Well I am moving back to San Jose next month and realize how pricy everything is down there. I myself am intedrested in opening up a place but just thinking about the cost of having it is outrageous. I think that no matter where your at, people will always look or follow you if they like what you have to offer. So if you've been doing this for a while this may just be right for you. Alslo, being that you in a industrial zone might bring more people around, I know of a hole in the wall bakery who's in an area like the one your describing and they sell everyhting they make by 2pm they close just like a donut shop. So give it a try or search around I'm pretty sure you'll find just what your looking for maybe in a different area. If you believe in prayer, pray about it God opens doors. Have faith don't rush His timing is perfect.

I want to thank everyone who posted to this thread. It has helped me make a decision. Because of the illegaility of baking from home in California I do not have clients at this time, so buying the building was too much of a leap of faith, especially since mostly no one else works out of this kind of space. Yesterday I met with the chef I worked for as an extern and we have worked out most of an agreement for me to rent space in her bakery/kitchen on a monthly basis. She has a large kitchen with a walk-in refrigerator and enough room for both of us to store supplies and even to work at the same time. We get along well and can help each other out if we get crunched. We are direct competitiors (we both will be doing special orders only), but we have very different styles and actually our targeted client bases are over 50 miles apart, so it should be OK. Oddly enough, neither one of us is very worried about this. I have to drive 45 minutes each way, but it will allow me to build up clientele before I spend a fortune to be closer to home. This will be fairly quick to set up too. No waiting while I build an expensive kitchen.

I should have my licensing complete by next week or so. The health department said that since I will be working out of a licensed facility if I bring in the proper paperwork and a check next Wednesday AM, I can most likely walk out with my permit I should be able to get my business license and insurance pretty quickly.

I feel a lot less stress about this much-less-intense start, so I think this is a good way for me to go at this time. Spending the money for my own place will still be there when I am ready. Thanks to all of you for your support.

Congratulations! That's wonderful - I'm so glad you were able to figure something out and you are so smart for going about it this way. I wish you all the luck and hope you are a success!

Tammi

I haven't read the entire thread yet, but I have to warn you if you are thinking of borrowing ANY of the money from the bank, banks aren't lending right now. The business has no debt, we have a ton of equity in our house, and we have had a good 300-500% increase in sales every year for the last three years and making a pretty decent profit. Our credit scores are beyond excellent. We only wanted to borrow 10K. (with over 100K in equity on the house!) The banks said no. We spoke to our accountant and our accountant told us story after story of some of his clients (and he is even on the board of a bank!) that can't get any loans. A few years back, even as much as a year back, you could get a loan with no income verification....not any more. Its a different story out there. And a lot of banks are now pulling equity lines, even after approval. I would make sure you have a letter of credit that is secure before you commit to anything, or maybe even the loan in the bank. Or just use cash on hand. I personally think you are crazy to use your retirment, as the housing market right now, equity doesn't mean sqat!

Just Fabulous in San Diego is in an industrial park. Grand Ave. Chocolates in Concord, CA is in an industrial park.

Several successful bakers are in industrial locations... and in fact, as soon as I relocate at the end of the year, that's what I'm going to be looking into as well.

(Isn't Duff in an industrial area too?)

I beleive Duff is in a residental area, as his bakery is an old church that he renovated.