick and mortar bakery. I have a bread oven now, I have a commercial fridge, just a little bit of a different context but it has all come from the foundation that I built in year one where I learned a lot, did a lot wrong and a lot of growing pains but it laid the foundation for processes and systems and mindset to grow into year two which allowed me to grow into year three where I opened my bakery. So I hope that this episode gives you lots of food for thought and lots of insights into how I set myself up in year one to kind of tee up for the coming years. Make no mistake, there are still growing pains. There are still lessons to be learned. There is no point of arrival, there is no pinnacle where we're like, okay, I'm good, I learned everything, I've got it, nothing's hard anymore, not at all. Everything just changes with time and I will continue to talk about what it looks like as I celebrate, three years of running a sourdough bakery and what that looks like now being out of the house, I've been out of the house for over six months now and we'll talk about that in upcoming episodes but for now we are going to rewind back to episode 82 which was shared originally last year in 2025 and this, like I said, has been a listener favorite. This has been one episode that people just listen to all the way through, they revisit it, they have, they've taken a lot from this one and so I thought it'd be a great time for people who are new to the show to get an opportunity to revisit it and if you listen to it back a year or so ago when it aired originally, then you get to revisit it and you may even pull new nuggets out of it this time. Before we roll into that episode, I mentioned in the last two shows that starting in August, I am introducing a new segment to the show that I'm very excited about. I'm using a tool called SpeakPite that allows you to send me a voicemail and ask me a question. There's a link in the show notes that you can find and you can click, you don't have to make an account or anything but you can just record a question, introduce yourself, let me know who you are where you're baking from and ask your question about building your business and I will share your question on air and then I will record an answer and we're going to begin adding that into August's episodes and beyond. So go ahead, start filling up my voicemail inbox and I'm really excited to start hearing your voice and get to connect with you listeners on an even deeper level by sharing your voice and then sharing my answers on the show. I cannot tell you what it needs me to have been building the show for two years. I'll be honest, I have never stuck with anything for two years and the bakery here for three years now with so much consistency and the only reason I do is because of you and because I know that this show is allowing what I'm learning the hard way here in my bakery to help you build businesses that are thriving and the only reason that I've been able to show up consistently is because you keep listening and you keep sharing with your friends and it gives me the fire that I need to continue showing up. We have some really cool conversations coming up on the show and as always, I will continue to bring tactical, practical insights so you can continue building your bakery with purpose and with conviction, knowing that what you're doing is impacting the generation that we're raising. And it is about so much more than just the bread. And with that little unscripted tangent, let's go ahead and roll into this revival of episode 82, talking about my very first year in business. I'm excited to hear what you think of this one so without any further ado, let's go. - Been quite a while since I shared an episode talking specifically to the beginner. And in this episode, I'm going to share kind of the top four mistakes that I see people make when they're just getting started. So this episode is the top four things to do before you actually begin selling. Now, if you've already begun selling and you have not done any of these things, no worries. There's no time like the present to recalibrate and make sure that you are just building your business on a really solid foundation considering these four things. A little bit of this episode might feel slightly like tough love, but I'm coming at it from the perspective of I want you to build a business that is burnout proof that supports your life, that is structured in a way that you can keep on doing it for the long haul. When bakers jump in too quickly without laying the right groundwork, I often see it lead to burnout. They get in because this business is romanticized on social media. It seems really fun and easy at the outset, but then once they get going, they realize this is actually a lot of work and it's more than they bargained for it. And so I want to help you start off with a really solid foundation so that your expectations align with reality and you can build a business that supports you really well. When your foundation is solid, it is so much easier to grow with confidence. So let's walk through these four essentials together to set you up for that long haul success. Number one, we are starting out at the very foundation so the very first thing to do before you start selling your bread is to understand your cottage food laws. The majority of the listeners here are in the US so I'm speaking specifically to the US. I don't have expertise outside of the US, but I would recommend regardless understand what are the laws in your area governing the way that people sell food from a home-based business. This varies in the US from state to state. So every state in the US has its own version of cottage food laws and they dictate whether you can sell from home, what types of foods are allowed, where you can sell, can you sell from markets, port pickup, can you do wholesale, can you ship your bread, what kind of labeling you're required to have, it's really important to know all of this before you get started. And