The Crumb Coach Blog

Practical guides for bakers who mean business.

Pricing, orders, cottage food law, and the tools real bakers use.

FeaturedBusiness Advice

TikTok trick to get local customers to your booth

not getting enough orders for your home bakery? here's a free tiktok trick that gets local customers to find you — no followers, no ad budget.

Jun 02, 2026·8 min readRead →
Business Advice

How to Start a Microbakery: Orders, Payments & Markets

Learn how to start a microbakery from home, price products correctly, take orders and payments, organize pickup, and decide whether farmers markets are profitable.

September 3, 2026·12 min read
Farm Stands

Farm Stand QR Code Payments: Cashless Checkout Guide

Learn how farm stand QR code payments work, the difference between Venmo QR codes and itemized checkout, internet requirements, security, and inventory tracking.

August 31, 2026·15 min read
Business Advice

6 Best Payment Apps for Farmers Market Vendors (2026)

Compare Square, Crumb Coach, PayPal POS, SumUp, Shopify POS and Clover for farmers market fees, Tap to Pay, offline sales and hardware.

August 27, 2026·15 min read
Cottage Food Law

Labeling requirements for cottage food businesses

Your labels aren't just pretty — they're legally required. here's what needs to be on every product you sell.

Aug 25, 2026·6 min read
Farm Stands

How to Run a Self-Serve Farm Stand (2026 Guide)

Learn how to run a self-serve farm stand with QR code payments, accurate inventory, clear signs, food-safety checks, and practical theft prevention.

August 24, 2026·19 min read
Baking Tips

Fall 2026 Dessert Trends: 10 Flavors and Bakery Ideas We Think Are Next

Plan a fall menu with 10 clear flavor and texture ideas that Crumb Coach thinks customers may want next.

Aug 23, 2026·12 min read
Cottage Food Law

Cottage Food Business Permits and Licenses Explained

Cottage food permit requirements depend on your state, locality, products, and sales channels. Use this checklist to identify the agencies you need to contact.

August 20, 2026·15 min read
Business Advice

Farmers Market Payment Fees: 2026 Cost Comparison

Payment costs include more than a processing percentage. Compare fixed fees, subscriptions, hardware, payouts, and product-level tools.

August 20, 2026·16 min read
Farm Stands

How to Rent a Farmers Market Stall Near You

Use the USDA directory, local government listings, and direct outreach to find farmers markets, then apply through each market’s manager.

August 20, 2026·13 min read
Farm Stands

What Sells Best at a Farm Stand? 15 Product Ideas

Seasonal produce, eggs, honey, baked goods, preserves, and flowers are common farm-stand sellers. Learn how to choose the right mix and track what performs at your stand.

August 20, 2026·16 min read
Comparison

Website for My Home Bakery: 7 Best Options for 2026

Need a website for your home bakery? Compare Crumb Coach, Square, Bakesy, Wix, Squarespace, Shopify, and WordPress for orders, payments, markets, and cost.

August 19, 2026·13 min read
Pricing

How Much Should I Charge for a Cake? Pricing Formula

Calculate a profitable cake price using your actual ingredients, packaging, labor, overhead, and target margin. Includes a worked $135 custom-cake example.

August 19, 2026·14 min read
Comparison

Crumb Coach vs. JIM: Which Is Better for Food Vendors in 2026?

JIM is a general AI-powered payment platform. Crumb Coach is a complete transaction platform built for food vendors. Here is how they compare on payments, orders, storefronts, and business guidance.

August 14, 2026·11 min read
Business Advice

Understanding profit margins for cottage bakers

Revenue and profit are not the same thing. here's how to actually know if your baking business is making money.

Aug 10, 2026·6 min read
Comparison

Best Bakesy Alternative for Online and In-Person Sales

Crumb Coach is the best Bakesy alternative for food vendors who want storefront orders, custom invoices, Tap to Pay, QR checkout, production planning, and recommended next actions connected in one platform.

July 27, 2026·10 min read
Cottage Food Law

Cottage Food Law Georgia: 2026 Complete Guide for Home Bakers

georgia scrapped its sales cap entirely and now lets you sell to retail stores, restaurants, and even other states. here's the full 2026 breakdown of what changed under hb 398.

July 27, 2026·8 min read
Business Advice

How to Take Orders for Your Home Bakery Without Losing Your Mind

it's not the orders themselves that wear you down — it's answering the same five questions forty times a week. here's how to take orders without the mental load eating your whole day.

