Good luck! I'm sure you will do fine!!! 
i'm in virginia too. just got the packets not to long ago for licensing my home. any tips? I'm a little nervous to take the leap. Did you just get the packets from dept. of agriculture? sorry for all the questions. just would be nice to hear from someone out here who has done it =) And congrats on passing
Thanks Becky. Are you also located here in Virginia? if so where? Yes I'm excited about having the packet but at the same time nervous to really do anything with it. let me know how things go for you. Glad you like the teddy and roses cake (its my favorite to date too) .
I'm in Prince William County, Haymarket to be exact. keep me posted on your progress Thanks guys - I wish you both the best as well!
The packet really spells it all out in terms of what they look for. You'll have to submit all of the recipes you plan to sell, both by ingredients, and in process flow (in extreme detail!). You have to tell them where you buy your ingredients (supermarket/farmer's market/direct from farm, etc.), the water test unless you're on public water, then you need to make labels for each product (this was the most time consuming part for me) - in descending order by weight. All of this gets submitted in duplicate, along with a duplicate copy of a drawing/sketch of your kitchen and storage facility.
I sent my packet in and heard from the inspector to set up an appointment for the inspection within two weeks, I believe.
The inspector looked to be sure it was clean, that the water ran hot, that I had thermometers in each fridge/freezer, that I had my dry goods stored properly (not on the floor/in food safe containers). He had a laptop and wireless printer with him and wrote up the inspection report while he was here. It was easy!
I just met with a CPA yesterday to set up my LLC and set up as an S Corp. I'm really excited about this, but must say, not looking forward to the expanded paperwork with the monthly and quarterly sales tax reports. I need to find a way to get REALLY organized with it all so it's not a big deal each month/quarter.
just reading all of that got me tired. sounds like alot of work. but i'm sure well worth it. its funny cause the packets i got were emailed to me and they didn't have that much information in them. i'm wondering if i got the right stuff. who did you contact for the packets at the dept. of agriculture? I can't wait to hear how it goes for both of you. I wish all I had to do was organizing. i love organizing its everything else that intimidates me!
I am from VA too, I am going to eventually be sending for paperwork and all of that. I have to wait at least another year. I am trying to move into a bigger house. Not enough room to do what I want now. I will have to write your names down so I can contact you with questions-- if that is ok-- I am in Spotsylvania. Congrats and good luck to you all.
I need to find a way to get REALLY organized with it all so it's not a big deal each month/quarter.
Cake Boss 2010 will keep track of all your orders, expenses, etc. and all you do is click what dates you'd like your report between (For instance Jan1,2010 through June1,2010) and then click "report" and it gives you an instant sales tax report......easy as could be.
I just entered Jan 1,2009 to Dec. 31,2009 and it printed out every customer I had an order from, the total amount of all their orders, my expenses, how much I charged, and my profit for the year (I give this to my tax guy so I can claim the extra income with my regular taxes) I couldn't imagine having to figure up that info. by myself!!
Thank you KHalstead, I've been wondering if Cake Boss was worth the $$. It seems like it is - it's hard to spend all this $ in the beginning when I know I'm not going to have very much coming in in the first year (or two!), but once it's all set up I know it will make it all that much easier. Thanks for the review - I've been wondering if users of that product were finding it works well.
I honestly could NOT operate without it!!! It does all the figuring for you.......another thing I love is that it keeps track of everything year after year too.......if I click on the calendar it will show me anniversary dates for past brides (I send them $ store greeting cards and 9 times out of 10 they order another cake)........not to mention having your orders all arranged by date at a glance.......and it has a dashboard that just shows the orders coming up in the next 7 days and if you click "shopping list" it will let you print a list showing EVERYTHING you need to make all the recipes necessary for those orders! The thing is worth it's weight in gold!
I'm sold! It sounds great! (You should get commission! lol) I also didn't realize that the $149 is a one time only fee with fee updates...easier to justify!....like you said - if you can re-sell a couple on another cake with the one year anniversary card, you pay that fee back pretty quickly!
oh it's paid for itself time and time again..................you know I've actually forgotten about 2 cakes before..........went to Cake Boss to see what I had going for the week and was like.....what is this??????? Opened up the orders, 1 of them I totally didn't remember anythign about it and thought it was a mistake (like I put the wrong date or something and it was suppose to be a quote?) I called the lady to "confirm delivery" and she went on and on about how busy she's been and hasn't contacted me and how impressed she was that I was "on the ball" since she'd ordered the cake almost a full year ago!!! I literally thanked God and then Cake Boss LOL The other order, once I opened it and read the notes I remembered taking the order but didn't remember to write it down anywhere else, so if I didn't have Cake Boss I would have had 2 angry customers I am sure!!
The one lady that ordered almost a year in advance is a HUGE spender too. She gets INTO the whole planning of parties and contacts me months and months ahead of time just to make sure I'm available because she loves my chocolate cake! That was the first time she ordered and I'm sure would have been her last had I forgotten about her order!
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