some states require some licensing, some inspections, other states don't. This isn't a step that you wanna skip. You wanna make sure that you do your due diligence before you get started. If you don't, you are risking fines or being shut down. That sounds a little scary and I don't say it to scare you, but I say it because I really want you to make sure that you're building something that will last and setting yourself up for success for the long term. So I recommend googling your state and cottage food lives or check forager.com F-O-R-R-A-G-E-R as a great starting point. I don't have the expertise for every single state so I cannot answer these questions for you. So I would say go check out Google. I also know that probably all states in the US have a cottage food Facebook group. So if you go into Facebook and search your state cottage food or your state cottage Bakers, chances are you will find a Facebook group where you can ask people questions about getting started and selling, understanding the cottage laws in your own area. So make sure that once you have done that Google search, you read all the rules thoroughly, read them again, just to make sure that you really understand what's required. If you have any questions on anything that's still unclear, you can always contact your local health department that they can help clarify it for you too. And if your state doesn't currently allow what you want to sell, your options are to adjust, change your offerings, look into renting a commercial kitchen, reach out to other home bakers in your area and see what they're doing that works for them. Either way, don't skip this step. Make sure that you're doing your homework to sell in a way that is legal in your area. And like I said, some states are a lot easier to get started than others here in Texas. We have some really specific labeling requirements. We have some very specific requirements on what we can and cannot sell, but we are not required to get any sort of licensing or inspection, as long as we are compliant in the types of products we're offering, and the way that we're selling it, we can't do full sale, and then are making sure that we are labeling in a specific way, then we can just jump right in and get started. And other states are similar. And I just did a lot of Google search even when I was getting started to make sure that I had a full clear understanding on the laws governing home-based food businesses in the state of Texas for myself. All right, moving on to number two. This is one that I see really often, and this is a big one that I learned just by trial and error as well. And that is strengthening your starter. This may or may not sound obvious, but this is something that I see time and time again. It is really important before you start selling your bread in bulk that you make sure you're safe. sure that your starter is strong, consistent, reliable, and not acidic. If your loaves are baking at pale, it seems like no matter how long you bake them, they still stays pale. That is generally a sign of an acidic starter, which is really common. I look back at my early loaves and they certainly were being baked from an acidic starter. And the good news is that this is really easy to remedy. You just need to be aware and know what to do. So what I recommend and what I did myself was follow the step-by-step instructions, which are quite simple. From Tom Kakuz at the sourdough journey, just go to Google or YouTube and Google the sourdough journey, a acidic starter or fixing an acidic starter. And it's a really simple process, but it's a game changer. Once I went through this process, I also followed the steps in the perfect loaf cookbook by Maurizio Leo. And as soon as I did this, everything baked up so much more beautifully and my starter has been so incredibly happy ever since. Been about two years since I did that. 100% recommend making sure that you have a strong balanced starter before you start baking in bulk. If you have only been baking for a couple of months and not really taken a whole lot of time to deeply understand the science behind starter and how it works and how you keep it balanced, then spend a little time really taking ownership of that part of your baking journey. One of the biggest differentiators is the bakers who last are the ones who are continually pursuing self-education and honing their craft because we are professionals. This is our trade. And part of that is pursuing ever-increasing excellence in the breadwin that we're baking. So I love to just get baking books from the library and read them at bedtime, little nerdy, but that allows us to continually get better at what we're doing and not ever just rest on our laurels. It's really easy to hit a routine and be consistent, but we want to strive for incremental gains in our consistency over time. And a big part of that is making sure that our starter is really happy and strong. You kind of need to think of your starter as your business partner. You can't do life without it. It needs to be fed consistently, tracked and understood. Know how it responds to your kitchen environment, make sure that you have a really solid plan and strategy on keeping track of it. And if it starts to get a little out of whack, make sure you know how to get it happy again. Again, that just comes back to your self education and the more reps you get under the bell, the more you're gonna understand your starter. If you have questions about this, I am not the best resource. I am here for the business side. There are so many other bakers who teach so well on the topic of the how to bake. And so that is not what I do, but I can point you in the direction. I would say watch YouTube videos by Tom Cocusa, the sourdough journey, read the perfect loaf cookbook by Maurizio Leo and even just do some Google searches. Start learning or watching YouTube videos on the science of your sourdough starter and the science of bread. Understand what is that actual chemical process that