Know-How Exchange : Taglines/Names

Start with the book I recommend in this blog post:
https://expandabroad.blogspot.com/2005/08/start-up-book-recommendation.html
There is a California specific version - get that and read it.

You will likely find that there are specific requirements for the kitchen you use to ensure that it is appropriate for cooking for others. Likely you won't be able to use your home kitchen for a real business. There are commercial kitchens available for rent (part and full time).

To make a go of this you'll need commercial kitchens
and health certification from your local office. https://www.sdcounty.ca.gov/deh/food/food.html

You'll also need help from local small business admin. Go here for more details: https://www.sba.gov/about-offices-content/2/3101

Once you've got these things in line (if not online), try approaching local coffee shops (here's a list from Yahoo https://local.yahoo.com/CA/San+Diego/Food+Dining/Restaurants/Coffee+Houses).

Call them up, ask to speak to the owner or manager, tell them who you are and what you do, make an appointment and go and see them. Offer them a free sample. OR, just work with one or two local coffee shops, even if you wind up baking in THEIR kitchen, then consider branching out from there. Or, contact local sandwich stores and see if you can connect with the lunch or breakfast rush.

Name: Cakes and Muffins by Shelley, or something along those lines. What you need first are people to sample your wares, then, if people like what they're eating, word of mouth (no pun intended) will help you out. You could also offer to bake for a local event in exchange for name recognition (but you'll need commercial grade kitchens to do so. Stay on the right side of the local health inspectors and keep things simple. I hope this helps. Good luck to you.

Get the proper license and insurance for your business.

Contact local coffee shops, restaurants and others to see if they are willing to buy your items. Take them samples of your items. You could also try selling retail at Flea Markets and other events.

Be sure to brand your products so they become memorable.
Something like Shelley's Bakery or Shelley's Baked Goods. You get the idea.

Once you have sales stop by here again to ask marketing questions.

you might also consider creating wedding cakes.

Have you worked in a bakery before? How much do you know about day-to-day operations, accounts payable/receivable, inventory, etc.?

I was in the same situation you're in right now. I was a regular at a local bakery and would stop in on my way to my dead-end job. Eventually, I wound up asking to work there, telling the owners I wanted them to teach me everything I'd need to know to run my own bakery someday.

In the end, I worked there about a year, performing every job required to run a bakery successfully. And I realized it's not what I want. At the same time, I realized there were other ways to make a living baking, as some people have mentioned (supplying cafes, farmers' markets, etc.) that are better suited to what I want to do.

Long story short is to dive in at an existing bakery until you realize it's 100% right for you to open your own shop. In MA, you can get a home-baking license to start up, but I'm not sure what the regulations are in CA. Good luck!

A lot of the information people posted here is correct in terms of things you'll need to know from a regulatory standpoint as well as a business financials end of things. However, it is possible for part-time food entrepreneurs to get started in business without spending a minor fortune. I'm a former professional pastry chef turned entrepreneur and wrote a book about how to open up a 'part-time' food business on the side while continuing to work fulltime. Titled 'Starting A Part-time Food Business', the book is available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Starting-Part-time-Food-Business-Necessarily/dp/0615...

I also write a blog targeted towards small food business entrepreneurs at www.smallfoodbiz.com that might be helpful for you too.

Also - contact your local SCORE (https://www.score.org/) and/or SBA office (https://www.sba.gov/content/small-business-development-centers-sbdcs) for free/low-cost help.

You can moonlight in your spare time and run your business in your spare time while keeping your day job. Running the business while having a steady paycheck will allow you to assess the viability of your business and allows you to see better its potentials. You can work on your business as a sideline until you have built up enough earnings to leave your full time job, or stumbled on an opportunity that will allow your business to grow rapidly.