I do cakes and by word of mouth people order them but I have been afraid to really advertise because I don't have a certified kitchen. Can you legally get away with advertising without the business license and all the legal mumbo jumbo?

Not unless you want the city health inspector knocking on your door.....

If the licensing entities find out, you will be fined and be required to stop your business. Depending on where you are, the fines can be in the thousands of dollars.

NO No No , In my state NC if you advertise its is considered a legal business and if you are not a real business and get caught you are in BIG Trouble , do not do it . Continue word of mouth best ways are beaty shops.

It depends on where you live. I urge everyone to check with their local dpt of health/ag. There have been many of us decorators who have gotten better news than expected. For instance where I live, it's not as strict as I thought it would be. I am getting licensed so I can have a place to work in peace and I am running out of space at home. You have to check it out and decide if you can live with the consequences is there are any. i hope it's good news for ya'!

beauty shops and churches

Oh, you mean to advertise at the local beauty shop? That's a great idea!

Do you think it is considered advertising if you put your logo on the boxes you deliver cakes in? Or even having a logo and name?

Cripes, I'm sure some hard nosed person will say that, yes, that is considered advertising and yes, you are totally in violation by doing so. I guess if you are delivering a cake that has been paid for then your already in trouble so what difference does it make!

What came first? The clients or the kitchen? If we have enough clients, we could rent "legal" space but how to get the clients legally without the legal space yet? ** sigh **

You just have to evaluate your risk. If you know the person who is buying your cake, they will most likely not be one to complain.

the big risk comes from a competitor, they can rat you out in a minute.

the other risk comes from an unhappy customer.

If you kept your advertising to a business card with just your name and number and word of mouth, you can generally fly under the radar. Again, you have to determine the risk, and the consequences.

Gosh, I am so naive... I never thought about a competitor turning you in!

I'm just starting out and do have cards I made up, just name, phone and email. Not even a picture or clipart of a cake, just a nice flower and butterfly. Very generic.

I gifted a sheet cake to an extended family birthday party and set my cards out....I got 3 orders from that, and one order from one of those...it will snowball by word of mouth.

My state stinks for home bakers.

Good luck to you!

Be careful. More than just a competitor could turn you in. I rent kitchen space and the owner "informed" me that there was someone baking cakes illegally. He suggested I turn her in. I informed him that I couldn't, it was not in my nature. (It irritates me that she doesn't have to have all the expenses that I have and she makes a heck of a lot more money than me, but I understand trying to get on in a world where you just want to support yourself and family.) Anyway, so be careful, because other people may turn you. And once again in this sue happy world, if someone finds out you are supposed to be licensed and you are not, they could sue and turn you in.