causes your bread to rise? Why do the bubbles form? How do you get more open bubbles? Why is your crumb tighter sometimes? Start to ask those questions and own that for yourself. And as you do, you will become a better, more consistent baker. But again, like I said, I am not the best resource to start asking specific questions about bread. So if you have those, I encourage you to go look for some of the many wonderful teachers online who can help equip you on the specific how to bake side. You will likely find that most of them are talking about how to bake a batch of one or two loaves rather than a batch of eight or 10 or more. And that is okay. Dial in your process of baking a small batch, one to two loaves at a time so that you know, like the back of your hand, the way that dough is gonna come out and your bread comes out the same every time. When you're baking a small batch, repeat the same recipe over and over so that it's coming out consistently. And that way, when you go to increase your batch size, you know what you're looking for in your dough. And it becomes an easier learning curve because your bulk batches of dough are going to behave differently. But if you're really comfortable baking a small batch, it's going to be easier to scale that into a larger batch. And that leads us right into number three, which is practice and dial in your bulk baking. This is the next mistake that I see so many people do. It's super, super common I've talked about this before. But we're used to baking one or two loaves at a time and giving a couple of way to friends. And then once we decide we're ready to start selling and we offer four or five, six, we try to mix that up in a bulk batch. It catches us by a surprise how much quicker that proofs and we end up with a batch full of really flat loaves at bread. Or maybe we don't compensate and we shave it too soon and it comes out under fermented. Either way, it's really important to consistently be baking small batches and then practice your larger batch baking before you start selling. Practice those bakes of six to 12 loaves, prepare to give them away as gifts, but get a few reps of those larger batches under your belt before you start offering them as paid products to people. That way you can troubleshoot what goes wrong. And again, if you are self-educating and understanding the process of the science behind what's happening, it's gonna get easier and easier to identify what factors you need to tweak and adjust. If your starter's strong, you're gonna be well on your way to going through that learning curve really confidently and quickly producing consistently beautiful larger batches of dough. It's important, so so important that this is something that you focus on and begin to really dial in those larger batches and not just mixing at several bowls of two loaves because this really is a business that operates on an economy of scale. This means that the more efficiently you can bulk bake the more profitable and sustainable your business will be. It doesn't take a whole lot more effort to mix up six loaves of bread in a bin as it does to mix up two loaves in a bowl, but if you're mixing up six at a time and baking them with the same amount of effort as two, then that's three times more income that you can make because you're making three times as much bread. And then you can apply that math on a much larger scale and see how the more effectively you can bake in bulk, the more you're going to make if you're coming into this and thinking up. You wanna earn a lot of money and then you realize, oh wait, I'm mixing up the bowls of two loaves at a time and I've got six bowls out here. Economy of scale basically means you have to be able to produce product in bulk to make money in this industry. And that means really working on making sure that you understand how to make larger batches and then strategically scaling your equipment, your bins in such a way that you can begin to make larger batches. If you're happy just earning a few extra dollars each week or each month doing four, five, six loaves for friends, that's okay. But if you see yourself pursuing a business where you are earning a larger amount of income, whether that's a full time income or part time income, but more than just spending money here and there, you really do need to make your processes so much more efficient so that you can bake larger batches. That's where the profit comes is understanding that economy scale and optimizing the amount of effort you're putting in to make sure that your output is increasing. One of the factors in that is figuring out what your equipment actually handles too specifically. I know the exact numbers of how many loaves I can mix in my mixer at a time, how many loaves I can cold proof in my fridge, how many loaves of bread I can bake at a time and all of those numbers help me plan ahead to know exactly what my capacity is that I can offer for my pre-orders or for my markets. And I've kept track of that number over time. So when I had a smaller oven, I knew my capacity was eight loaves to bake at a time. Now it's 16. When I had a smaller fridge, I could cold proof about 40. Now it's about 80. As you invest in different equipment, your capacity will increase, but it's important to know what your current capacity is and plan accordingly. So that helps you answer some really important questions like how many can I make in a day without losing my mind, without feeling absolutely crazy in the kitchen being utter chaos. There is inevitably a little element of chaos that really can't be avoided, but we can minimize it. And then secondly, how much does it really cost me in my time, in greeting it's in my energy? If you're putting a lot of energy into it anyway, you might as well get a little more efficient to get more product out of your process. 