At age 16, Aria Burnside could already list "professional baker,” “small business owner,” and “high-achieving student” on her resume as co-owner and chief operating officer of Aria’s Cookies & Confections.
Two years earlier, however, starting a bakery was far from Burnside’s mind. In fact, at the outset of high school, the Edwardsville resident says she struggled with behavioral problems, which led her mother, Charmian Aaron, to enroll her in online home-schooling instead. Not only did Burnside’s GPA improve, but she also discovered a new talent: baking.
“After I [started] home-school, I was always at home, so I just started baking,” Burnside says. “When my mom got home from work, I would be like, ‘Here, taste this.’ I started giving it to people at my church, and they encouraged me to start selling it.”
The mother-daughter duo decided to launch a business. Today, Aria’s offers cookies, cupcakes and cheesecake with prices ranging from $15 to $25. The menu is always evolving as Burnside perfects new recipes and treats originating as custom orders sometimes make their way onto the menu. This is the case for Aaron’s new favorite, which is set to appear on the menu soon.
“It’s not actually a cupcake—it’s more of a mini cheesecake,” Aaron says of the new treat. “It doesn’t have a name yet, but it’s really good. It’s like a vanilla wafer crust with a banana cheesecake on top. Then it's topped with homemade whip cream and a Chessman cookie.”
Burnside's personal favorite is the Pretty Please with a Cherry on Top cheesecake—two treats in one, adorned with cherry pie filling. She also recommends the Strawberry Heaven cupcake, with strawberry cake, strawberry icing, and a fresh strawberry on top. And the Better Than Doubletree cookies put the “cookies” in Aria’s Cookies & Confections.
Patrons must order online at least two days in advance, and Aria's currently offers delivery within a 25-mile radius, spanning both sides of the river. Burnside will also be at the Edwardsville Route 66 Festival this Saturday, June 12. And Burnside is already setting her sights on a new goal: a brick-and-mortar space.
Three Important Lessons For Young Entrepreneurs
Burnside and Aaron offer expert insights for starting a small business
- Know local business laws. For many home bakers, cottage food laws help home bakers turn their hobby into a business by allowing food and drink (with certain exceptions) to be made in home kitchens. Missouri state law does not require a specific food handler certification or business license, but local governments may have their own requirements. Sales must be made directly to the customer, with online sales being prohibited. As Burnside and Aaron quickly learned, Illinois’ cottage food law is more complicated. It requires a cottage business to be registered with its county health department and follow respective rules and regulations for certifications and testing. It only allows cottage business owners to sell at farmers’ markets. Because of this, some local governments in Illinois adopted the Home Kitchen Act, also known as the “Cupcake Law,” an ordinance that permits businesses to prepare select food and drink in their home kitchens to be sold directly to customers outside the limited farmers’ market setting.
- Reach out to local resources. Burnside and Aaron reached out to the SIUE Small Business Development Center for expert advice in starting their business. “The Small Business Development Center has been the biggest help,” Aaron says, "because it’s free and they know what they’re talking about." Aaron learned that Edwardsville didn't adopt this ordinance, and because she and Burnside didn't want to limit clientele to farmers’ markets, they needed to use a commercial kitchen. “Thankfully, our church, which is right next door to our house, also used to sell food, so we have a commercial kitchen,” Aaron says. "It just worked out.” As the baker, Burnside had to do online ServSafe training and the corresponding test. They created a limited liability company through the Illinois Secretary of State, which required a fee, and obtained a county business license. By November 2020, the LLC was approved, and Aria’s Cookies & Confections was officially a business.
- Build a support network. It wasn't until Aaron took to Facebook to tell her daughter’s story that the seed for a baking business was planted. “I just felt the need to share her story,” Aaron says. “I typed out the whole story in the ‘Edwardsville Area Moms’ group, just to encourage other parents who might have kids who were struggling in school. All those moms went to her Facebook page and liked her Facebook page, and then everybody started ordering.” Burnside realizes she couldn't have been as successful without a support system. “Make sure you have people who can help you and who support your dream,” she says. “They can keep encouraging you to keep going when you don’t feel like you want to anymore. It definitely helped me to have people that were like ‘You’re doing so good’ to help me and motivate me to keep going.”
June 09, 2021 at 10:29PM
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Edwardsville teenager launches Aria's Cookies & Confections - St. Louis Magazine
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