— Carmen Sammut

So at the, you'll see enclosed here is a reference for what's called calculator Academy cookie Cost Calculator. And it actually works really, really well and can help set you straight when you want to make something. One of the thing that, one of the things that happens oftentimes with people who are starting to go into the business, so to speak, is that we really undersell ourselves because, um, it's very easy to let some facts sort of escape what you're going to do. So one of the things that I highly recommend is to pay yourself an hourly rate. And this includes when you go to the grocery store and you have to buy your flour or your other ingredients, you should be on the clock for that. And you have to understand your food costs. The prep time, if you're teaching a class or you're at a, shall we say, a farmer's market, you're going to pay yourself an hourly rate for every hour that you're there. And if you're teaching a class, it's going to be your class time. And the other thing I did wanna, um, take into consideration, there are three other things. One is if you are going to rent a kitchen, either a incubator kitchen or maybe your church has a ki a professional kitchen that you can use, you're going to have to pay them, uh, a fee. So you have to take that into consideration. And the other thing is your insurance. You need to have food handler insurance. I can tell you from a personal perspective that I pay about $600 a year for my chef insurance so that when I either cook for someone or I go teach a class for someone, what people eat and everything else is covered. And then you've got to look into taking your safe serve class, which gives you a, a five year certification that expresses that you understand all aspects of food safety. So I think you're going to, uh, enjoy the website and those are just a few personal tidbits. And I wanted to say for anyone who is, uh, teaching classes, that it's really important that you itemize your bill when you send it to whomever and that you itemize things like shopping time, prep time, travel time, parking, and other things like that. So then you take that into consideration, then come out with a fee per class. And when you look at it a fee as a fee per class, it all makes sense and comes together. And I wanted to say one other thing. Several years back I was doing a workshop and I think that it was called How to Make a Business Out of Your Hobby. And my most important message that I always tell people is that when your neighbor comes to you and says, Hey, can you make me that delicious vegan loaf that you've been making me for the last 10 years? You have to stand on your ground and say, certainly, I'm now charging $15 per loaf. When do you want me to deliver it? So you have to stand firm on your hobby is becoming a business and that you are no longer the neighborhood cookie dealer, and that you are developing a business that's going to boom when everything gets into place. So I hope that that has been a helpful question for you. And, um, if you have any questions about that, you can always feel free to email me, uh, Char@Rouxbe.com. And I think you're gonna, the, the website is really very, very helpful. Uh, thank you for sending that question in. And I did wanna say in January, chef Dan and I are doing an event together split screen, uh, because Dan and I both have a lot of experience of teaching classes in the community and pulling our little red wagons filled with coolers and ingredients and everything else. So we thought that it would be really helpful for students, graduates, or anyone to, uh, sit down and, uh, sort of chat with us about how you can make a food demo work when you are loading your car and traveling to wherever. So it'll tune in in January, I'm not exactly sure of the date, but be there or be square.

https://calculator.academy/cookie-cost-calculator/