Hi everyone, I live in Miami and I have been making cakes for family and friends to gain more experience. I have also been doing some research on renting out kitchens, but have not had that much luck. I read an article where they talked about renting kitchens and one suggestion was to check with your church since most of them have full kitchens. A friend suggested checking with the local culinary schools to see what their guidelines are in regard to renting out kitchen space for a couple of hours.

redvelvet~ That is great information. The room has an outside entrance and is seperated by a door from the rest of the house. But, when you say bathroom, do you mean a toilet too? That could be a problem. Water is no problem and it already has electricity. I even thought about having like one of those metal buildings built and make it my "bakery". That would be awesome to have something like that right out my own back door!

I just wanted to know if it was possible, without getting my hopes, I'm excited to find all this out! Thank you!

I am in Tampa and licensed so maybe I can help some. If you have a home based business it must have a separate entrance from the home, a bathroom of its own (toilet and sink) as well as being zoned for business. Most of the subdivisions covenant don't allow a business in the area. Some counties require a hood be installed in the area and also a grease trap. All is governed by the Dept. of Agriculture and if you call them they can give some info that you may require or go to myflorida.com and download the business license request form. When you get licensed there is the license application to fill out and they will have a lot of needed information.
As far as insurance is concerned, call the Hartford Insurance. I have 1 million in liability for 240.00 a year. You will also probably have to get an occupational license, at least you have to in Tampa.
evelyn

cakegrandma~ thanks, good information. I wondered about the zoning. My mom doesn't live in a subdivision, so I'll have to check and I think my house is zoned agricultural. I plan on calling as soon as I can get my questions together and have time to. Thank you!

Thanks for the info, I did not check this out completely yet, but as for the zoning, I was told that it was not an issue if I did not have customers coming to the house. I plan to deliver my goods to other sites and by internet sales, so there will be no traffic to my home. In addition, I do have another property that is zoned commercial that I can use, but it is 20 miles form my home. It would be so much more convenient if I could do it where I live, but you have to do what you have to do to get going!!!

I live in Oviedo and am working on my decorating skills, but want to make it into a business as I get such great compliments on the cakes that I have already done. I know that I will have to rent a kitchen and get licensed and take a food handling course. I have starting doing the research needed to start working towards having a business. I'm glad that I found this discussion, because it has helped alot.

I was by an cake decorating instructor that they are working on a cottage law here in Florida so we can bake from home. I so hope it passes. That would make things so much easier on alot of people who love to bake and decorate cakes here in
Florida. I just wish I could find more information out on it and see about contacting my politicians about it. Does any know anything about this?

Well I just did a quick search on the legislation and found the following article (from last month) on it. Here's a quote:

"Florida is not among the 24 states that have "Cottage Laws," which allow citizens to operate home bakeries or food processing operations. In February, State Senator Carey Baker, R-Eustis, introduced the "Florida Food Freedom Act" but after lengthy discussions with Charles H. Bronson, commissioner of the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, the bill was never heard by the state legislature."

You can read the whole article here:
http://mobile.orlandosentinel.com/inf/infomo?view=lifestyle_item&feed:a=sentinel_5min&feed:c=lifestyle&feed:i=54292434&nopaging=1

Edit: of course this is not talking about having a separate kitchen area as everyone has discussed previously.

would someone please share where they are getting insurance from. I only found once place and it was $600 a year which I can not afford.

Thank you

Maria925 - Thanks so much for the additional information. I hope we can get this issued added to the next legislative session if everyone starts contacting their state reps.

i pay close to $600 a year for my insurance, my bil had to argue with the company because they didnt want to insure a less then 3 year established business (he sells insurance) i also didnt have to pay it all up front, i make paynet every couple of months

Jen, there is a good commissary in Oviedo that u might want to check into, she will let u sigsn up for as little as 4 hours a week.

Yes, that is the one. She gives you the paperwork for inspection for your liscense when you sign up, and explains the process to you. It is a wise choise to wait until you are closer to meeting the regs before you start paying for space. I have signed up twice and not followed through yet, so that is just lost money!!

I live in Largo Florida and I am trying to get all Florida Bakers to help get the Cottage Food Act passed. This bill allows us to bake and sell from home. There are approximately 13 states that have this act. If you want to help get this Bill passed please write to your State Representative requesting their help to get the bill passed.

I just sent a letter to 10 representative of Pinellas county. If you would like to send a letter via email or snail mail I have two letters you can use just change my information and put yours. One letter is for you to send and the other for your family and friends to send. PM me if you would like the letters, I cannot upload the letter because they are too large for the forum.

My first letter went to our Congressman and he forwarded it to the correct representative. He sent me a letter stating he forwarded my letter to the appropriate representative. I am going to email Charlie Crist too, hey what do you have to lose, your not hurting anyone just expressing a need in Florida.

Hope all of you that live in Florida participate to help get this bill passed. Fill free to PM me for the letters.

I'm so glad to have found this post I too am from SW Florida, the area where the foreclosures/recession has hit the most but anyway, please add me as your buddy, I've made cakes off and on for about 10 years and I'm hoping to do it full time and for profit. I've already sent out my cottage bill letter too, so I'm on the ball with that. Hope to make more friends on here also. Have a great weekend!