I want to start a business but I need a commercial kitchen for my state. How did you start off? Did you rent a commercial kitchen? Did you do cakes under the table?

No, you do not do cakes under the table. You do whatever it is that your state tells you to do to be legal. Feeding the public is serious business.

I'm one of those people who did get caught. I threw $ at my kitchen to get it to a place where it would pass inspection.

I gave away cakes for 4 years, took a fair number of decorating classes and then went to pastry school and interned/worked in 3 different commercial kitchens. Then I wrote a business plan and rented space for 14 months until I purchased an industrial condo. Now I am building a kitchen and starting to do some more intensive marketing. I can still use the rental kitchen if I need to until my kitchen is finished. Until I had licensing and insurance I did not sell cakes. No "under the table" for me--not worth the stress of the potential fines.