'Cause that's a really beautiful thing. Once you master your bulk bake process, everything becomes simpler. You can bash your dough more effectively. You can freeze portions of certain products like your cookies and your scones, make a lot more at one time so that it's prepped ahead in the freezer. You can plan your delivery days. You can plan your bake days much more strategically. And all of that just comes down to starting with this and understanding your capacity and planning that way. Which leads us into my final point, which is to set realistic expectations. I've touched on this already, But as you enter this business is starting thinking maybe I really do want to see where this takes me, earn some money with this. It's so important to have realistic expectations. So understand, like I said, this is a business that operates on an economy of scale. So to truly make money from it, you have to be able to produce a lot of product efficiently. It's so easy to get swept up in the romanticism of selling bread and see these beautiful videos on Instagram. And think about how wonderful it will be to share it with your community and nourish your family and see people post about how much they love it. But bottom line is this is a business. You are a business owner. And it is work. So being a business owner means that you are responsible to make decisions that help build a business that is strategic, that is smart, that is wise, that supports you. So you need to know that you're going to have weeks with slower sales. Even when you're doing everything right, there are ebbs and flows that are natural and normal. Not every loaf is going to come out perfectly, but as you become more consistent and educate yourself on the actual art and science of bread, you'll understand better why it came out wrong. And you're going to have moments of where you question everything and doubt if you're doing it right. And wonder if it's worth it. You stick with it. You stay consistent. You don't give up when it feels hard. And know why you're doing it. Because so much easier to show up consistently. And another thing to be realistic about is your capacity, which will likely fluctuate, especially if you're a mom, especially if you're a mom of littles. Chances are you'll have weeks where those kids just need you more. And that's okay. And as a business owner, operating home based business, part of the beauty of it is that you do get to scale back. If those kiddos are sick, you can limit how much you can skip a bake day. You have the freedom to do that and to make the rules in a way that supports you and your family. So as you're setting realistic expectations, make sure that you understand and are clear on how much time you can dedicate to baking and selling per week. As you're practicing that bulk baking process, keep track of how much time it's taking you. Write down a little note of how much hands on time you're actually putting into it to help you keep track of the actual time. This does get more and more efficient with practice, but it's important to really be clear on how much time you're actually putting into it and how much time reasonably you have to dedicate to this work. Think about how you'll handle pickup windows and communications with customers. How much do you need to make each month to make this worth it? And then again, just with those realistic expectations, know that your bake days are not going to look like the beautiful dressed girls in flowy dresses on Instagram every day. That's not realistic. You're going to be covered in flower and bread dough. There will be flower all over the floor. Spills will happen. Fails will happen. You're going to burn a pan of muffins like I did last week. And that's all normal and to be expected. But we don't see that side very much on Instagram or on TikTok. And when those things happen, that doesn't mean you're failing. That just means that you're doing the work. So this episode is to encourage you not to discourage you. I say because the more clarity and strategy you have on the front end, the easier it is to create rhythms that actually work for your life and build a business that you can stick with. So to sum it all up, the four things to do before you start selling your bread are number one, understand your state's cottage food lies so that you're compliant and confident. Do a quick Google search in your state cottage food lies to get started. Look for a Facebook group specific to your state. And make sure that you're setting yourself up with that solid foundation. Number two, strengthen your starter until it's consistent, reliable, search sourdough journey, acidic starter. If you feel like your starter, maybe needs some love to become its best self. Number three, practice bulk baking to figure out your true capacity, your workflow and to be really confident in scaling up your batches to become more efficient. And then finally, have realistic expectations. This is a business that operates on an economy of scale. You're not going to make big money without efficient systems without batch producing your products in larger batches to use your energy more effectively and without really clear goals and expectations. So if you have not yet gotten started, you are on the path to building on such a beautiful strong foundations. So proud of you. If you've already gotten started and not checked those off, don't worry. There's no time like the present. Again, I'm here to support you. Keep going. Keep pushing through. Do not get discouraged when the days feel hard. It's worth taking the time now to set yourself up for future business success so that you can thrive without burning out. If this episode encouraged you or if you know someone who is starting to think about starting their own business and could benefit from this episode, send it over to them so they can learn too. If you haven't already subscribed to the show, make sure you do that so you don't miss an episode. They drop every Thursday and they are always packed with practical, tactical insights to build a burnout-proof business. I will be back next Thursday with another episode, but until then, happy baking.