How to Start a Bakery in India

Are you dreaming of opening a bakery and making it a hit in town? Enough of baking for the near and dear ones now is the time to make your dream come true. Spread the word and let the world know about your hidden (or not so hidden) kitchen skills and swirl your magic wand!

Stop cooking the same old recipes and step out of your kitchen to start something on your own. Do not waste a single minute and note down the list of things needed for a bakery and begin your journey to the topmost bakers in the country.

If you have a kickass control on spices and flavors and wish to spread the word near and far, the first thing you must be wondering is how to start a bakery business in India!

Roll the dice and try your luck, cause we have done the hard work for you. To make it all the more comfortable, we have got the best bakery business plan to save the extra hustle for you.

Read – Fast Food Business: How to Start a Small Street Food Outlet in India

Invest in giveaways and freebies. The idea will be newer in some regions and will undoubtedly attract some visitors by the day. If you can, then organize fun games for the visitors occasionally. Besides, you can also keep magazines, old books and newspapers for the customers to engage in reading.

List of Equipment for Opening a Small Bakery

Before getting on to the strategies and the guide on how to start a bakery business in India, let us talk about the necessities required to begin with. No matter where you start your bakery business at, the list will remain the same.

With technology introducing newer and better devices for our ease, some requisites might be replaced from the list, but the basic requirement is never going to change! Hence, stress no more and note down the detailed equipment list for bakery.

1. Oven

You have probably added this to the list while speculating about what do you need for a bakery. If you have not, then zero in on an oven on priority because a bakery without an oven is like a tree without leaves – will survive but not blossom!

Hold your budget and analyze the type of ovens you need. A convection oven though small should be able to accommodate a minimum of five plates for ease. Besides, if you can invest in double deck ovens, which can cook dishes at dual temperature settings, then you are ready to put the icing on the cake!

Check Out – 10 High Profit Food Business Ideas with Small Investment

2. Fridge or Chiller

You are not letting things go stale and throwing a significant chunk of your investment in the bin, are you? Hence, one of the primary equipment needed when opening a small bakery is owning a storage fridge or a chiller.

Chillers are quite affordable as compared to the refrigerators. However, they are ideal for a bakery business to store various kinds of dairy products, veggies and meat.

3. Proof Boxes

Proof boxes are extremely necessary for baking bread at a particular temperature. Available in various sizes as well as prices, proof boxes are ideal for a small bakery business.

Smaller ones can accommodate around 20 pans and are removable as well, whereas, the larger ones require substantially more investment and space.

4. Worktop or Working Tables

Worktops are a quintessential addition to the equipment list for a bakery. You will need a working table for everything; from chopping veggies to marinating meat, mixing, churning, storing, keeping and what not! Hence, avoiding this is just a no-no!

However, double check the height of the worktops before affixing them in your bakery. This is because a worktop with an inconvenient height that does not match your stature will lead to physical stress, pain pains, etc.

See – Noodle Making: How to Start Noodles Manufacturing Business in India

5. Mixers and Grinders

To start your bakery business, you will need both the mixers as well as the grinders. Besides the traditional mixers, do keep a dough kneading machine which can prepare approximately 40 quarts of dough at once.

6. Baking Pans, Trays and Racks

Keep in hand about 4 to 5 baking racks to be used simultaneously. Besides, some cake and pie baking pans, muffin tins, etc. will also be required to start your bakery business with. Apart from these, baking sheets measuring 18″ X 26″ is also needed.

7. Sinks

While you maneuver your bakery business plan, make sure you have three properly functioning sinks inside your working space. The first sink should be kept separate for washing, cleaning and sanitizing every dish before being served to the customer. The second should be held separately for washing and sanitizing the hands before preparing any meal. The third, however, is the mop sink meant for cleaning and disinfecting the floors.

Bakery Business Plan: Your Guide to a Successful Bakery Business

Almost every next person on earth wants to start something on their own. However, very few people can make it flourish. A business may thrive for the initial days, but a majority of them fall out in the process.

Besides hard work, it takes a lot of perseverance and a strategic approach in the beginning to make a new brand work. A well-planned business has higher chances of thriving than an unplanned one. The decisions might be taken an impromptu, but to make it sustainable in the long run a guide will be helpful.

1. Approach with a Strategic Bakery Business Plan

If you are wondering on how to start a bakery business in India, the first step that should be taken is: having a calculated bakery business plan. Plan your approach inch by inch, make a note of the budget distribution, promotion and marketing strategies as well as the possible developments required in the future.

Make a compact business overview of the entire project and have a detailed analysis of the industry as well as the finances. An essential aspect of bakery business is SWOT analysis. In the end, summarize the critical points that ‘should be’ taken care of.

Must See – A Complete Guide on How to Start a Dairy Farm Business

2. Make an Estimated Budget for Starting a Bakery Business

Planning the budget and the finances is a significant step towards starting a bakery business in India. Make a list of all the items you require, investment on the property and marketing expenses and add them up to get an estimated budget.

Once you get the value, keep a margin of 2-3 lakhs which might be required in other cases.

3. Decide the Location

One of the primary aspects of starting a bakery business is choosing a definite location which is convenient for the business to prosper. A favorable location has a significant impact on the success of the business.

