Hello all,

I need some advice. I've been trying to find a reasonable priced deal for using a commercial kitchen to really advertise my cakes since it's not legal to do them in the home here in Florida.

I recently saw an ad for use of a restaurant kitchen and called because the price listed was unbelievable! I called and spoke with the lady who owns it and she said that it's $17 / hr, no rent or lease, just use it as you need it. I thought this was a great idea for me just starting out, but when I estimated hours it would take to do a wedding cake, it really adds up! Just 5 hours is almost $100.00 that's taking away from my profit so I need to know if you think this is a good or bad deal starting out?

I am new here, as in this is my first post, but I wanted to say "Hi, Neighbor!!". As I was checking your post I saw that you were in Florida and Middleburg to boot, I grew up there. Right now I am barely even starting to make cakes, let alone attempting to do them for other people, but if I continue to enjoy it I have thoughts of starting my own business here in Yulee. I'll be keeping an eye on this thread to see what responses you get!!

Hi Neighbor! I actually grew up in Jacksonville but recenly moved to Middleburg in July of 07. I enjoy cake decorating, I've been doing it since 02. I really would like to have my own business (bakery) one day, but i gotta start some where. I want to be able to sell freely (legally) and not under the radar. I hope I can get some insight on this. I've learned so much from this site.

Well my thought is look at all of your expenses including the rental, and how much you can charge in your area for a cake. If ingredients alone are $100 for a wedding cake, and rental time will cost you another $100, that's a $200 cost for a cake.

Now, if that cake is to feed 150 people, and you can charge $3.00 a slice in your area, that's $450 per cake.

Let's say the cake takes 5 hours to make, another 2 hours to deliver/ set up, and an hour to meet for a tasting, you have spent about 8 hours on this cake.

Your profit is $250, divided by the 8 hours you spent on the cake. That gives you over $30 an hour pay if I factored correctly. Of course you have to look at other expenses (gas, tools, etc).

Katie

I'd jump all over $17/hr for kitchen space, personally! Katie's right...Even factoring generously, you still end up with a decent hourly rate and profit. Just make sure your charge for cakes cover your expenses as well as provide you enough profit.

Thanks for all your responses. I knew I would have to charge more if I do this. I currently charge $2.50 per serving. I will definitely have to manage my time. Thanks again!

First, congrats on finding a place to take your biz to the next level!!

A couple of thoughts to help you thru this..... $17/hour as you need it is WAY cheaper than coming up with $25,000-$75,000 (or more?) to open your own kitchen. $17/hour as you need it is also cheaper than what I have to do, which is pay the whole monthly rent whether I have a cake order or not.

Hope this helps you see what an opportunity you've come across!

Sounds like a reasonable amount to pay. Don't really think you will find it much cheaper unless you can get someone to agree to a monthly rent.

Just factor in your expenses and keep in mind that prices for everything is going up across the board.

You may just want to focus on cake orders that will actually make you a profit verses the small dollar orders to keep from just breaking even on an order.