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Jackdough
Breadwinner Academy · Cohort 14

The 8-week cohort that turns home bakers into profitable micro-bakers.

Most baking courses stop at the recipe. Breadwinner Academy picks up where the cooling rack ends — cottage food licensing, real costing, pricing that doesn't undercharge your time, and the first 50 customers. Eight weeks. One cohort. A bakery that legally earns.

Enroll in the Next Cohort

No credit card required for the free Profit Roadmap · 11,400+ bakers enrolled across 47 countries

  • Built with a former FDA cottage food inspector
  • State-by-state law guidance refreshed every 90 days
  • Average student reports first $1,000 revenue month within 5.2 weeks
Founder Jack Marlow shaping dough in his Nashville home kitchen
Jack Marlow, founder — in his Nashville kitchen, where he ran a $380k/year home bakery from 2017 to 2021.
The Curriculum

The Breadwinner Curriculum — 8 weeks, 6 modules, one profit-ready home bakery.

Every week builds toward one milestone: a legally operating bakery that books its first paying order before the cohort closes. The program is structured like a printed course catalog — each module opens with a reading, a working session, and a deliverable you can show a health inspector or a farmer's market manager.

  1. Week 1

    The Bakery Audit & Your State Law Map

    Before you bake a single loaf for sale, you know exactly what your state allows. We open with a 90-minute workshop led by our former FDA cottage food inspector walking through all 50 states' cottage food laws (last audit January 2026), then a personal audit of your kitchen, equipment, and insurance gaps. Deliverable: a one-page "Legal-to-Bake-In" certificate and a customized state-law PDF for your county.

    Deliverable · State Law Map + Kitchen Audit PDF
  2. Weeks 2–3

    Recipe Engineering & Dough Yield Costing

    Recipes don't scale — formulas do. You'll rebuild three of your best sellers as baker's-percent formulas, run them through our proprietary Dough Yield Calculator (412,000 recipes costed and counting), and learn the difference between food cost, labor cost, and the price you actually need to charge. Deliverable: a fully costed menu of 6 SKUs ready for sale.

    Deliverable · 6-SKU Costed Menu
  3. Weeks 4–5

    Licensing, Insurance & The Cottage Food Application

    Module co-developed with our ex-IL Department of Public Health inspector. Step-by-step walkthrough of the cottage food license application in your state, food handler's permit, business entity selection (LLC vs. sole prop), and home-bakery insurance vetted by a carrier that covers 49 states. Deliverable: a completed, ready-to-mail application packet. 97% of graduates who applied after this module reported approval on first attempt.

    Deliverable · Completed License Packet
  4. Week 6

    Pricing, Wholesale Math & The First 50 Orders

    How to price a loaf so you're not paying customers to eat your bread. We cover direct-to-consumer pricing, farmers' market margins, wholesale math for cafés (the 3x rule), subscription boxes, and pre-orders. Then we build your first 50-order plan: channels, posting cadence, and a simple spreadsheet tracker. Deliverable: a one-page Pricing Sheet and a 50-Customer Acquisition Plan.

    Deliverable · Pricing Sheet + 50-Customer Plan

Weeks 7 and 8 cover sales channels, customer service, and the cohort's live "First Bake Day" where every enrolled baker ships or delivers their first paid order inside the cohort. Full syllabus is sent the day you enroll.

By the Numbers

Real bakers. Real revenue. Self-reported, 2,847 respondents strong.

Survey results from the Q4 2025 Breadwinner Academy graduate panel. All figures self-reported; no income is guaranteed and your results will vary by state, market, and time invested.

$3,400 /mo

Average student revenue within 90 days of program completion (n=2,100, self-reported).

5.2 weeks

Average time from enrollment to first $1,000 revenue month, across 2,847 Q4 2025 survey respondents.

73%

Graduation rate on the Breadwinner Academy flagship — across 11,400+ active student-bakers.

97.4%

Refund-free satisfaction across the last six cohort launches — TrustPilot-verified, the highest in the culinary-ed category.

IACP Award · Best Digital Baking Resource 2025 Featured in The New York Times · March 2024 Food & Wine · Best Online Cooking Classes 2024, 2025 HomeBaker Digest · Best Baking Course 2023, 2024, 2025
A note from the founder

"I built Jackdough because I wasted four years baking brilliant bread and losing money on every loaf. The day I learned to cost a formula, license my kitchen, and price for my time, the bakery started paying for itself — and eventually paid for this whole school. Breadwinner Academy is the eight weeks I wish someone had handed me in 2017."

