Getting Started
Your First 30 Days as a Cottage Food Seller
A simple four-week plan: Week 1, get live and launch to your circle. Week 2, fulfill first orders flawlessly and ask for reviews. Week 3, widen your reach with local SEO, social, and farmers markets. Week 4, review your numbers and refine pricing, menu, and pickup based on what actually sold.
Launching is the start, not the finish. This four-week plan turns a new storefront into a small business with repeat customers — one focused step at a time.
| Week | Focus | Do this |
|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | Go live | Finish the launch checklist and announce to friends, family, and your social following |
| Week 2 | First orders + reviews | Fulfill flawlessly, then ask happy buyers for reviews |
| Week 3 | Widen reach | Tighten local SEO, post consistently, and consider a farmers market |
| Week 4 | Refine | Review what sold; adjust pricing, menu, and inventory |
Week 1 — launch to your circle
Your first customers are almost always people who already know you. Once you're live, tell them — a single post with your storefront link and first pickup window can fill your opening slots.
Weeks 2–4 — compound what works
Great early experiences become reviews, reviews build trust, and trust plus steady promotion brings new buyers. By week four you'll have real data on what sells — lean into it. For the bigger discovery picture, see how Local Cottage Foods helps sellers get discovered.
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Your Cottage Food Launch Checklist
A complete launch checklist for new cottage food sellers: exactly what's required to go live, what you need to accept orders, and the recommended steps that win buyers.
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