Starting My Own Cupcake Business From Home
Business By shinasangani Updated 13 Apr 2013 , 12:42pm by shinasangani
Hi guys!
I have been baking for as long as I can remember and all of my friends and family members have been pushing me to start my own business. I finally caved and said what the heck I love to bake, people love my goods so why not! One problem how do I start?? I will be doing cupcakes only, how do I get a license, where do I get vendors to provide ingredients. I use only the finest ingredients such as Madagascar vanilla, Callebaut chocolate where can I find vendor that can provide me those in bulk? (As of right now I am buying them from amazon. How do I turn my kitchen into a bakery?
Thanks you in advance!
Shina
You should start by contacting your local health department, to see if your state/county have a cottage food law you can operate under in your home. If there is a cottage food law in your state, they will be able to tell you what requirements there are for it and what steps to take to get a license.
I wouldn't worry about getting items in bulk until you know you can legally work out of your home. What state are you in?
Use google for ingredients. "ingredient wholesale" should get you local sources.
But you probably need to have a business tax number to purchase in bulk--and that means that you file papers with your state or province or whatever. Use google for that too.
Your first step is to Google your state's website and type "cottage food law" into the search box. I don't know whether or not MD has one. A cottage food law means that it would be legal for you to bake from home for the retail market, and every state has different stipulations within that law.
If your state does indeed have a CFL, your next step would be to contact your town hall and find out the local laws for such a business. Some places require your business kitchen to be a separate entity from your house, for instance, while others will allow you to use your own kitchen as long as you meet a list of sanitation requirements.
Do you have a business plan? Have you targeted your potential market? Read some of jason_kraft's posts in this forum -- he's a wealth of knowledge in that area.
Quote by @%username% on %date%
%body%