Hi Doug

Well, I may as well chime in! I live in Brunswick County. I too have a hard time finding supplies. I do Michaels & AC Moore too but miss the cake decorating supply stores from Philly, where I moved from. Helen

Hi Doug-

I guess we are practically neighbors I live in Hope Mills. I do go in Craft Frames and Things. Those old ladies in there would rather spit in your eye than smile at you! I feel like its a challenge every time just to get them to smile or make eye contact. Yet I still shop there cause I love the challenge- makes me feel like I'm living on the edge- maybe I need a life or something!!!
I just met a guy here with great prices on boxes and boards- you have to buy by the case but no min. order. Doug if you ever need in bulk it might be worth the trip if there is no one close to you. Take care

Thank you, thank you, thank you MontiBellesBakery!!!
I have been doing cakes from my home for over a year now and have been wanting to get legal and take the "next step". I too, have been in touch with the Dept. of Ag and they told me it would be "no problem". The problem is I have a cat, that in the last few days, I have been considering getting rid of, to make my business work. I'm glad to know your experience. Now, I have no choice but to find a commercialized space!

I am in Davidson (Mecklenburg County) and would like to find somewhere in the lake area to rent only a few hours a week. I was also told that you can't use churches because they are zoned as a non-profit license. Anyone know about that?

I'm very determined to make my business work, but yet still a little nervous to make a huge committment like my own store. Any help or advice would be much appreciated!

Helen....
I am in Brunswick County too, all the way on the other end! Seems that there are many home-based bakers in NC...I had no idea how many until I started!
As far as regulations, I called my county health department, and they got me started in the right direction...Also, I had to get a business license from my town. I do advertise, so I had some different rules to follow. Basically, it seems though, the more you research, the more you find out and have to get licensed, insured, inspected, or documented. Ack!
For supplies, I have to head to the big city (Wilmington) to AC Moore, or Michael's. I also order alot from online, and factor that into the cost of my cakes. Since many folks order specialty/character/theme cakes, they are willing to pay a little more for that personal touch.
I also just pick things up whenever I see things on sale. The local party supply store went out of business last month and I bought as many cake boxes as I could fit in the backseat of my car!
I look forward to hearing from fellow NC bakers!

loriemoms,

I have been hearing some about the ICES. You say that they are going to be in our area in July.
Where is exact would that be held?

karensjustdessert,

You say that you are selling character cakes.
I get told that it is illegal. I am really worried about this. I have alot of character pans and now dont know if I could get by with it. Do you not seem to have any problems with making them.

Thanks everyone.

I had not heard of character cakes being illegal, but if they are, I would not understand why. Has anyone else heard of this? If they sell the pans, they should come with a disclaimer. Ah, what a racket!!!

Also, I'd like to hear more about ICES too! I'll talk next week...I am leaving tomorrow for a workshop with Colette Peters!!!!!! (It is hard to type when you're jumping up and down.

The link to the NC ICES is
http://www.angelfire.com/nc3/ncices/index.html

Its a great group, I was amazed how much I was greeted with open arms my first meeting!!

As far as character pans, Wilton pans DO have a disclaimer on them, for home bakers only. That basically means for personal use.

Hi all, I am from the small town of Locust, NC in Stanly County about 30 min east of Charlotte and about 15 min from Albemarle. I am not currently inspected yet and was reading some of the post above about giving out business cards. Since Im not using a inspected kitchen can I still give out business cards, or is that considered advertising and not allowed until my kitchen is inspected?

~Sonya

I wouldn't take the chance..not so much as not getting inspected, but NC expects you to collect taxes on your cake, and you might get in trouble with the tax man.

Now handing out cards to friends and family probably would be ok if you claim you only charged them for materials? I don't know. I just never took the chance, since inspection is so easy to do in our state.

Hi - I can't wait to join ICES, but I'm still living in FL, waiting for my NC house to finish building this September. I looks forward to meet you there!

Hey loriemoms,

Would you mind sharing some info about starting cake business at home here in NC. You earlier said it was easy.

Are you licened?
If yes, what did you have to do and where did you start.

I would love to be licened. I am just now starting out. I have finished wilton 1 and starting 2.

But it would still be nice knowing that you have all that out of the way before investing to much and knowing that you can start to pass it around what you do and not have to worry about the legal things.

Anyway, thanks so much for any info and your time. Crystal

Yes, its very easy, but is time consuming!