Jack Marlow Founder · Ex-McCrady's apprentice · Ran a $380k/yr home bakery from his Nashville kitchen, 2017–2021 · Appeared on 47 baking podcasts including the Bake or Break Show
An honest fit check

This cohort is a fit. And here is who it is NOT for.

We'd rather you save $497 than feel sold-to. Here's the plain-spoken version of who Breadwinner Academy was built for, and who should wait — or skip it entirely.

This is for you if…

  • You already bake — sourdough, pastries, cakes — and people keep asking if you sell.
  • You've sold a few loaves or cakes under-the-table and want to do it legally.
  • You're in a US, UK, or Canadian jurisdiction with a cottage food or home-based food law (we'll tell you in week one if yours isn't).
  • You can commit 4–6 hours per week for 8 weeks — live workshops are Tuesdays at 7pm CT.
  • You want a real business — not a hobby with a Squarespace link.

This is NOT for you if…

  • You haven't baked a single loaf and are looking for a recipe-first course. Start with our free Friday Dough newsletter and come back when the bread is leaving your kitchen unsolicited.
  • You're expecting to replace a full-time salary in 30 days. Average student revenue is $3,400/month within 90 days — that's real, but it isn't a salary swap in a month.
  • You need a commercial kitchen today. Breadwinner Academy is for legal home-based bakers under cottage food frameworks — not for someone opening a brick-and-mortar storefront.
  • You want income guarantees. We don't promise specific numbers — we publish averages from self-reported surveys. Your state, your market, your hustle.
  • You can't do the live workshops. The cohort runs once. If the schedule is wrong, the next cohort opens in approximately 10 weeks.
Enroll · Cohort 14

Three ways to enroll. Pick the one that fits your kitchen.

Same curriculum, same cohort, same community. The payment plan only changes when your card is charged — never what you get. Cohort 14 runs Tuesday, March 3 – Tuesday, April 28, 2026. Live workshops Tuesdays at 7pm Central; replays posted within 24 hours.

Pay in Full

Most chosen
$497 one-time
  • Full 8-week cohort · all 6 modules
  • State-by-state cottage law guidance (all 50 states, refreshed quarterly)
  • Dough Yield Calculator — lifetime access
  • 11,400-baker private community
  • Live workshops + replays
  • 97.4% refund-free satisfaction, last 6 launches
Enroll in the Next Cohort

Best value. Saves $51 vs. the 6-pay plan.

2-Pay Installment

Spread it
$274 × 2 monthly
  • Everything in the Pay-in-Full plan
  • $548 total — paid across 2 months
  • First charge today, second in 30 days
  • No credit check, no interest
Start 2-Pay Plan

For bakers who'd rather not charge the full $497 in one week.

6-Pay Installment

Lowest monthly
$91 /month · 6 months
  • Everything in the Pay-in-Full plan
  • $548 total — paid across 6 months
  • Auto-billed monthly, cancel anytime after month 6
  • No credit check, no interest
Start 6-Pay Plan

For bakers who want the lowest possible monthly hit.

What's included in every plan

  • 8 weeks of live cohort workshops (Tuesdays 7pm CT)
  • All 6 modules — recipes, costing templates, law maps
  • Personal state-by-state cottage food law review
  • Lifetime access to the Dough Yield Calculator
  • Private community of 11,400+ home bakers
  • Direct access to 8 contracted baking mentors (registered dietitians, food scientists, certified master bakers)
  • Final "First Bake Day" — every baker ships or delivers their first paid order inside the cohort

Cohort 14 schedule

  • Opens: Tuesday, February 17, 2026 — early onboarding & state-law audit
  • Starts: Tuesday, March 3, 2026
  • Live workshops: Tuesdays, 7:00pm Central
  • Closes: Tuesday, April 28, 2026 — First Bake Day
  • Capacity: Capped at 240 bakers per cohort to keep workshop ratios tight

Refund policy

Full refund within the first 14 days, no questions asked. After week 2, we offer prorated refunds on a case-by-case basis through week 4. The 97.4% refund-free satisfaction rate across the last six launches is verified through TrustPilot reviews — meaning fewer than 3 in 100 bakers have asked for their money back.

Not ready for the cohort yet? Start with the free Cottage Bakery Profit Roadmap mini-course — 5 emails over 7 days, no credit card.