I've spent the last few hours on here going through topics and I can't seem to find what I'm looking for. So I thought I'd post and see if ya'll could help. I live in a little town about an hour 1/2 east of Dallas. There are no real cake shops in town and the closest one is about 30 minutes east of us. Now we have a walmart, super 1 and brookshires and than 2 catering places but not a single cake shop. So my mom, sister and I are planning on opening one together but so far all we have is a place. We found this small shop that used to be a donut shop and is right on the main street. But that's as far as it goes. I have 5 months to get everything (paper work) filed figured out and whatnot including coming up with a name. My parents own a printing shop in garland so I know some of the papers needed but seeing how it's not in the food industry and a cake shop is I was wondering if anyone had a website or list of papers I needed to file/apply for whatnot. I've been looking online too and I guess I'm not using the right search questions cause I'm searching for "opening a cake shop in texas" and "starting a bakery in texas" and I keep getting other baker's websites. Any and all help would be much apprechiated.

Thanks


***edited to add*** my mom is the REAL decorator in the group, my stuff has always just been for friends & family. My pics do not reflect what will be in the shop. We will also not just be doing cakes, will have cookies, muffins, cupcakes, mini cakes, slices, things like that as there is just nothing around here as far as a desert/sweet shope of any sort.

First thing to do is find out about business licensing and the health dept and what they require for a small food business.You should be able to call your local county/town and get all the zoning restrictions.You also need a solid business plan so that you can know up front start up costs and what you will need to buy for equipment etc.Once you lease or buy a place you will need to know how to get it operational for a cake shop like sinks,ovens etc and the restrictions on all that as well.There is alot of great posts on here but they are difficult to find and they don't all apply to your area so checking the small stuff out first will definetly help.Also PM Indydebi (member) as she owns her own shop and has lots of valuable advice for you about getting started and what to expect etc.You can search for her member name in the search memberlist tab.

First get a name and file with your local county clerk your DBA. Then contact your local health department. Depending on your county will determine if they govern what you will need to open or if the State governs it. You may have to draw buildout plans to submit, if the State governs it this won't be necessary. Basic stuff - 3 sink system, floor/mop sink, hand sink, non pourous (sp?) flooring, floor drain, if you use a stove top you will need a vent-a-hood. In Texas you can use residential equipment for any food establishment, but just understand that residential appliances are not really designed to be used in food establishments, and will void any warranty if it is new. You will have to take a food handling manager's course, which you can do online at learn2serve.com, I think the cost is around $100 for the course and it carries 1/2 college credit if you are interested in that. What county are you in and I can set up some links for you and post them here.

Edited to add....CONGRATS ON THE NEW VENTURE!

Congratulations! I'm also in east texas. I opened my shop April '08 and it was completely destroyed on September 13 due to high winds and rain from hurricane Ike. I'm starting all over from the ground up. If you would like to PM me I will give you all the info you need to help you out.