I would like to open my own shop or rent a space to really get into my cakes. Since it is not legal in Texas to sell out of your home I need some where to work....plus my small apartment kitchen is too small for me to even do personal cakes. I have been looking for somewhere to rent and nothing has come up. Should I look for a space to convert or just try and work at a local bakery for now??? This kind of bums me out but I dont know what else do do....any ideas???

IMO, I would work in a bakery and try to take in everything dealing with the codes and regulations to give you an idea of the start up cost. Take notes of all overhead cost, sometimes it is hard to understand everything involved so take lots of notes and keep in mind that a new buisness will have to deal with new regulations that maybe the existing bakery didn't have too. Check if you can on the power bills and write down your questions and that way you won't forget to ask, HTH

I think working for a bakery wouldn't be a bad idea. But you can also bug others on cakecentral with your questions. So many people here already have their business and willing to share some details. I try to get all my information here. Very friendly community.

Hey SweetTooth88, I'm in Austin and having the same problem to a degree...I have a kid and have to work full time to pay the bills, so trying to even find TIME to find commercial space is a pain, LOL. A family friend who is a personal chef in Corpus Christi recommended checking in with your local churches and seeing if they have a kitchen that you could rent for cheap or maybe strike up a deal with, say, they let you use the kitchen and you provide your cakes for certain church functions at a discount or for free. I haven't gotten around to doing it myself, but my church around the corner from my apartment has a commercial grade kitchen and I plan on checking it out when I get a chance. After I get my DBA, my food license, etc. Argh...so much to do for such a simple dream!