8 Tips for Starting a Cookie Business with Small Capital

Snacking between meals is a common habit, and one of life’s guilty pleasures when snacking is snacking on a cookie. In Indonesia, the following types of cookies are the perfect snack, and have become iconic during the lebaran celebration: nastar (pineapple tarts), kastengel (cheese sticks), putri salju (snow white cookies), kue sagu (tapioca cookies), lidah kucing (cat’s tongue biscuits), and kue kacang (peanut cookies). 

However, in today’s busy world, even though most people love sweet treats, they do not have the time or inclination to bake cookies themselves, especially during special occasions every year. Traditionally, at celebrations, people visit each other, indulging in the cookies offered to them by their hosts.

This societal busy-ness has created an opportunity for cookie businesses to be a promising business venture, and as such, starting a cookie business is a promising opportunity with small capital. It is an even better opportunity for you if you are passionate about baking and you want to start a cookie business because of your love for cookies. 

This article will discuss 8 inspirational tips to help you start a cookie business with a small capital investment and outlay. 

Read Also: 9 Ways to Start a Food Business with Small Capital

1. Product Innovation 

Firstly, who in Indonesia doesn’t know what a nastar cookie is? Almost everyone in Indonesia has tasted them or at least seen or heard of these famous cookies. But did you know that the shape of nastar has changed over time? 

Today, the shape, size, and taste of nastar vary, some are round, and some are oval. Some are round, some are oval. Additionally, the taste of the nastar cookie has evolved, and nowadays, a nastar, with a melting texture that is often made with cheese has become more popular. These changes have occurred because of the product innovation of the nastar cookie. Being new to the cookie business, product innovation, or ingredient tinkering, can help your nastar cookie stand out to the nastar- loving consumer. creating a strawberry nastar, and so on.

2. Create Testers First

Secondly, cookies are a familiarity, a comfort food, a luxury, a treat.

When starting your cookie business, it is a good idea to start off by creating testers or samplers, enticing family and friends, neighbors, and coworkers to taste and test the uniqueness of your particular cookie, because by doing this taste test, your potential clientele won’t feel like they are buying the proverbial pig in a poke but will actually get to taste the cookies that you are selling. Additionally, take advantage of social gatherings like family events or neighborhood meetings as an opportunity to distribute your cookie testers. 

Then, ask for feedback from those who try your samples—are the size, shape, and taste just right? Or what can I do differently?

Don’t hesitate to tell them you’re preparing to start your cookie business and offer your sample products to them, but do limit the amount of taste testing you offer. 

You are, after all, opening a business, not a charitable organization. 

3. Use Simple Equipment; Don’t Rush to Spend Big

Thirdly, when starting out in business, it is tempting to have the latest gadgets and technology. However, when starting a cookie business, you don’t need to spend a fortune on the latest, high-tech ovens and mixers. Rather, initially use basic baking equipment to run your business, and then, after your business has expanded and your order volume increases, purchase larger and more advanced equipment. .

4. Use Quality Ingredients

Fourthly, the different taste of cookies is determined by the ingredients you use. In this regard, the quality of margarine and butter plays a key role in the final outcome. A high-quality cookie should have a texture that melts in your mouth without sticking, reflecting the ingredients' superior quality. So when baking, ensure that you use premium ingredients so that your cookies melt in the mouth while maintaining a crisp and firm texture.

Read Also: 10 Online Business Ideas with High Profit

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Read Also: 10 Online Business Ideas with High Profit

5. Attractive Packaging

Fifthly, the shape and volume of your packaging are important elements for your cookie business. Packaging can motivate people to buy your product, whereas attractive packaging entices them to buy because common, cheap-looking packaging is unappealing, discouraging customers from impulse buying.

Instead get creative!

For example, consider using square or rhomboid-shaped packaging, like the shape of a ketupat (diamond-shaped rice cake). Whatever the case, make sure that your packaging has an aesthetic that is attractive and inviting, one that makes your cookie stand out from all of the others. 

6. Promotion via Social Media and Marketplaces

Sixthly, it is a moot point if your cookies are delicious and no one buys them or has not even heard of them. If they are not promoted to a wider audience, they won’t be recognized, they won’t be purchased, and all of your good ideas, innovations, and efforts will go to waste. As such, it is important that you proactively promote them, preferably without spending too much of your limited money. Take advantage of social media platforms such as Facebook (Meta), Instagram, TikTok, Twitter (X), and WhatsApp, and use the story feature on these platforms to promote your cookie business. 

Additionally, create appealing photos and videos that make your cookies look attractive, appetizing, and enticing—a melt-in-your-mouth necessity and not a special occasion treat. Include a Call to Action in your digital promotional content, with messages telling people where or to whom they can contact to order your cookies.

Although initially, your target market may only be the people that you know, there is nothing wrong with expanding your cookie business’s horizons, because beyond social media platforms, you can sell your cookies online using online marketplace platforms such as Youtap BOS, Bukalapak, GoFood, Shopee, Tokopedia, et al.   

7. Set the Right Selling Price

Seventhly, businesses are in business to make money, and your cookie business is no different, so when it comes to selling your delicious cookies, you want to maximize your profits, but at what cost? 

Therefore, it is important to take great care when determining the price of your cookie.

How do you successfully do that?.

First, calculate your cost for one batch of cookies, including the cost of the raw ingredients, gas, electricity, labor, and packaging. Then, determine how many packages you can produce from one recipe. Next, add the percentage of profit you want to make. Typically, the profit margin for cookies is 30-50% of the cost. Once you have that information, you can set the right selling price per package. 

For example, if an assistant’s daily wage is IDR 70,000, and they can produce six batches of cookies in a day, how many packages will those six batches make? 

Divide the worker’s daily wage by the number of jars produced, and then calculate the cost of ingredients like butter, eggs, flour, sugar, etc., for those six batches, and after you have done that, add in the labor costs to determine the production cost per package.

Read Also: Understanding and Formula for Calculating the Right Selling Price in Business

8. Register for a Cookie Franchise or Reseller Program

Finally, if you do not have the skills or wherewithal to make various types of cookies, one solution to that conundrum could be to register for a cookie franchise or become a reseller, where you can find all of the necessary information or offers to start a small capital cookie business online, or alternatively, as a reseller, you can earn a decent commission to live on. 

These are just eight suggestions for starting your own cookie business with limited capital that you can consider right now.Start off by creating cookie testers and sharing them with your family, friends, coworkers, and neighbors. 

Read Also: 6 Affordable and Profitable Franchise Types

To professionally analyze and manage your cookie business’s sales reports and serve customers with cashless transactions, you can use the Youtap app. This app is designed for business owners, whether small, medium, or large-scale enterprises. You can download Youtap’s Business App through the Google AppStore, PlayStore, or through the Youtap’s website. 

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