Each week has a checkpoint that must be true before the next week starts. Start date:
Week 1: The Law and the Loaf
☐ County call made; every requirement, fee, and form written down
☐ State's allowed-foods list pulled up
☐ Three-product menu drafted from it: one signature, two supports
☐ Signature baked three times in sellable quantity
☐ Five honest people have eaten it and answered for a price
Checkpoint: you can state your state's requirements from your own notes, and five people answered for a price.
Week 2: Compliance and the Kitchen
☐ Filings in order: state registration or permit, food safety certificate, city and zoning check, bank account, insurance
☐ Start-here equipment tier bought, used where possible
☐ Ingredients for a real batch on hand
☐ Cost sheet built: every ingredient to the gram, packaging included
☐ Launch prices set in writing with margin room to spare
Checkpoint: every filing is submitted or scheduled, the scale reads grams, and your price per product exists in writing.
If your state requires an inspection or your city requires zoning review, this is honestly a 60-day plan. The bake waits for the paperwork, never the reverse.
Week 3: The Storefront and the Stage
☐ Packaging ordered; labels printed against the label requirements
☐ Storefront set up start to finish: ordering page with menu, prices, order window, pickup details (or the stand/porch in final form)
☐ Google Business Profile created
☐ Three-line Instagram bio written
☐ Products photographed in daylight, no flash, plain background
Mid-week checkpoint: a stranger could order from you right now, in under a minute, without asking you anything.
Week 4: Launch
☐ Three-post sequence run: teaser, menu reveal with RSVP, last call
☐ Baked for the RSVP plus a small buffer, no more
☐ First full week run on the real-week rhythm, checklist taped to the cabinet
☐ Sold out or close; every bag handed a business card
☐ Five happiest buyers asked for a Google review
☐ Feedback conversations booked for the week after
Checkpoint: money has changed hands legally, every label was correct, and you have at least one stranger as a customer.
Day-30 Review (answer in writing)
☐ What did each product actually cost me, per unit, this month?
☐ What did my effective hourly wage work out to on bake days?
☐ How many customers were strangers, and how many found me via Google or a hanger?
☐ Which product earns its slot, and which one is sentimental?
☐ What is my season: when does my slowest month land, and what is my plan for it?
☐ Am I still glad I started? Answer honestly; the burnout math starts here.
Numbers go in the tracker, decisions go in the plan, and month two starts with one price, one product, or one channel adjusted, not a redesign.