Why do home start ups fail?

I have been looking for return gifts for Raag's birthday, the ones that I will be giving to the families as a whole when they come to bless Raag on his birthday. I wanted to but some nice cakes and then club them with some chocolates made by me.

I was exploring some home bakers to get the cakes done for me, it's going to be a bulk order of about 60 cakes so I wanted to do it well in advance and also wanted to have a check on the taste and quality. So while I was searching for some home baker, I came across a few in my society itself.

When I reached out to them, I asked them about the flavours they offer, the price and the size of the packs. I also inquired about some photographs they might have clicked of their preparations.

I didn't get a very professional and exciting response from either of them, in fact the kind of response I got just made me change my mind and I decided to order from some well-known bakery brand only.

It made me think about why do small business start ups fail.

1. Lack of Professionalism - I texted for pricing and other details. The message was read almost after 5 hours and the actual reply came to me after 7 hours. Even after reading the message, there was no acknowledgement of my queries. Given the era we live in, we get read receipts, I think it was too unprofessional to ignore the message from your customer.
2. Lack of Enthusiasm - For bulk orders of 60 cakes, a baker should be excited, right? Especially a startup. It would be a chance for you to reach 60 odd families which otherwise would have never known you. But there was no enthusiasm in the response. I didn't receive any cake pack pictures or enough information for me to take a decision in favour of them.
3. Lack of Face Value - Bakery products are sold by their face value, and then comes the taste. A good looking product sells for sure. When I asked for pictures, the kinds I received were so casual, with their bedsheet showing and toys randomly placed. That's not how you should take a picture of the work you do.
4. Lack of Risk-taking capability - If you start a venture, you have to invest. For a bakery business, you have to invest in material, decoration items, packaging. If you don't do that, what do you have to show to your customer, right? If you keep thinking that I will start once I get my first order, it will never come. Investment is an initial and crucial step for sure.

I make chocolates at home and while I won't say I am at the peak but yes, I am glad that I have the above points sorted for myself. If you want to start a business, make sure you do it with full passion and get your hands completely dirty in it.