Hello everybody im a hobby baker from couple years, have been baking for friends n family and now deciding to take it full time cause im always in the urge to make more cakes and make new designs. so before starting to market my self i need to get license which i gotto know only from this group that we need to have one to do it at home also.

I live in US- California so where should i start and how should i get license and what all the things that i need to know please guide me. any help is appreciated.

Thanks

ASh

I'm in Northern California. You start by going to your County Health Department. Tell them you want to bake from your home under the Cottage Food Law. They will give you a packet that will tell you what you need to apply. It should be noted your permit is valid for the calendar year. So if you're going to do it this year do it quickly or you could end up paying the fee twice within a few months.  I needed a Safeserv certificate, a business license, a cottage food law permit, permission from the zoning office.

While you're gathering all of this you should do your research and figure out your pricing structure - there are tons of threads on this topic here - use the search function. You also need to have your basic recipes down pat. That should get you started. Read as much as you can on these boards about business - that is the hard part - contracts, handling difficult customers, customers asking for refunds, taking deposits, cash before cake...

I suggest hitting up this Facebook group- Creating Your California Cottage Food Business. I would to check the requirements for your business license with your local city, as it is required to submit along with your CFO application. Many Counties do provide al the information you need to apply online (like Riverside, San Diego, Orange Country, etc.).   I am licensed through Riverside County Health department. I had to get my business license through my local city first, then applied and was approved for my CFO. I cannot stress enough to you that each inspector, even in the same office, will not do things the same way. The best bet you can do is reach out the inspector for your area/city in your local Riverside Health department. He/She should be able to tell you what their expectations are regarding labels and such. I mention this because a friend who is also CFO applied through the same office but had a different inspector because she is in a different city, and had different ways to submit.  For me, since I was not using my own name, I was required to file a DBA. I applied for and received a resellers permit from the EOD. This is not needed for most direct sales, but if you ever sell where admission is charged like at some events, then you must collect sales tax. I then applied and received my city business License. Once all that was in hand, I then applied for the CFO. I sat down with the inspector, and we went over labels and regulations.  He approved me in the office and called me a week later with my CFO number and I was set. Riverside only sends out paperwork showing approval, but I have heard that some counties provide a nice permit, like the City License I have.  HTH!

Holy cow! !! I'm so glad I live in Texas. When I had my cottage food business, I didn't even have to have a business license. Cakes, breads, pies, etc., aren't taxable so no Tax Certificate and the Health Dept. CAN'T inspect you unless they've had several complaints.

The only thing I had to have was the labelling on everything that it was made in an uninspected kitchen.

A few hoops, but the cost of opening a CFO business is considerably less then going the commercial route. So in exchange we must work in the restrictions. ( Another excellent group to join is Cottage Food Law - supporters of AB 1616, the California Homemade Food Act.)  It is not impossible, but it may take a bit more work. 

You should research into what is allowed and required under the CFO laws.  Then you can decide if you want to invest the time and money into this route. If you take the positive spin, you can be a bake to order business, which allows you less loss then say a storefront. You control your schedule and how much or little time you put into it. Since you bake to order, there is no loss, as you won't be baking without payment. You have basic overhead costs (oven, lights, insurance, your time, etc) but not store rental, employee salaries, etc. And with any bakery business, remember that the business end is the majority of your time, while the actual baking/caking/decorating etc is the remaining time. While you can love baking/decorating, you must have a handle on the business end as well, or have someone who is good at business doing it for you. Aside from baking, you may want to market the business with a website, social media, and so on. And then there is keeping your business accounting so you can track the money side with expenses/profits etc. Once you decide what you wish to sell, you will want to look at creating your business pricing model.  Pricing your products appropriately is a necessity and will also drive what you sell to items that you can make with a profit.  Along with that you will need to consider what types of packaging and possibly business labels you wish (this is in addition to the required ingredient labels). You would also want to have business cards  to hand out with your products and anything else you wish to use to market your business. I also strongly urge you to look into setting up at least a five year business plan, as that will assist you with a getting your business running and then growing it.  

I don't want to overwhelm you, but these are a some of the things you will need to look at and have for your business. This will ensure that you go into this as a business, rather than a hobby.  

Hi @Ashchi ‍ Congratulations and good luck on your new business venture!