Hi ,

I love cake decorating and have been doing it for Friends and friends of friends... I'm looking for information on the following

* Commercial Kitchen Rentals - If you've used this or are using this and know of any good ones , would be great if you can share info
* Setting upo your own kitchen and bakery : I am totally clueless about this. I tried to google quite a bit but can't seem to find much info

*
o What licenses do I need?
o How do you go about looking for a kitchen space? ( How much do these cost, can they be rented? )
o Appliances and setting up the kitchen ( How much does this typically cost? )


If anyone setup a bakery recently in San Diego , and woouldn't mind guiding me , you can email me at [email protected] or reply to this thread..

Thanks,
Anar.

A good place to start would be doing a google search for commercial kitchen rentals in San Diego:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&biw=1085&bih=737&q=%22san+diego%22+commercial+kitchen+rental&aq=f&aqi=g1&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=

Once you find a commercial kitchen to rent, you will need to be inspected by the county and get a business license from your municipality.

It is also critical to have liability insurance so you can protect your personal assets. If you are making cakes at home for close friends or family the risk is pretty low, but once you start taking friends of friends as customers you are opening yourself up to a huge amount of liability. I strongly recommend not accepting any form of compensation for your products until you are up and running in a licensed and inspected commercial facility.

Note that this does not necessarily mean a retail storefront, many people operate successfully out of a commercial kitchen with no storefront on an appointment basis. Rates for commercial kitchens are typically in the $15-30/hour range.