July 27, 2026·7 min read
Cottage Food Law

Home bakery insurance: what it is and why you need it

One bad order without insurance can cost you everything. here's what coverage cottage bakers actually need.

Jul 22, 2026·6 min read
Comparison

BakersPro Alternative: Why Bakers Are Switching to CrumbCoach

bakerspro spends its budget on instagram ads instead of publishing a pricing page you can research. here's an honest look at what to check before you sign up for any small bakery app's free trial.

July 21, 2026·8 min read
Cottage Food Law

Cottage Food Law Michigan: 2026 Complete Guide for Home Bakers

michigan just doubled its cottage food sales cap to $50,000 (or $75,000 if you sell high-priced items like wedding cakes) and added online and delivery sales. here's the full 2026 breakdown.

July 21, 2026·9 min read
Cottage Food Law

Cottage Food Law New York: What Home Bakers Need to Know

new york has no sales cap for cottage food bakers — but it also bans chocolate outright and requires commercially-processed ingredients for some dry goods. here's the full, slightly weird rulebook.

July 21, 2026·9 min read
Business Advice

How to Raise Prices Without Losing Customers (+ Templates)

Most bakers are scared to raise prices. here's how to do it without losing the customers you've worked hard to build.

Jul 07, 2026·9 min read
Cottage Food Law

Cottage Food Law Florida: $250K Sales Cap Explained

florida lets home bakers sell up to $250,000 a year with no license, no inspection, and no registration fee. here's how the highest cottage food cap in the country actually works — and where the catches are.

July 6, 2026·9 min read
Comparison

Crumb Coach vs Hotplate: Which Is Better in 2026?

Crumb Coach is the best overall platform for food vendors selling online and in person. Hotplate is the stronger specialist for businesses centered almost entirely on scheduled preorder drops.

July 3, 2026·16 min read
Baking Tips

Sourdough Baker's Percentage Explained (With Calculator)

baker's percentages look like math class until you realize they're just 'everything as a fraction of the flour.' here's the whole system explained with real numbers, plus how to handle the starter — the part everyone gets wrong.

June 30, 2026·8 min read
Cottage Food Law

How to Sell Sourdough Bread Legally (State-by-State Guide)

good news: plain sourdough is one of the easiest foods to sell legally from home in almost every state. here's the four-step path, plus how the rules differ where you live.

June 14, 2026·8 min read
Comparison

Hotplate Alternative: For Bakers Who Want More Than Drops

hotplate is genuinely great at one thing — drops. but if your bakery is more than a weekly sellout, here's an honest look at what a fuller alternative does that drops alone can't.

June 11, 2026·8 min read
Cottage Food Law

Cottage Food Law California: Complete 2026 Guide

california splits home bakers into class a and class b, with two different sales caps that change every year. here's the full 2026 breakdown, plus exactly what you can and can't sell.

June 8, 2026·9 min read
Business Advice

Why your time is your most expensive ingredient

Flour and butter are cheap. your time is not. here's how to stop giving it away for free.

Jun 07, 2026·6 min read
Business Advice

Why cottage bakers undercharge (and how to stop)

Undercharging isn't humility — it's a habit that keeps your business small. here's why it happens and how to break the cycle.

Jun 04, 2026·6 min read
Comparison

12 Best Apps for a Home Bakery Business in 2026

We compared 12 home bakery apps for online orders, custom invoices, in-person payments, and business growth, with pricing verified against every official product page. Here is which app fits each type of bakery.

June 2, 2026·12 min read
Business Advice

Free Home Bakery Business Plan Template + Example (2026)

A free home bakery business plan template plus a completed example — covering products, pricing, startup costs, marketing, and a corrected six-month projection that actually accounts for your own time.

June 2, 2026·11 min read
Business Advice

How to Start a Home Bakery Business in 2026: 10-Step Checklist

Learn how to start a home bakery business legally, price your products, estimate startup costs, take orders, and get your first customers — walked through in the order it should actually happen.

June 2, 2026·7 min read
Comparison

CrumbCoach vs Bakesy: An Honest Comparison for Home Bakers

two real platforms, two different bakers they're built for. here's the honest side-by-side so you can pick the one that fits how you actually bake.

May 26, 2026·9 min read
Baking Tips

Sourdough Hydration Calculator & Baker's Percentages

the math behind every great loaf, explained without the spreadsheet panic. plus a free calculator that does the work for you.

May 26, 2026·9 min read
Cottage Food Law

Texas SB 541: What Changed for Cottage Bakers in 2026

the new texas cottage food law raised the cap to $150k, opened up perishables, and changed how you put your address on a label. here's the full breakdown.