I live in Wake county, so the first thing I did was go downtown Raleigh and registered my name with the county so nobody else could use it. (the cost of that was 25 dollars) I then went to the tax offices and got a tax id and schedule (You have to file every quarter the amount of taxes you collect and send them a check) You will get in the mail a few weeks later a certicate to hang up (they said to have it in a visable place) to show you are licensed. I then called the Dept of Agriculture (the dept of health does not inspect home bakeries) and made an appointment for an inspection. (btw, they will offer to send information, but it could take weeks to get!) The inspector called me a few days later and she went over all the things I needed to do. She was extremly nice!

Now comes the hard part: Your house. The basic rules: No pets (I couldn't even keep my parakeet..my daughter adopted it for me.) A restroom that is in the same area of the kitchen, and you have to keep your baking items seperate from your "family" items. You also need to have a fridge themoter and a freezer one if you have a freezer. The inspection involved her looking at my entire kitchen, with a flashlight! So make sure you clean EVERYTHING. She even looked in the crevices of my two kitchenaids! She will check inside your cabinets for mold and critters. Will check inside your fridge for cleaniness and temp, and will run the water to make sure it gets hot enough. She also checked my bathroom and made sure there were paper towels in there. She loved how organized my stuff was!

There is no other inspections, unless there is a complaint. She gives you a copy that you are inspected and if you want you can display that, but it is not required. The only thing i was told to display was my certificate of registration. (I have it hanging in a pretty frame near my front door so people see it when they come and go)

If you need phone numbers, let me know and I will dig them up! btw, filing taxes is easy ... they give you the forms with the date on them and such and you just put in the amount of taxes you collected. (I keep invoices quickbooks)

I really suggest you do everything in person, unless you don't mind waiting weeks and weeks. It is much faster!

Hope that helps!! I have to say, we are EXTREMLY lucky to live in this state!! We also are very lucky here as I have never seen such an incrediable support system amoung home bakers.

I just now noticed this post. I too have been inspected - initially about 3 years ago and then I was inspected again about 2 months ago after a recent move. In my county/town you simply have to deal with the Dept of Ag for the health concerns. You do have to register your business with the register of deeds office and get a state sales tax #.

The early posts were correct in that no pets are allowed -- in my area this includes birds. I was chatting with the inspector afterwards and he told me about doing an inspection in a home with a bird (they did not pass) and that they were not allowed. I think a lot depends on your inspector. I know a baker in another county told me that her inspector actually wanted to come on a day when she was making something and watch. My inspection was remarkably easy.

Contact the Dept of Ag as posted above and then contact the Small Business Center in your county. They know EVERYTHING! They told me exactly what to do and where to go.

Good luck to everyone!!!

Amy

Like LoriMom said on the earlier post, it takes time and the inspectors are very friendly as they make sure you know what you need to do. I'm still living in FL, waiting for my NC new house to be completed and finish my cake decorating job at a major grocer chain this September. My house do have HOA and I had to go to their office to get a permit. Due to the subdivision where my house is at, I had to go to the Zoning Department for a certain type of license to get. It cost me $64, but that's not included business license. I think each county is different, as mine's at Johnston County and it's a little different from Wake County, which is not too far from Johnston County.

Hello. Thanks to all of you for your help.
I am so, so glad that this is going to be possible.
I was worried about this because some people were saying that I would half to have a separate sink and some say a whole separate kitchen.

I really appreciate you alls time and info.
My goodness, cant you tell i'm a hick ( "you alls" ).

Hey, How about advertising, business cards and labeling?
Can you do any of those or do we have to label?

Thanks to all of you!!! Have a great day!!!

As far as labeling, my inspector told me that "cakes to order" do not need to be labeled. But if I make something like cookies or muffins and sell them by the container, I have to label them. (this is for people who have like a bakery case)

My inspector recommends labeling everything -- just in case. I order business cards from VistaPrint (when they're on sale) and sometimes advertise.

Good luck!

Amy

Per my subdivision's HOA rule, we're not allowed to put any signs or advertisements on our home. But I can advertise elsewhere, which is not a problem for them. You can use your business cards at anywhere, from school to churches.

As for labeling, I haven't ask my inspector yet, but I will when I meet with her soon.

Thanks everyone.

surfergina, let me know what you find out.

Thanks again.

Crystal - sure! I'll do that once I move in my new home. I'll PM you as well as posting here.

Loriemoms - that's awesome! It's a good thing that the subdivisions, like your's and mine's, are willing to do that. We're lucky!

So you have to have a restroom close to your kitchen? Would a spare bathroom down the hall be ok or does it have to be like right there beside the kitchen? Also once you are inspected are there surprise inspections later on, or are you just inspected one time unless you have a complaint? No pets at all right, I assume that includes a fish tank in a seperate room?

Thanks for al the help!
~Sonya