Hi CC friends,

Does anyone know what the laws and requirements are in Oklahoma for setting up a home based cake business?

I will be relocating to OK in the next few months and would like to be able to advertise and grow a cake business.

Thanks in advance everyone....I look forward to lots of good info and advice from you!!!

LuAnn

you can bake from home, but you need a separate kitchen....the rest of the "odds and ends" rules vary from county to county...like here i have to have a com. oven, next county over you can use an oven from a kitchen.

where are you moving to?

your cakes are awesome, you shouldn't have any troubles getting business!

Thanks littlecake....I'm moving to Mustang, OK. Where are you??

i'm 50 miles south of tulsa..."okie from muskogee" LOL

so how far are you from OKC?? Mustang is a sort of suburb. Maybe we can do lunch when I get there....

i'm a couple of hours from okc...crud i was hoping you'd be closer.

theres a girl who has a shop in okc who posts here sometimes...i think her name is drowsyn...or something like that.

i think you are gonna do great here, they sure keep me busy, i haven't been effected by the economy at all!

A couple of hours isn't that far.....what about cake toy stores?? Are there any around there?

hey there, I am in the OKC area (live in moore now and I also lived in midwest city when i started looking in to it) and unfortunately I was told by health dept. under no circumstances could you bake from your home and sell to the public. I tried and tried to get around this and every scenario I thru at them they shot down, the only thing that I could even get remotely close was if I were to build a completely separate "shop" in my backyard but then I ran into the problem that it would have to be considered to be on "commercial" property and if you live in a neighborhood you would be in residential property. So I was unable to ever find a way that I could do it from home legally, sorry.

Im in Mustang also! And would also love to know exactly what the requirements are for this area. I had thought that all Oklahoma cakes had to be made in an un-attached kitchen from your home. That's why I haven't been able to sell as of yet. Where are you moving from? I moved here 3 1/2 years ago from Colorado. Happy moving!
Cori

Im a "sometimes" Oklahoman! My husband is stationed at Fort Sill, so we live in Lawton when he's not in Iraq. He'll be back from his current deployment in May, so I'll be moving back to good ol' OK. Lawton is about an hour south of OKC. We're there at least once a month though, since we have to go there for anything that we cant get at WalMart.

Hi Tdybear1978, mezzyc and chefjulieatkins.......glad to hear from you!!! I'm moving from Moab Utah.....

So are there restaurant supply places or places that sell cake stuff in OKC?? We all need to get together sometime....

mezzyc.....I will be living on S Spring Creek Dr when I get there. My boyfriend just bought a house there.

chefjulieatkins, please thank your husband for doing what he is doing.....I'm so grateful that men and women like him are willing to place themselves in harms way for the rest of us!!! You are a brave soldier too for keeping the home fires burning!!! You have all my respect and admiration!!

LuAnn

tdybear1978, is each county different? I will be in Canadian County. I may have to find an actual business place. Maybe we can form a Coop??

well, I looked into it in 4 different counties and was shot down by all of them. I have since opened a store front. As far as cake stores, there is an awesome one near downtown OKC called Midwest Bakers Supply Store, phone, (405)942-3489. They have everything and I spend much (too much) money there There is another one that has pretty good selection of things I will track down their name for you

Thanks Tdybear1978! I was just looking at your cakes.....you do awesome work!!

thank you very much, we are in a "down" time and I am enjoying it for the moment so I can recover from the holidays and gear up for the wedding season woohoo

I second Midwest Bakery. Its about 30 min from here but its that or order online for me. I map quested and your street is just down the road from my current house (moving across town all of 2 miles in a month or so). You actually have to drive past my house to get to yours. (Nelms Dr). Small world I guess. Let me know if you need any help getting to know the area.

around here you can bake from home if you have a separate kitchen, you can even do it in a res. area if you don't have so many peeps coming you make a traffic jam.

call the health dept in your county...if they say ok, call the courthouse for the city planner to see if it's ok in a res. area.

it may work out....lotsa girls fly under the radar around here.

i was gonna put a bakery on the back of my house....i decided on a storefront instead.

now cake toy stores around here...i buy stuff online.....there is a couple of cool restuarant supply stores in tulsa.

fellers used bakery equipment in talequah....if he aint got it, you don't need it...i bought half my stuff from him and half new.

Thanks Ladies, I'm so looking forward to getting to know you all once I get there!!! Do you go to OSSAS? I am really looking forward to going this year!

Littlecake, I will probably just hold consultations at home and then deliver the cakes so I don't anticipate a lot of traffic.

LuAnn

I went to OSSAS last year and had a blast. I decided that I am going to enter a cake this year. I actually started trying to figure out my design a few days ago. Not eager or anything, seeing as how its not until October. It is my first though.
Cori

I went to OSSAS last year too, it was so much fun. I also thought about entering a cake but I get real intimidated when put up against other people's cakes. I really enjoyed looking at all the cakes thought

I just saw an ad on Craigslist for a cake shop for sale in MWC.... might be an option for some of you. I'm so not at that level...

yeah I saw that too, it is sooo small though. but would be kind of cool if i were in a position to branch out to another shop someday

Hi all,
I am in Midwest City and opened my shop one year ago. I too checked every aspect there was and opened a store front. I second all the other posts about the few places to get supplies and so on. Keep in touch and we can help eachother out. My husband is in the Air Force and stationed at Tinker. It's a nice area around here.

Hey you guys!! That is my shop...what do you think? If I get a very serious buyer, I am thinking of selling and starting a Nursing Agency (I am an RN too). I would only sell to the right person. I put it up a few days ago to see what kind of response is out there. I will only make a few cents...if that
Let me know what you think.

This whole year has been a journey for me. I have never started a business and the cake shop was my first so it is my baby. I now want to start some type of business in the medical field and am just in the very beginning of the research phase. I loved the business part of starting up a business and am ready to do it again. I know, I'm nuts!! Maybe I should start a new topic and get opinions on all this...

hey,drowsyrn, I met you at the taste of midwest city event last year. I own a bakery in moore. I just recently saw your ad on craigslist also and was kind of sad to see you are selling it I hope everything is good with you and good luck in your new venture

Yes tdybear1978, I sent you a PM. I always wonder how you are. I had just opened my shop when we met.

It will have to be the perfect scenerio for me to sell. I still keep the shop going but only on weekends. I am only there seven or eight days a month and I have been in the black since about month three of opening. I know if I did this full time I could make a good living with it. But...I just don't know if this is my passion. I know that may sound weird but I loved starting it up and now I want to do that part of it again. I also don't want to give up my nursing career. I wonder if I could start a business with cake decorating and nursing all in one?

I am a firm believer everything happens for a reason. If the right buyer comes along, I sell. If not, I keep my baby for at least another year and a half until my lease is up and decide what to do at that time.

have you thought about maybe bringing in someone to work it more "fulltime" so it could bring in more money and you still would not have to be there ALL the time? I would love to have another shop in a different area of the city, we have done really well I just can not afford to do that right now

I just have to chime in here too--I'm in the process of getting legal in a tiny town about 90 miles from "the City" as you'll have to call Oklahoma City when you move here LuAnn ! I found all that I needed to know about setting up my commercial kitchen by contacting my county health department who then directed me to our county sanitarian. (I didn't even know there was such a person or title!) He came out just last week (and believe me, we are in the middle of nowhere!!) to advise us what we needed to be doing and was so friendly and down to earth. I felt so much better after talking to him! I just love knowing about all of you Okie Bakers!!! Let's keep in touch!!