HI everyone, i have an opportunity and need to know what ya'll think. I have been given the opportuntiy to bake in the kitchen of a restraunt my mother runs....can i do that? I assume they are legal and have all their ducks in a row and they offered me their kitchen, do i have to do anything as far as being legal myself? The restraunt itself is legal, so can i just go in and sell my cakes out it, as long as they are baked and decorated there? I know laws are different everywhere (im in la.) so i'm wondering as long as the kitchen is legal am i ok, or are the other things i have to do that im unaware of? I want to do this right and need to know the steps(if any) thanks guys!
You still need to contact the state and get your own license. They will come and inspect kitchen you will be cooking out of and all that. But yes.. this should be a sweet set up for you to do you cake thang. 
If you are going to work in a commercial kitchen, make sure you have a food handler's license or food manager's license. Are you going to be an employee or an independant contractor? I'm not sure about LA laws. I was told that if I wanted to start selling my cakes, I had to have my own business license, regardless of where they are baked. If you are going to be an employee, however, that might be different.
thanks for the info guys,i know my post was worded kind of bad. ok so basically i need to get a liscense to sell. So where do i get this, who do i contact. ive looked into all the laws before but i dont remember where i had looked. Do you guys know if they have different regulations when they check a kitchen for cake decorating, than when they check a kitchen for cooking. Like i said the kitchen ill be in has been approved for the restraunt, so will it be approved for me?? Do i have to take a test or anything, i just have so many questions. I wouldnt work for them i would just use their kitchen for my baking and decorating, so would that mean i own a buisness, without actually owning anything. thanks again for the help, anymore tips would be appreciated
unless your parents want to make the caking a part of their business then you will need a separate entity. This way all of your income is separate from theirs and you pay your own taxes and all that jazz. You won't own the kitchen, but you will own all of the paperwork.. 
. I really depends on your state and how they operate. I'd give the department of health and human services or department of agriculture and ask about getting a food service license. Explain what you want to do and ask what the next step is. 
thanks guys for all the info, im going to start making phone calls and everything today, to got more info. I dont know if i want to handle all the paper work and everything that goes with running a buisness yet. Im going to have to think about this. Maybe ill just work for them as an "employee" and ill just make whatever the cakes go far. Thats kind of cheating though, and not doing it right. im going to look into everything yall have told me, if im going to this im going to do it right. If cc has taught me anything its, how important it is to be legal, because you never know what kind of customers youll have. Thanks again ladies,ill let yall know how it turns out.
The thing is, if you are their employee, they have to claim your earnings on their taxes and pay you and carry workman's comp and pay pay roll taxes for you and all that jazz. So make sure that you do it right or it will be them who have to answer for it. Just make sure you are covering all of the bases and understand the implications of what you want to do and it will all go smoothly.
That's how we were doing things. A friend of ours owns his own business. We formed our LLC through the Dept of State. Then we contacted the Dept of Agriculture who oversees bakeries, here. Their field agent came out and inspected his kitchen. After signing off, we could go to the city and the county to get occupational licenses. A while later, the Dept of Ag sent the bill for the permit and we got the permit. We got a list of approved Food Handler companies we could get certified by. Then we could start selling. There's a lot of paperwork to sort out, but we got a 3-ring binder with separate tabs for each division so it all makes sense to you.
HTH
Paul (& Peter)
And to answer your initial question, it's legal to do as long as you do what you need to do to get legal yourself.
Paul (& Peter)
Please pard my ignorance but what does an LLC mean? Im sorry if thats stupid, like I said im new. I know that the Florida laws are very close to the La laws, so if you could just tell me what LLC means, i can hopefully get the ball rolling, and follow the same list of things you did. If nothing else Ill know where start (hopefully). Thanks everyone for your info, you really have been very helpful, ive been googling all the stuff youve told me. Im curious do I have to take a class to get a food handlers license? some of the stuff i read said i do. THe La. website said everyone doesnt have to have a food handlers license, as long as one person does. I ll be the only one doing cakes though, and for now ill have no employees, so ill defiantly be getting that license. Ive decided not to go in as an employee, ill simply be using their kitchen, everything else will be all me. I was kind of worried about this arrangement b/c where the restraunt is its what we call "a hole in the wall." you know, a small place where mostly older folkes go, but if im legit i can advertise and have a website, and really do some stuff. OH this is great!! Thanks everyone for your help!!!
Okay, 1st things 1st. Don't take any legal advice from cake decorators. Louisiana isn't like other states. It's got a legal tradition based on Napoleonic code vs. most other states whose legal traditions are based on English Common law ( yeah, I know, don't play me in trivial pursuit).
I would venture to guess that in Louisiana, as long as you have a legal place to cook and a sales tax license, you are probably good to go. The easiest way to find out is to call your parish economic development commission. They will know how to start a business in your parish. ( It probably involves bribing somebody
)
txkat - I wish you were not kidding, maybe you weren't! I left the city offices (in Texas) feeling like if I bribed them ... all would go fine. It made me SO mad!
Jamie, thank you...limited liability company..LLC. It makes scense now. So that would take care of me as far as having insurance. txkat are you from La? your post made me laugh, the trivial pursuit thing was funny but the bribing thing is way funnier, especially considering how corrupt La. is. Alright thanks again everyone, im off to checkout some links, feel free to add anything you think of. BTW Dkelly thanks for the compliment, my cakes dont even compare to most of the ones on CC, but im still learning. Once again thank you very much for your compliment.
Jamie, thank you...limited liability company..LLC. It makes scense now. So that would take care of me as far as having insurance. txkat are you from La? your post made me laugh, the trivial pursuit thing was funny but the bribing thing is way funnier, especially considering how corrupt La. is. Alright thanks again everyone, im off to checkout some links, feel free to add anything you think of. BTW Dkelly thanks for the compliment, my cakes dont even compare to most of the ones on CC, but im still learning. Once again thank you very much for your compliment.
In a previous life, I worked for Tom Benson, the owner of the Saints, and when we dealt with the local ED commissions the answer to " Can we do ..?" and the answer was usually "How much money do you have?" Good luck with your business and keep us in the loop.
For those looking for infomation about starting a business in LA, google "One Stop Shop" Louisiana. It is a state agency that will send you a step by step guide on how to get started and what agencies to go to for your Parish and your industry. And for small business the bribe is usually goods and/or services, and it is not considered a bribe, more of an "I'll be nice to you, if you are nice to me" thing. In other words, if the guy mentions his daughter just got engaged, it doesn't hurt to say, "I would be happy to do a (heavily discounted) cake for her...." LOL, Just joking. Kind of.....
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