Chocolate covered strawberries are a preorder business: a box is dipped the day it's picked up or delivered, and the berries won't wait. A dozen costs about $12.43 in strawberries, chocolate, toppings, the box and the card fee and sells for $34; a decorated dozen sells for $47. The rest of the year is birthdays, anniversaries and party platters; then Valentine's Day and Mother's Day bring more boxes in a few days than in a slow month, at higher berry prices. The plan turns on dipping hands for those weeks, delivery on the right day, and the kitchen: fresh strawberries are perishable, which keeps them out of California's cottage food list. The plan below works per box. In the example, a Watsonville strawberry dessert maker starts with $12,700, ends its first year about $36,900 ahead before the owner's pay, and makes about $6,000 a month at full speed. Below is each part of the plan, the first year month by month, the startup budget, and a free template.
The short version
- Describe the business in a paragraph: the boxes, how customers order, where you dip, the goals.
- Cost each box: berries with an allowance for the ones you can't use, chocolate, toppings, the box, the card fee.
- Plan sales by product: dozens, half dozens, decorated dozens, platters.
- Take preorders and dip the day of pickup or delivery.
- Plan Valentine's week and Mother's Day separately: more boxes, dearer berries.
- Fresh strawberries are perishable: plan on a licensed kitchen.
- TaroStack costs each box from its recipe and what each batch used. More below.
Part 1: the business description
Pajaro Valley Sweets, a made-up dessert maker in Watsonville, California, writes:
Pajaro Valley Sweets dips chocolate covered strawberries in a shared commercial kitchen in Watsonville and sells plain and decorated boxes by preorder for pickup and local delivery, and platters for parties and offices. In its first year it aims to reach $15,800 of sales a month.
Part 2: what a box costs
| Item | Strawberries | Chocolate and toppings | Box or platter | Card fee | Cost | Price | Cost share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dozen, plain | $4.71 | $4.20 | $2.50 | $1.02 | $12.43 | $34.00 | 36.6% |
| Half dozen | $2.36 | $2.10 | $1.75 | $0.54 | $6.75 | $18.00 | 37.5% |
| Decorated dozen | $4.71 | $6.00 | $3.50 | $1.41 | $15.62 | $47.00 | 33.2% |
| Party platter of 50 | $19.63 | $18.00 | $8.00 | $4.80 | $50.43 | $160.00 | 31.5% |
Large strawberries at $5 a pound, about 14 to the pound, plus 10% for the soft and cracked ones; half an ounce of chocolate a berry at $8 a pound. Dipping time isn't in the box's cost here; the helper's wages are a fixed cost below. A price that includes the minutes per berry is in how to price chocolate covered strawberries.
Part 3: preorders, the big weeks and the kitchen
Orders close two days ahead; berries are bought the day before, washed and dried, and dipped the morning of pickup or delivery, then held cold until they go out. Valentine's week runs on a preorder cap the owner sets in January, from the number of berries two people can dip in a morning; the berries cost more in February, so those boxes carry their own price. California's cottage food list includes chocolate-covered nonperishable foods, like nuts and dried fruit, but not fresh strawberries, as california cottage food law explains, so the dipping happens in a shared kitchen, found as in how to rent a commercial kitchen.
Part 4: what each product earns
| Product | Price | Variable cost | Contribution | Margin | Units a month at full speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dozen, plain | $34.00 | $12.43 | $21.57 | 63.4% | 200 |
| Half dozen | $18.00 | $6.75 | $11.25 | 62.5% | 150 |
| Decorated dozen | $47.00 | $15.62 | $31.38 | 66.8% | 100 |
| Party platter of 50 | $160.00 | $50.43 | $109.57 | 68.5% | 10 |
At full speed the business sells $15,800 a month and keeps $10,235.20, 64.8%; plain dozens bring $4,314 of it.
Part 5: the first year, month by month
Fixed costs are $4,280 every month: wages for a part-time helper ($2,000), shared kitchen hours ($900), delivery fuel ($400), ads ($300), insurance ($200), cold storage ($150), website and ordering ($80), software ($50), and other costs ($200). Sales start at 35% of full speed:
| Month | Sales | Profit | Cash, year to date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $5,619 | −$637 | −$637 |
| 2 | $6,604 | −$3 | −$640 |
| 3 | $7,767 | $752 | $111 |
| 4 | $8,912 | $1,496 | $1,607 |
| 5 | $9,915 | $2,141 | $3,748 |
| 6 | $11,060 | $2,885 | $6,633 |
| 7 | $12,223 | $3,640 | $10,272 |
| 8 | $13,208 | $4,274 | $14,546 |
| 9 | $14,220 | $4,932 | $19,478 |
| 10 | $15,099 | $5,504 | $24,981 |
| 11 | $15,800 | $5,955 | $30,937 |
| 12 | $15,800 | $5,955 | $36,892 |
The year's sales are $136,227, and the business ends it $36,892 ahead, before the owner's pay. It breaks even at about $6,610 of sales a month, in the third month. The lowest cash point, −$640 in month 2, is covered by the $6,000 of working cash with about $5,400 to spare. The plan spreads the year evenly; in practice February and May carry far more than their share, so set the Valentine's cap early and keep cash for the berries.
Part 6: the startup budget
| Item | Example |
|---|---|
| Chocolate tempering machine | $1,800 |
| Boxes, liners and ribbon, first order | $1,200 |
| Website with preorders and delivery slots | $1,000 |
| Photography and branding | $800 |
| Licenses and permits | $600 |
| Dipping tools, racks and trays | $500 |
| Opening chocolate and toppings | $500 |
| Insulated delivery bags | $300 |
| Working cash | $6,000 |
| Total to start | $12,700 |
The $6,700 before working cash is earned back in about 1 months at full speed. Strawberries straight from a farm are in u pick farm business plan, and another dessert sold in boxes in macaron business plan.
Get the template
Download the chocolate covered strawberries business plan workbook. Four sheets: your products, each with its price, variable cost and units a month at full speed; the first year, month by month, with sales ramping up, profit, cash, the first profitable month, the lowest cash point and whether the working cash covers it; your fixed costs; and the startup budget. It's an ordinary Excel file with no macros, and it works in Google Sheets, LibreOffice and Numbers.
Where this stops working
The plan uses one cost per box. Berry prices change by the week and double in February, a hot day melts a delivery, and how many berries were bought, dipped and thrown out on Valentine's Day is what sets next year's cap.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack costs each box from its recipe and from what each batch used.
Recipes by weight. Each box is a recipe, with unit conversion from the case or sack to the gram.
True cost from the batch. Each batch takes ingredients at their real cost, from the deliveries they came from, so a price rise shows up in the next batch.
Price creep. A price-creep report per supplier shows which ingredient is quietly costing more.
| The job | Notebook | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| What a box costs this week | Last season's sheet | True cost from the batch |
| Berries bought against boxes sold | A guess | Counts and waste by reason |
| An ingredient creeping up | Noticed at tax time | A price-creep report |
| Whether wholesale still pays | A guess | Margins on real cost |
Recipes, batches and true cost are on every plan, from $49 a month. The first 30 days are free, with no credit card. If you'd like a hand setting up, ask, and we'll do it with you.