Also, ask the property owner beforehand for a No Objection Certificate. Keep in mind the below points while selecting a location for your bakery:

• Choose a market area or a street side corner where the shop will get highlighted. Check if the area welcomes a high number of visitors regularly or not.
• A minimum of 500-530 sq. ft area is advisable, to begin with. However, it would be better if you can invest in two storey space.
• Divide the entire place into separate display and serving spaces. The kitchen area should be kept distinct at the interior. Make sure the kitchen area faces away from the road to avoid inconvenience in any way.
• Double check the water supply to that area and connect pipes to all the three sinks and outlets to ensure proper availability of water throughout.
• Check the drainage facilities and make sure you cut out proper outlets for releasing the wastewater out of the kitchen.

Remember to clear all the terms with the owner of the place if you are renting one. Explain the need for freezers and storage corners (if need be) and have an explicit talk about the amount of air conditioning your bakery needs.

4. Get the Licenses

You cannot start your bakery business without the necessary licenses. There are a number of permits you will be needing before beginning with your bakery business:

• FSSAI License

FSSAI license is required to get a permit for owning a food outlet. The government charges a reasonable fee for the license. However, private agencies will be charging approximately ₹5000. The renewal fees are charged separately every year, to avoid which, you can opt for a long term FSSAI license.

Check Out – How to Start a Mushroom Farming Business in 12 Easy Steps

• Police Eating House License

Before beginning a bakery business in India, every owner has to apply for an Eating House License Registration from the police. One has to apply for the license from the police headquarters of the city, and the business cannot be started before the license is granted by the police.

• Local Municipal Corporation Health License

Before starting a bakery business, every owner is required to avail a health license from the Municipal Corporation from the Health Inspector of that region. The procedure incurs an approximate fee of ₹3000.

• Fire License

Invest a minimum amount of ₹1000 to ₹1500 to get a fire license. This is extremely important in order to install fire extinguishers and sand buckets for safety purposes.

• GST Registration
  

A newer introduction to the list of necessary licenses for bakery business, GST registration is extremely important. Get the help of a CA to know about the procedures and registration for a GST number.

5. Get Insurance for the Bakery

Getting insurance for the bakery is very important to cover up for the damage to property or business. Impairment of property by sudden fire or electric malfunctioning or other kinds of damage will cause a colossal loss in monetary funding.

Insurance, in this case, does the work. A significant portion of the injury is paid by the insurance company to the insurance holder thereby proving to be a significant helping hand when needed.

Also Read – How to Start a Spice Processing and Packaging Business in India

6. Decorate the Interior

The display and outlook of the bakery are equally important as any other point in the list. The first thing that attracts a customer is the decor and the ambience of the place. The elegance with which a bakery is designed has a high impact on the success of the bakery business.

Hence, get a good interior planner and plan the spacing accordingly. Invest in fancy items that typically match the aura of the bakery.

7. Get What You Need for a Bakery

Since you have already made an equipment list for a bakery, now is the time to get the items on the list. Contact the dealers for this purpose and get all the items required for starting the bakery business. From cylinders to stoves, oven to fridge, pans to racks, mixers to kneading machines, get all the equipment.

Double check before inaugurating your bakery, because you would never want to fall out, on the first day of your work due to insufficient equipment. Besides, make sure to install POS Software for billing in your bakery.

8. Hire Helpers

Handling a bakery all by yourself will be a tough choice, to begin with. To say the least, it is impossible to prepare dishes and attend to guests alone. You will need to hire staffs and helpers who can help you build your bakery business.

Besides the Head Chef and Commi Chefs, you will need to recruit helpers for serving and cleaning as well. Spend a considerable amount of time in choosing the members as their proficiency will represent the brand of the bakery. The behavior and efficiency of their work will attract the customers as much as the other factors will.

It will be better if you want to handle accounting, in the beginning, however, you can also appoint a cashier for the same purpose.

If you have an expandable budget, do invest in the uniforms of the staffs. Having a uniform ensures disciple and is quite a necessity. Besides giving a professional touch and maintaining the hygiene, it gives the members an identity as well.

Must See – How to Start a Candle Making Business at Home: Startup Guide

9. Marketing and Promoting

The more you preach, the better you succeed. Always make sure you invest in good promotion and publicity. Spread the word across the city about the inauguration and let everyone know what you are blessing them with.

Click professional pictures of the bakery and print them with some of the unique menus and the price at which they are offered. Get a tempting slogan and print scores of leaflets. Take the help of the local newspaper distributors to distribute the leaflets along with the papers across the city. This will ensure that the news is reaching every house and people.

Besides investing in social media publicity, invite food bloggers and get your bakery featured in the popular food pages.

A considerable number of people are allergic to food substances; may it be nuts or eggs. Make sure you include a separate menu for them to cater to the needs of all the customers. If you want to stand out of competition, this will eventually be beneficial.

Wrap Up – How to Start a Bakery Business in India

Now that we have discussed the necessary points of starting a bakery business, it is upon you how you build it up. Guides and strategies will always help in the beginning, however, to make the business thrive, prosper and sustain, it is the sheer hard work of the owner and the effective coordination of the members included.

Take help of online portals and invest in marketing as much as you can. Once you own a bakery, make sure you strive towards incorporating newer items from time to time. Change the themes and menus according to the seasons or keep a ”season’s speciality”, to increase the demand for bakery products manifolds.