May 26, 2026·10 min read
Business Advice

What to do when a customer says your prices are too high

Price objections feel personal but they don't have to be. here's how to handle them with confidence.

May 25, 2026·6 min read
Cottage Food Law

Do you need a business bank account as a cottage baker?

Mixing personal and business money is a trap. here's why a separate account matters even when you're just starting out.

May 22, 2026·6 min read
Baking Tips

Christmas cookie season survival guide for home bakers

december doesn't have to break you. here's how to plan menus, manage capacity, and price through the busiest six weeks of the year.

May 18, 2026·9 min read
Baking Tips

How to create a holiday pre-order system that runs itself

the holidays don't have to mean answering messages at 11pm and forgetting whose order is whose. here's the pre-order system that handles itself once it's built.

May 18, 2026·8 min read
Business Advice

How to handle difficult customers gracefully

Every cottage baker gets one eventually. here's how to handle the hard ones without losing your sleep, your standards, or your business.

May 18, 2026·7 min read
Baking Tips

How to price custom designs vs standard orders

custom orders take 3-5x longer than people think. here's how to price them so they're actually worth your time without scaring off your regular customers.

May 18, 2026·8 min read
Business Advice

Setting clear expectations before you take a deposit

the deposit isn't where the order starts — it's where the agreement starts. confirm the details in writing before any money changes hands.

May 18, 2026·7 min read
Business Advice

What to charge for delivery and setup fees

delivery is not a courtesy. setup is not free. here's exactly how to price both so you stop driving 40 minutes round-trip for $5 worth of profit.

May 18, 2026·7 min read
Business Advice

What to post on social media when you have nothing to say

You don't need a new product to post. here's a list of content ideas that work even on your slowest weeks.

May 16, 2026·6 min read
Business Advice

Why cottage bakers feel guilty about charging

pricing guilt isn't proof your prices are wrong — it's old money programming. here's what's really happening, and how to charge without flinching.

May 13, 2026·8 min read
Baking Tips

The seasonal products worth adding to your menu every year

Some seasonal items are worth the effort every single year. here's how to identify which ones belong on your recurring menu.

May 10, 2026·6 min read
Business Advice

The real cost of a custom cake most bakers forget

Most bakers only count ingredients. here's everything else that needs to go into your pricing before you quote a single order.

May 07, 2026·6 min read
Business Advice

You're not just a baker — you're a business owner

The shift from thinking like a baker to thinking like a business owner changes everything. here's what that actually looks like.

May 04, 2026·6 min read
Baking Tips

How to build a menu that's actually manageable to bake

A menu you can't execute consistently hurts your business. here's how to design one that works for your real life.

May 01, 2026·6 min read
Business Advice

How to write an order inquiry response that converts

Most bakers lose customers in the first reply. here's how to respond to inquiries in a way that actually closes the order.

Apr 29, 2026·6 min read
Cottage Food Law

Can I Sell Baked Goods From Home? Cottage Food Laws Explained

Learn whether you can legally sell baked goods from home, which foods are usually allowed, whether you need a permit, and what your labels must include — plus official state-by-state sources so you can check your own rules before your first sale.

Apr 27, 2026·6 min read
Business Advice

How to take orders without losing track of them

A missed order or a forgotten detail can cost you a customer. here's how to set up a simple system that keeps everything straight.

Apr 24, 2026·6 min read
Baking Tips

Why seasonal menus sell better than year-round

Scarcity creates demand. here's why limiting your seasonal menu actually drives more orders than offering everything all year.

Apr 22, 2026·6 min read
Business Advice

How to get your first 10 customers as a home baker

You don't need a big following to get your first orders. here's exactly how to find your first 10 paying customers.

Apr 20, 2026·6 min read
Baking Tips

Creating a summer menu that keeps orders coming in

Summer doesn't have to be slow. here's how to design a menu that keeps your customers ordering even when the heat is on.

Apr 17, 2026·6 min read
Business Advice

It's okay if baking doesn't feel fun right now

Running a business changes your relationship with baking. if it doesn't feel fun anymore you're not alone — and it can come back.

Apr 15, 2026·6 min read
Baking Tips

Mother's Day order strategy for cottage bakers

Mother's Day is one of the biggest order windows of the year. here's how to build a strategy that maximizes your revenue without maxing out your capacity.

Apr 13, 2026·6 min read
Business Advice

How to price your baked goods without underselling yourself

Underpricing is the number one mistake home bakers make. here's how to figure out what your baked goods are actually worth.

Apr 10, 2026·6 min read
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