I have a call into the WI food safety inspector for my area, but I'm sure she won't be getting back to me very quickly.

I'm going to be renting a commercial kitchen of someone I know who owns a catering business for my cake biz. Do I need my own licensing and/or permits? I am starting this is no clue where to go or how to get there, so any insight would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

In most areas, you will need to get a business license from your town/city, and you will need to be inspected separately by the county or state in the commercial kitchen in order to get an inspection certificate.

You will also want to make sure you have liability insurance, and I recommend looking into forming an LLC to protect your personal assets.

I have already formed an LLC, so that's a start! I need to get some insurance, so I'll have to look around and see who to call. Any recommendations? ... I was hoping I'd be covered under the kitchen's license that I'll be renting. Boo....

Most major insurance companies can either offer business liability coverage or refer you to someone who does. I have a policy with Wells Fargo insurance (underwritten by Hartford), others here use State Farm. Premiums are typically in the $200-500 range per year.

I would think that you would be able to bypass the inspections because the commercial kitchen would already be inspected regularly.

Maybe you can read through ads/requirements, etc. in this blog and see if you can find something useful.

http://commercialkitchenrental.wordpress.com/

I read in one of the posts that "Each renter will need to supply references and have liability insurance (or tag onto ours)" so perhaps you can have that option too with the kitchen you're renting.

in WI you do have to get inspected with the commercial you will be renting in order to get the license.

what area of WI are you from?

Anybody have any idea how renting space from a restaurant or kitchen works with getting licensed in florida? I have a friend with a restaurant that I can use, but not sure what trauma this could cause him with the state and I still need my own business license.

I just want to be able to advertise without selling a couple of the kids for the money to get set up!!!!

In most areas you do not need a separate license from the health department if you are working from a kitchen that is already licensed. If it was not licensed then you'd need to get your own license. You, however, cannot use their insurance. Your LLC needs to get it's own.

Awesome. I just have this funny, sinking feeling that the State of Florida will want as much moeny as they can and make the process as difficult as possible!!!!!! I should just move..............LOL

I guess I can try to get a human being at the Dept of Agriculture to find out! Thanks.

Good Luck...sounds like a great opportunity..I would've loved something like that to pop up in my previous search for a kitchen. Like you said..try to get a human being so you can do it all correctly..I'm in CA so I don't have any legit help to offer you..

Hope it all works out for you.

Here in Colorado, it's required to get a seperate license. It's the same exact application, the same fee and the same process as if I were having my own kitchen inspected for the first time. It tends to be a little less involved if it's a kitchen that is licensed, because you can duplicate much of the info from the original application. The application here, and probably many other places as well, includes details about the facility like the rate of water flow from every faucet in the place, a floor plan drawn to scale and all kinds of other little details. The owner will have done all of that already. You will have to submit a menu, maybe some of your recipes and a plan for proper heating and cooling of potentially hazardous foods. You will have to show them where you are storing all of your products. If another renter or the main tenants have any violations, it will have to be corrected in order for you to get your license. I am getting my inspection soon, and have noticed that some of the other renters sometimes leave 50# bags of flour or sugar sitting on the floor. That's a big no-no, everything needs to be elevated at least 4" off the floor. Sharing a space with others can be challenging. Especially when someone claims all of the upper shelves in the reach in cooler, stores dairy and eggs there, and I have to move their stuff in order to put my finished cake in there. (Meats, eggs and dairy cannot be stored above produce or ready to eat/finished products) Sorry, that last part was a mini-rant.

There's so much to think of!! At my house, I just make sure the kitchen is clean, the kid stays out of the way and do my thing!! Haven't had a single customer drop off a chair yet!!!!!! LOL

Oh, well, by the time I'm done, I'll be able to join the circus as a professional hoop jumper!

That's a huge help! Thanks for the info and the link. I'm sure his kitchen will pass with flying colors.....it better, my son is the kitchen manager!

I'm curious about one thing, though. Since you obviously have experience with Florida........would I be required to do the baking and all the decorating both in the restaurant? Or is it acceptable to the baking and assembling in the restaurant and work on the accessories (flowers, etc) elsewhere? Just curious about what the state expects. Thanks again!

I'm just trying to figure out how much time I would have to spend there instead of being able to do some work at home......some of my best work is done in my jammies!!