I caught the cake bug a couple of months ago. My son's first birthday was approaching and I wanted a great cake as the centrepiece for the party. I contacted the bakery who did my wedding cake looking for a quote. She quoted $150. There was no way I was paying that for a cake. So, I set out to make it myself. Well, 2 weeks of work, one wilton class and $300 later, I made that cake and it was fabulous.

BOY, did I learn my lesson! That $150 quote was a bargain! But it was the best thing I ever did. I have found a passion for cake decorating that I never knew existed.

So, on to the point, I have started a little home business (under the table) doing some cakes. I am not really charging for them, but a fwe friends have paid for the supplies. I am in the process of finding space to make the business legal.

I was just contacted by the editor of a local parenting magazine who wants to do a profile of me in her fall edition.

I have 3 months to get myself ready and legal and I have no idea where to start!! I have a name, registered a domain, printed some business cards.

What is the one BEST piece of advice you can give me?

talk to your local authority! In most places you cannot bake out of your own home. I looked into it here in Edmonton... no go. You can bake and sell at farmer's markets, no where else.

You very likely need a seperate kitchen in your own residence or a seperate shop altogether. That is not cheap... so you would probably need a small business loan... likely you need a business plan for that. Your city would also need to approve you for a business in a residential area. You would need to be inspected by the health authority and obtain a business license.

There are alternatives, renting a commercial kitchen (church, other business etc)

Others will be able to share their stories. I havent been able to do it here but plan on setting up a small business once I move back to Sask.

Edited to say: sorry missed the part about you looking for space to make legal... most of what I wrote still applies! Good luck.

Talk to your local health department. They should be able to tell you what your county allows, and doesnt. But most places, to become licensed, you do need to have separate kitchen with two sinks, etc. If you go to www.earlenescakes.com, she has a tab on there that tells you what you actually need to set up a kitchen out of your home to get licensed.
But every state is different in their requirements. So I would suggest starting with the health department first and asking them where to go next. But be sure that if you are printed in this magazine that you ARE licensed because if you are not, you could get paid a visit by the Fine Fairy and that wouldnt be too nice!

Actually, quite a few places will let you run a kitchen out of your home, but the majority make you put in a separate kitchen. I looked into renting a place, but when I figured in the travel time and taking my materials there and the bare minimum I would pay per month, it made a lot more sense to put in a home kitchen. We bought used restaurant equipment , a used fridge and a new stove and all together with the labor and the flooring and everything it has cost us about $4000. It sounds like alot, but like I said, cheaper per month than renting a kitchen. I would talk to your local health inspector (call the dept of agriculture in your area). Mine was really helpful and gave me some ideas of kitchens to call if I wanted to go that route.

HTH!

Danielle

Wow! Thanks. I hadn't really considered setting up a second kitchen in my home. Intersting. We have the space for it. That would be awesome! So much better than lugging my gear all over.

hmmm...something to think about.