Pops redux

Ok, I think I'm finally done with cake pops.
After spending pretty much every free minute learning how to make the things last winter, I had decided that there was just no way to charge enough for them. To do the really cute ones, you have to spend a lot of painstaking time getting the tiny bunny features just right. That's a lot more fine work than you'd have on a cake or a torte. Yet somehow, the size of the cake pop makes it hard to come up with a reasonable charge.
To make it worthwhile, each pop needs to cost at the bare minimum, a dollar. I've seen big slices of cake go for $4 in a coffee shop. If you crumbled those slices, you would not get 4 cake pops. Yet when I look at a little cake pop on a stick--well, it seems like $1 is a lot to ask for basically two bites of cake. I guess this is just the "super size" mentality.
So I put them away. Then I saw that Starbucks now sells cake pops for $1.50 each, and there's nothing fancy about them. They are just round orbs in a colored chocolate shell with sprinkles. "Are these selling?" I asked the woman at the counter. "Oh yes, very well!" she replied.
So maybe...
But then, two local coffee shops would not be enough. I'd need to develop some kind of online ordering. And wouldn't that involve shipping?
From what I've read at other blogs, shipping is a cake pop problem. First, you have to come up with a way to pack them that won't jostle off your cute decorations. Sadly, there is no ready-made cake pop packing box.
And then there's the weather. Most sites that sell them recommend freezing them and sending them next-day air to avoid them melting in the box. That means the customer would pay a HUGE shipping fee on top of the already high cake pops themselves. Given the way things have been going, are there enough people out there who have the money for this kind of thing?
So I'm back into the research again.
Then I notice that to sell any kind of food, Kansas law requires you use a state-approved kitchen and it cannot be the same kitchen you use for your own family.
In my case that would mean renting out someone else's approved kitchen. All before a single cake pop has been sold.
Ok, I accept it. There's no way to make money at this--at least not right away. Which is reasonable, I guess. Most small businesses don't make any money at first. Some never make any money at all.
So the plan would have to be: Put some pops out at volunteer things for free, and give out some cards and donate a bunch to get your name going. Then parlay that word of mouth into advanced orders.
And so round and round I go. On one side, solving the problem is fun and so is making the pops. On the other: I just don't have money or more time to risk getting myself out there.
There has to be a better way...