Hi everyone!

I know these kinds of questions are becoming monotonous, but Im hoping my different approach to this will ease a little irritation of repetitiveness. So, please bear with me, and if this gets long, my apologies. I do talk a lot. Lol. So heres my issue:

A little background info:

We recently moved near my in laws, because DH is in the Army and is deploying in August. All of my in laws know I like to do cakes. And there is A LOT of them. Lol. So, since Ive been here, they have been asking me to do cakes for them when they need them. Ive only done it for family, and they have been giving me a little cash to cover the costs (I know its wrong, but Im strictly doing it for family, and have informed them that it is illegal, and they cant spread the word). However, the little money I have been receiving is NOT covering costs. And its actually been costing DH and I quite a bit. And then theres the other problem that sort of goes like this:

In law Bob asks me to make a cake for a party or an event for him.
I say sure and do the cake.
Bobs friend Fred really likes the cake, and asks if I can make one for him. Of course, I decline, because Im only doing this for family.
Then, Fred tells his, say sister and shows her pictures from the event. Then his sister wants a cake, which again I have to decline.
And so on.

This has been happening a lot lately, and weve only been here for a little over a month. If I was running a business, I wouldnt need any advertising at all with as many friends of friends of family have been asking about me.

Now heres the real problem: I know Im not the best at this stuff, but I am getting better. I havent posted any recent pictures of cakes I have done, but to me, it seems like all this practice is paying off. While I fully intended to get better before I try to take the next step, the number of requests I have gotten have made me consider the option of going legal. I can handle the business side of it all. Ill have my business associates this fall, accounting in the spring, and before the year is over, Ill be working on my business bachelors. This is not to mention that Ive had a event planning business before, and business actually happens to be a big interest to me, so I do a lot of research during my leisure time (weird, I know. Lol).

So all that is good. Now the part I am having trouble with is the financial part. We are not broke. We can afford to pay our bills, but we definitely are not well off enough to drop such a large amount of money at one time. Friends and family are out of the question. My family is all broke, and the only person we know that could afford it is my FIL, but my husband wouldnt think to ask him for something like that.

I researched looking into loans and stuff like that, but they all want you to have great credit. Both mine and DHs credit has been severely damaged from previous marriages (only one each, lol). I thought about renting a kitchen, but the only ones Ive found in this area are quite expensive. One asked for $100 a day. And starting out, I dont think that would be feasible.

So, after that long preamble, lol, I guess what Im asking is if anyone knows of a way to get help with start up costs even if credit is much less than desirable? Im not looking to go all out bakery. I just want something small to begin with. But, I know that even for something small, the cost will definitely not be.

Im also considering reopening the event planning business, and if I could combine the two, Id be really happy. Lol. Not to mention, I think each would compliment the other in generating business.

Does anyone have any advice/suggestions/ideas? This is not something Im thinking I have to do right this second. But, I was definitely hoping, if things keep going the way they are, to have something in the works by next year.

Thank you very much in advance!