Cupcakes have gained popularity over the past few years after a guest appearance on one of the episodes of "Sex and the City" in 2000, according to AFP. Nothing new really, a cupcake is a small cake baked in a small, thin paper cup and is designed to serve one person. Even though it can be hardly considered a get-rich-quick scheme, it can be a great idea for a part time business. If you're thinking that if I read about a business opportunity in the news (I'm not talking about the junk you are reading now - The New York Times in a recent article called cupcakes the "latest entrepreneurial fantasy" and The Wall Street Journal recently dedicated an entire page to them.) - the ship has already sailed - chances are that you're probably right. There's a lot of competition (you'll be up against the specialised cupcake retail chains, like Magnolia Bakery and Crumbs, and outlets such as chocolate retailer Godiva and the Cinnabon cinnamon bun chain), but there's still a lot of potential if you are dedicated.
Kim, a medical worker in Washington began selling cupcakes a year ago "to make a little extra money to pay my three kids' college tuition".
"People have been crazy about the cupcakes," said Kim, who is doing the business on the side and for now does not dare resign from her regular job.
But for Kim, who earns a hefty profit of 1.75 dollars on each cupcake sold at 2.50 dollars, competition is not a problem.
"The demand is strong even though there are a lot of cupcake places opening up".
And Kim suspects the economic downturn has something to do with her own good fortune: "Because the economy is so bad, so people sometimes want to treat themselves rather than buying a whole cake."
It's not High-Tech business where you can make a product and then sell licenses for millions of dollars. It is limited to the amount of cupcakes you can make and sell in a period of time, but still - 70% profit on each cupcake!
