Hi all. I have been talking to a local restaurant about using their commercially licensed kitchen space to bake (so I can become a legal business) and in return providing them with desserts for their restaurant. Has anyone ever tried this type of arrangement? Ideally, I would be baking their stuff 2 mornings a week and using the space the other 3-4 mornings (all before they are open) to do my own business stuff. I would be my own LLC. Wondering if anyone has a contract they've used that you wouldn't mind sharing? What about shared storage space (fridge, freezer?) Curious what arrangements people have worked out...

Also - what type of insurance (liability?) do you use? I've talked with an agent and he suggested that sometimes if you are a member of a professional association there may be discounts for that? Any ideas?

I am feeling a bit overwhelmed, but excited to FINALLY be moving in this direction.
Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated!!

TIA!

Would really love some advice...anyone?

You can probably find some existing commercial kitchen rental contracts by doing a google search, but it's probably worthwhile to have a lawyer draft something up that's more specific to your arrangement.

You may also want to look at separating this situation into two transactions: you paying a specific rate for the kitchen (hourly/daily/monthly/etc.) and the restaurant paying you for the desserts. This will make things less complicated from a legal perspective (from your description it almost sounds like you could be legally considered their part-time employee) and from an accounting/tax perspective, since it can be difficult to sort out your true net income and how much income tax you owe when barters are involved.

We had business liability coverage from The Hartford, State Farm is another popular choice. Premiums are usually $400-500/year.

Thanks Jason! Appreciate it.

I agree with Jason. Split the two so that one has no bearing on the other.