Serious question, a lady at my church said she made $900 last month selling jam from her kitchen. Is that real or is she leaving stuff out? | Cottage Industry Ideas - nhfree.com
That "cottage food license" part is the big thing people skip. I saw a youtube video where a lady broke down her jam sales and after jars, fruit, and labels she was making like 4 bucks an hour. So the $900 could be real but that's sales, not profit.
The part about "selling jam from her kitchen" is where I'd pump the brakes a little. In most states you can't just sell homemade jam out of your house, you need a cottage food license or you have to use a commercial kitchen, and those rules change a lot depending on where you live. So either she's doing it legally with a permit and insurance, or she's selling to friends and church people under the table. The $900 itself isn't crazy, that's maybe 90 jars at $10 each over a month, which is doable if she's got a good spot or a lot of regulars. But what people leave out is the cost of fruit, sugar, jars, and labels, plus all the hours standing over a stove. She might be clearing way less than $900 when it's all said and done. So yeah it can be real, but it's probably not as easy or as clean as it sounds.