Okay, So....
I need some help with starting a legal business. I work as a waitress at an independently owned restaurant and my boss is going to let me rent out her kitchen before and after hours.
I just need help getting all the paperwork stuff done.
So...my question is. What licenses and permits do I need? I just want to make and sell cupcakes at local farmers markets for now.
I live in Ohio incase you were wondering.
Who would I contact to get started and to help me? City or County?
Ohio has a pretty liberal cottage food law that may allow you to bake products from home, I would look into this first as it will probably save you quite a bit of money.
If you are renting a commercial kitchen you wouldn't qualify for the cottage food law so you would need to contact the county health dept to get inspected. In most cases you will also need a business license from the city.
I recommend creating an LLC for yourself, this can be done by filing with the OH Secretary of State. You'll also need liability insurance and an accounting structure set up so you can record income and expenses.
Before you do all this though, you'll want to put together a business plan to ensure the business will be viable in the long term based on your costs and market prices for your products.
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