Price the whole bake, not just the flour.

Know what each bake needs to earn.

Turn batch costs, bake days, your time, and selling fees into a clear minimum price and a realistic week of earnings.

Your weekly rhythm drives the math. Items per week = batch size × batches per bake day × bake days.

Build your menu

Start with one product. Add more when you need them.

Shape your week

Everything starts with a bake day; the report rolls it up by week.

How many days in a normal week you make these products.
Include shopping, prep, baking, packing, selling, and cleanup.
Used in the minimum price. Set to $0 if you want all leftover money treated as your pay.

Add the costs around the bake

Keep repeating weekly costs separate from startup purchases.

Weekly consumables & selling costs

Recurring table, stall, or event charges for a typical week.
Fuel, mileage allowance, tolls, or local delivery expenses.
Labels, gloves, parchment, cleaning supplies, and other shared items.
Advertising, subscriptions, or anything else paid most weeks.

How customers pay

Choose the method used for most sales. Processor pricing varies by plan and transaction type.
If an average customer buys two items, the fixed swipe fee is spread across both.
Enter 3 for a 3% fee.
The flat amount charged each time a customer pays.

Fee presets are planning examples, not quotes. Check the current terms for the provider you use.

One-time startup costs

Mixer, pans, cooling racks, storage, or other durable tools.
Food-handler training and any registration cost that applies.
Branding, a first market display, signs, or launch supplies.

Don’t have your certificate yet? Get your Texas food handler certificate — required by Texas law before you sell, about $7, valid statewide.

Texas cottage food essentials

A working overview for planning—not legal advice.

$150,000 gross-sales threshold

The state threshold is annual gross income, not profit. The tracker uses 52 weeks at your current plan.

Training, not a kitchen permit

Operators need accredited basic food-handler training. Local health entities generally cannot require a production permit or routine inspection under these rules.

Sell directly, within Texas

Sell directly to the end customer only—including in-person sales and farmers markets. Sales and delivery must remain within Texas, and products may not be mailed. Online orders must be personally delivered by the operator, an employee, or a household member.

Many farmers markets require liability insurance: look into FLIP, made for cottage food vendors.

Cold foods add requirements

Time-and-temperature controlled foods require DSHS registration, safe temperatures, date-made labeling, and safe-handling information.

Build every product label with:

  • Operation name and home address—or a DSHS registration number
  • The product’s common name and its major allergens
  • “This product was produced in a private residence that is not subject to governmental licensing or inspection.”
  • For refrigerated / TCS food: date made and the required safe-handling statement in the required size

Rules can change. Review the Texas DSHS cottage food guidance before selling. Non-TCS wholesale through a registered cottage food vendor has separate rules.

Planning figures are estimates. Taxes are not included, and the calculator does not replace accounting, legal, food-safety, or processor-fee advice.