Do you have an employment contract at your day job?

I really hope this all works out for you!  So many things to think about it seems.

I've been thinking of starting out too.  I've been baking for about 23 years and I think I could make a go of it.  Small, baby steps that is.

Could you share exactly how you got all the paperwork started?  I've had a lot on the Cottage Law and just wondering where to start.

Best of luck to you!

Melissa

AHave you explored the idea of selling vegan items wholesale to the bakery you work for? You would need a Class B license for this, but it would allow you to leverage the bakery's existing customer base, which happens to be exactly who you need to target.

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You don't owe the ppl at the deli anything, what you do in your free time is your business!  Don't let them make you feel guilty about anything, and you don't need to make a grand announcement to them that you are selling at the farmer's market on the weekends.  Good luck!

AIf you can afford to lose your job at the deli (not saying it will happen, just a possibility) then go for it on your own, after you put together a business plan of course. If you can't afford to lose your job then you should talk with the owners about what you are planning, since it's very likely that starting your own business will interfere with your deli hours.

Jason Thank you so much you after reading your post i weighted my options. Yes I love my job, but at $8 an hour and having to beg for my pay check or having it bounce. If they fire me I can find another $8 job. The way you put it made it so easy to brake it down and see that i was hiding behind my job and using at as crutch. 

Hi DisineyDreamer, I really think you should go for it.  We don't have the cottage food law in my state, I wish we did.  I worked in a Natural food store while in school and they wanted my recipes but did not want to give me any credit for them.  I think you should do your own thing and work there too until you find something better. If they want to sell your product in their shop,  they could just purchase the items from you, that way it would be a win-win situation.  And by word of mouth your product could be show cased at other locations as well.

Your recipe should be saved for your benefit and your business, if they are acting shady already I wouldn't give them a chance to take advantage of you.

Good luck!

Sounds like your employer sucks anyway, so why not get started working for yourself? Keep working your 9-5 for as long as you can, but build build build business for your own future. I worked for a woman who owned what she called a 'bakery' for a few months, and she was the worst business owner I've ever met. It was a huge disaster (she closed her doors shortly after I was 'let go'), but I chalk it up to experience gained for my future business. LOTS of lessons learned, move on.

Good luck with your endeavor.

If you are only making minimum wage at the deli/bakery, then they have provided no incentive for you to stay.  I would suggest that you find another minimum wage (or better) job with the hours that will allow you to have a base income and health insurance.  THEN, spend the extra time promoting your vegan items as you wish. 

Before you do anything, however, you need to assess your ability to run your side business as a BUSINESS, not a "fun" thing to do.  You will need to pay bills, figure the exact cost of each item, plan your shopping trips, storage of ingredients, supplies, costs of Farmer's Market's, etc.  Just because you make specialty baked goods, does NOT mean you will make a profit unless you pay close attention.

I recommend the CakeBoss software (10% discount with CakeCentral membership) as the first step.  Then contacting a local SCORE office to obtain information on the best way to prepare a business plan.   If you are "barely covering bills" now with your current job, you should also consider saving quite a bit before taking any large steps.

http://www.cakeboss.com/PricingGuideline.aspx

You can be honest to your day job and say "my second job is teaching, I don't need a third fulltime job" No need to say anything at all about their cash-flow style...

The farmers market with vegan baked goods sounds like a GREAT idea.  It is self limiting in time, but you might have contact with (what we will all hope for) some IT billionaire who comes along and offers you the support to start up a fulltime vegan bake shop...At that point you plan to pay yourself a proper professional salary with benefits right from the start.

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You Go! Disney Dreamer,  Vegetarian and Vegan bakeries are finally starting to pop up in my neck of the woods.

With the increasing levels of  food allergies and the fact that people are making more healthy choices in the food they eat, and Vegan and vegetarian baked goods are becoming more popular.

I have to make  vegan, gluten free,and nut free, cakes and cookies for my grandson who is allergic to so many things.  It's kind of sad that he reads the labels on every thing so he knows if he can have it or not.

So it's nice to have a bakery that offers these items when he's out in about and wants a treat too.

I commend you for going after your dreams,  I know there is a huge demand for what you have to offer in the community.

Good luck!

AVegan and nut-free is a great niche. Most vegan restaurant and bakeries use a lot of nuts, and there are a lot of people with allergies to nuts, eggs, and/or dairy out there (especially kids).

disneydreamer~~Big congrats on doing so many things right!  It is so hard to tell in 1 of 2 posts what's behind someone's original question, but it appears that you have really been doing your homework.  I wish you tons of success!