Okay... so I've been decorating since March 2008 when I took Wilton Course 1. Ideally my husband would have loved for me to get a job in a bakery to learn the ins and outs of the cake decorating world before I take the plunge into getting a licensed home kitchen.

However... with two small boys (almost 4 and 6 years), it's really hard to find a job that fits my schedule and pays enough to justify child care. Which leads me to my questions...

He's finally open to me taking the plunge to get licensed as I've been turning away work which makes me crazy and he thinks is stupid despite how he'd like things to be.

So I know I need a variance to prove to the dept. of Agriculture that I am not in conflict with zoning ordinances. $500

I need the license from the Dept. of Agriculture $35

I need insurance ???

My husband is concerned about liability and wants me to look into an LLC.

What am I missing and what other information can you give me to help me work through this process.

Is there some kind of thread already going on here that covers all the stuff you need to think about? I could sure use a check list.

Also... I'm in PA. If that helps anyone.

Thanks in advance guys. I'm getting so excited. By the way... how long does the process take anyway?

The zoning thing for you is cheep. The guy was asking me about $1000.00. These people are suckers. Do you live in a residential area?

Yes, I'm in a residential neighborhood. This would be my home kitchen that is getting licensed.

Ok, I wish you all the best. I am sure your kids will be happy that Mom is there........ so sweet. Let me know how it goes.

What about 'you'?

The only thing I'm seeing here is 'my husband' 'my husband'.

What do YOU want to do? Get a job at a bakery? Work from home? Work at all? Work at something else?

I want to be licensed so I can work from home and make cake. I LOVE making cake. I think I'm pretty good at it. I'm a little intimidated by the whole process but... "no pain, no gain".

I don't want to work for anyone else. After years of going from one thing to the next, I've finally found something I can be passionate about. It gives me a high like nothing else.

I'd love to learn more, but who doesn't? I think that between tutorials, cake central, and an occasional cake class here and there, I could fill in the blanks.

But I want to succeed. I don't want to miss things that are important in the process and fail because of something stupid and preventable.

I formed an LLC. Insurance runs me $250/year for a $2million policy. That's the lowest policy I could get. It's through Hartford.

Good luck! I've never regretted for one minute, taking the plunge!