Okay, I have a question. I have read through the posts about the law that didn't get passed regarding baking in your home & I was curious about something. My daughter's aunt has a restaurant and she goes through the inspections and all that HOWEVER, would I be able to legally bake in her restaurant( since it is commercial & licensed) & sell cakes or if someone simply wanted me to make a cake for them and let things get around word of mouth.

Yes, you could do this. If you get a business license, you could advertise too!

I'm going to talk to her about it later. Of course, I would offer her money from some of the earnings since I would be using her kitchen. What would probably be reasonable? My mother suggested 70/30

I am considering paying a local bakery to use their facilities...a monthly fee of ???. I spoke to my husband about this and he suggested giving a kickback of 10% for each cake order that comes through the bakery only. Otherwise, it seems to me like you would be paying her twice....rent and kickbacks for the same cake.

yeah, I would pay her a set amount for rent.........that way if you have a month with no cake sales she still makes money and vice versa if you sell 4 wedding cakes in a month you're not LOSING tons of money on the deal!
I'm sure she wouldn't require a portion of your cake sales if you paid rent.......as long as you leave the kitchen in the way you found it.

70/30 sounds like a lot to me. I agree with the rest of the posts that a set rent agreement would be best. Working so hard on a cake can become discouraging if you know you'll have to split the profit. It's almost like you're working for someone else! By agreeing on rent, you can do what you want with the space and time whether it's 1 cake or 10, same price. Also if you're paying rent as a business you can write it off later. just a thought.

I agree that just paying rent is good enough for your relative. She probably know that it will hurt your profits if she's going to get a kickback per cake too.

I'm in the same situation as you, trying to find an association with a commercial kitchen so I can finally be "legal." I have an opportunity to rent a commercial kitchen. I'm wondering, would it be ok to bake the cakes at home, but decorate them in the commercial kitchen, or do you have to do everything (baking and decorating) in the commercial kitchen? Sounds like I already know the answer...I'm just trying to figure out a way to not spend so much on the "hourly rental" and be able to make more profit.

Any suggestions?

Sorry, Everything has to be done there.

What is the going rate for renting a kitchen...I'm in NY but I'm interested in hearing what the rest of the country is paying...

if your relative is willing to let you work out of the restaurant, I would advise you to sign a contract specifying the times you will have access to the kitchen and how much per month you will pay in rent.

You don't want to plan on baking and decorating a large order and end up trying to work around a normal food service evening. You need to make sure people aren't planning on using the ovens at the same time you need them, etc.

Keep in mind, her business license doesn't cover YOUR business. You will still need to get a business license (different from health inspection), a tax id number, etc.

A contract is an Excellent idea. You might think 'cause it is family that you don't need contracts but this is the time you need it most. It is so easy for misunderstandings to arise.

Good luck