I love side hustles, and today I have a very unique side hustle for all dog lovers.
Dog treat bakery business!
Seriously, this is one of the most fun and rewarding side gigs that has the biggest potential to become a profitable business.
When I heard about Kristin Larsen’s Diva Dog Bakery and how it went from a side hustle to a full-blown business, I was hooked. I really love the unique idea of this hustle and how Kristin worked hard to make it a success.
Her dog treats were even invited to Emmy’s!!
I had to share this amazing side hustle with you, so dig in and find out everything about starting a dog treat bakery business.
How to Start a Dog Treat Bakery Business (In-Depth Interview)
Please tell us about yourself and how you came up with this side hustle?
Hi! My name is Kristin Larsen, owner of Diva Dog Bakery™. I also run a program called Become a Pinterest VA TODAY! which teaches people how to manage Pinterest accounts as a side hustle or full-time business. You could say I’m a little obsessed with helping people learn how to make extra money!
I’m also a little obsessed with my dogs. I actually came up with the idea of Diva Dog Bakery when I was perusing people’s desserts at a local bakery. My eyes landed on a cupcake, and I thought, ‘I’m going to make a dog-friendly version of this at home for Bella’s birthday.’
I started my dog treat bakery out of pure love for my dogs. I wanted to make them healthy, wholesome treats made out of ingredients I could pronounce.
I made some for my friends’ and families’ pups, and the feedback was so amazing that I decided to go bigger.
Before I knew it, I had a successful side hustle on my hands, selling treats both locally at farmers markets and online through Etsy. When an unfortunate job loss occurred, I ended up scaling up my business and working full-time as a dog treat baker!
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What are the costs involved?
For the production of treats themselves, a new dog treat baker will need to invest in the cost of ingredients (you can start small and buy more as your business grows, plus you can buy in bulk, which makes the treats super cheap to produce), plus a few inexpensive baking tools if you don’t already have them in your kitchen. The initial costs will run $20–$50, depending on what you need.
For packaging the treats, your initial investment can be anywhere from $0 to $75, depending on where you choose to sell and how creative you are with your packaging. I’m a big fan of working with what you have and bootstrapping a new business, so I share all the ways to save money inside the course!
To make your business official, depending on your area, your costs could be anywhere between $25 and $50 for a business license, and treat registration fees can run from a $25 one-off fee to up to a $50 per-treat fee.
The important thing to keep in mind is that you can “self-fund” a lot of these costs by investing all of your initial profits from selling to friends and family into your business. By doing this, your out-of-pocket expenses are very low.
What are the requirements to start a dog treat business?
The requirements involved depend on your area. You’ll definitely need a business license, but depending on your local requirements, you may need to register your treats and their nutrition content, register to remit sales tax, or even have an inspection of your home kitchen. These might sound like difficult tasks, but they’re actually really easy to do!
For promoting your business, you’ll most likely want a social media presence on Instagram and/or Facebook. A website is not required.
How much can you earn with a dog treat bakery?
As a side hustle, it’s very easy to earn $500–$1,000/month with your dog treat bakery most months.
As a full-time job, you can earn four to five figures a month.
Please tell us about Diva Dog Bakery.
Diva Dog Bakery—the course—is a brand-new course that dives into everything I learned about running a successful dog treat bakery and shows you how to duplicate my success.
The course consists of eight easy-to-follow and actionable modules, plus four bonuses that will help you get your dog treat bakery up and running ASAP, including 30 days of free access to the Diva Dog Bakery™ Facebook Group for ongoing support.
You’ll also receive a recipe book with all of the recipes I used while I was a successful dog treat baker. You don’t need any baking experience and can use my exact recipes.
Any pros and cons about this side hustle?
Pros:
- A fun, enjoyable way to make $500+ a month.
- A huge and growing market.
- It’s very easy to carve out a niche.
- You have the cutest customers!
Cons:
- It’s a “hands-on” business; while no baking experience is required, if you hate being in the kitchen, it’s probably not going to be a good fit.
- You will have to comply with your area’s regulations. While dog food is a lot less regulated than people’s food, you’ll still need to be sure of your area’s regulations and follow them.
Please share any tips from your experience about starting a dog treat bakery business.
My biggest tip is to start small and work from there. You can start by testing the treats with your dogs and your friends’ and families’ dogs, and then grow your business based on which treats seem to be most well-received.
My second biggest tip is to make sure you come up with a catchy and memorable brand name. You want people to remember your bakery’s name and be able to easily recommend you to everyone they know!
Do you still run Diva Dog Bakery?
I ended up winding down my dog treat bakery business when I landed a new job that took a lot of my energy. I kept the bakery as a small side hustle, still making a solid $500 a month for quite a while until life took me elsewhere (blogging and Pinterest management!).
If my current businesses suddenly disappeared tomorrow, I’d get right back to my dog treat bakery business. It’s such a fun and rewarding business!
I thank Kristin for sharing her journey about this unique side hustle and giving us a peek into what goes into starting a dog treat business from home.
Ready to start your own dog treat bakery business?
Working from home is totally possible, no matter what income level you are aiming for. These kinds of side hustles are great for supplementing your income, paying off debt, or to starting a new business. I really love the idea of the dog treat business because you can do it from home and it has such great potential.
It’s time to get started making treats for your favorite pets!