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How to Sell Sweets from Home
In recent years work culture has changed and so many more people are working from home. This change has ignited the entrepreneurial fire in many people, with many taking working from home to the next level and starting their own businesses.
Due to the evergreen popularity of sweets, emporiums and sweetshops of all kinds have remained a fixture of high streets and city centres despite the decline of physical retail stores. It’s the same situation online, too. Everyone has their favourite sweets and treats, from avid pick n mixers to chocoholics, and there is an opportunity to serve each of them from home.
That might seem farfetched, but it’s entirely plausible to set up a sweets business from home. There are regulations and legal requirements you’ll have to meet, but once you have decided on which sweets to sell and how, you can enjoy the freedom of running your own business and spreading the joy of confectionery.
If this sounds like something that appeals to you, we have a more detailed guide on how to set up a sweets business – here we will run through the key aspects that apply to home-based businesses.
Register your home business
The first step once you have a solid outline is to register your business. You may think that running a business from home exempts you from this, however, any business that handles food, no matter the premises, must be registered with their local authority. It is also vital to note that you should do this a minimum of 28 days before you start trading. This doesn’t cost anything and can easily be done online. As well as registering your business, an important step at this stage is to register as self-employed with HMRC.
As well as registering your business, you will have to get permission from either your landlord or your mortgage provider, whilst business insurance is a great idea. Even if you run your business from home, business insurance covers your stock against damages and theft, as well as liability cover in the situation that you have legal disputes with customers.
Hygiene and food safety certifications
Again, you might think that a business from home does not need to comply with the same regulations as traditional sweet shops. However, once your local authority has approved you, you will have to schedule a visit from the local food safety team to ensure that your premises meet the required food safety standards.
We would also advise you to look into a food safety qualification. This isn’t a compulsory accreditation, but it does ensure that you are aware of best hygiene practices – and is a powerful trust signal that customers will appreciate.
Identify and engage your target audience.
As for any business, understanding your customers is a key facet of selling sweets from home. It is less likely that you’ll have much face-to-face contact with your clientele, but there are countless ways that you can use digital platforms to both identify and understand your target market. This is not only vital to help you set up your stall and place your points of difference, but over time you can track how successfully you are serving shoppers.
There are various analytic platforms that you can use to track a boggling number of data points of your own website, but you can equally set up a business profile on Facebook and other social media platforms. Here, you can view insights into your interactions and customer behaviour, as well as an easy method of advertising – more on that later.
Once you are aware of and understand your target market, it is time to engage them! Through social media content and interactions, promotions and showing off your exciting range of confections, it’s important that you keep shoppers excited and interested in your offerings.
How to sell – on your own website or social media?
Whether via a bespoke website or on social media, a digital shop window is a vital aspect of selling sweets from home. Each has its strengths and weaknesses, so the best option for you will depend on your priorities and situation.
A website that is built to your specifications offers customisation and the freedom to express what your business is about and communicate with your customers exactly the way you want to. Of course, it will also be how your customers transact and place their orders. However, it is not the easiest process and can be a pricey endeavour – especially when starting a business.
That’s one of the many things that you won’t incur when selling through a social media business account. With the facility to sell through linked business profiles on Facebook and Instagram, and TikTok too, social platforms can provide sweet businesses with a quick and easy customer interface. They also offer a simple way to advertise and gain the attention of your audience, alongside insights into performance.
Practical considerations
There are many factors to starting your own business, but it can be easy to forget some less exciting, but incredibly important factors. Like packaging, delivery and storage. We’re sure you’ve already considered these aspects, but it is an important facet that is worth a reminder.
Depending on the types of sweets and chocolates that you are selling, you may need different storage requirements. As a general rule, however, you’ll need it to be airtight and neither hot nor cold. Organisation in this area will be invaluable when packing and shipping your orders, too.
A popular route for sweet businesses run from home is re-packing. It enables sellers to customise their offerings and make a healthy profit on return. For this, you’ll obviously need some packaging. Sweet jars offer an easy and low-cost way to make your products both look and feel more premium. These are ideal for gifting and sharing options, whilst something like these White Handled Sweet Gift Boxes offer smaller portions but are also perfect for weddings! Cone Bags are another versatile option that can pack serious bang for their buck – both for you and your customers.
Your chosen delivery method is likely to differ depending on the scale of your target audience – you may start locally, however, with deliveries of parcels so commonplace in day-to-day life, a national audience can be just as simple to serve. Whether you and/or your team handle local deliveries, or you make regular visits to your local shipping counter, you’ll need to evaluate the cost impact of each method and account for this in your pricing structure.
Secure your supply
A core aspect of your business will be the sweets and chocolates you offer. When dealing with the quantities that will be required for a sweets business, buying wholesale is the best route. Shopping in bulk will help you keep up with demand, plus it offers better value and margins.
For over 60 years, Hancocks has been providing independent businesses with the wholesale confectionery that British customers have adored and demanded. From the UK’s largest range of pick n mix sweets to the biggest chocolate brands, novelty sweets that kids love, American candy and so much more, we stock sweets for every niche. Over the years our team has built relationships with industry leaders to ensure that Hancocks customers can continue to spread joy to shoppers of all ages and tastes. Alongside industry classics, we are always scouring global markets for the most exciting new treats. This means you’ll be able to keep up with the latest lines like freeze-dried sweets and energy drinks thanks to our collection of trending products.
Whatever your sweet niche, choosing the right supplier is important as your business will rely on your stock and the simplicity of getting everything you need in one place can save valuable time that you can spend elsewhere. Not only that, but when you shop for sweets to sell, we can deliver them right to your door!
As we mentioned previously, there are other factors that you will have to consider, but those covered here are key aspects for anyone looking to start a home sweet shop. If you have any further questions, whether it’s about our wholesale stock or delivery, or anything else, simply reach out to us – we’re always happy to share our expertise!