Furious, Frustrated, Somewhat Tipsy But Justified Rant Novel
Business By CakeDiva73 Updated 22 Oct 2009 , 3:53pm by rosiecast
My two cents: In the begining of this thread you mentioned working with her to "get legal" - you probably realize that if you walk away you now have an enemy who will definitely turn you in should you decide to bake from home (not legally) so don't do that. Maybe someday, hopefully, the shoe will be on the other foot and you may be sharing space in your own shop; then all the advice from the shop owners on this site will make sense - it is a really balanced viewpoint. This situation will not improve without putting EVERYTHING in writing. If she doesn't want a contract - walk away.
I hope you find a solution to your problem. More food for thought in case I ever decide to sell cakes/get legal.
The lady does sound like a crzy/flaky person. You need legal advice/contract ASAP, but I wish you find another kitchen to work out of. Goo dluck,
She sounds like a regular biyotch.....get out of there............you don't need to be used by her like this............start saving your money for your own place............
Are you baking out of her place of business? And selling? When I rented a commercial kitchen, I paid $13-15/hr (the fees went up toward the end of my "tenancy") - but I only baked there, there was no place to advertise, store product or sell from. If you are baking there AND selling as well, you are getting a great deal. I would start looking at all you're getting, count your blessings - be thankful for the opportunity she's given you, and then work out an agreement that is fair to you both and put it in writing.
In order to 'bake, sell & advertise' from there, I needed to gift her baked goods to sell for her profit, work for free each week AND spend all the money on ingredients, do all the labor and packaging and then IF it sells, split it 50% with her. Oh, and then at the last minute she decided she should make a % of the profit on everything I sold, even if it wasn't thru her.
So I would have loved to just pay an hourly fee. I'm gone from there, by the way. Looking for new 'non-pirate' kitchen rental 
Cake Diva I am so glad you left, dont think what ever agreement you both came to that it would have worked out.
Check local churches and non profit organizations and see if they would allow you to rent the kitchen space from them...they are already legal and goodness knows they would welcome the extra income to help with programs they run.
Not to mention with churches there is a whole other market for potential business for you so it's a win win situation all the way around.
You get to do what you love legally and make a name for yourself too!
As an aside, 2 out of 3 food businesses go out of business within the first year. Those who survive, usually don't show a PROFIT for at least a year or two. I know you want to be raking in the dough right away, but sometimes you have to take a loss while you build up the business. My first three years (as a home based business) sucked me dry with all the equipment costs, website, etc. I made good money, but I spent more than I made to advertise myself and put myself in a better position to open my own storefront.
If your long term plans include opening up your own place, then I would suck up the loss and focus on building your "brand". If you are just looking to make a little extra money on the side, then looking for an alternate location may be your best bet. I do wonder if you find a kitchen where you can only bake out of (as I did) - where will you sell from? Your only options doing that as I see it are either farmer's market or wholesale sales (but I could be wrong).
Whatever you do, I wish you much luck and success - I just wanted to give you something to think about.
I do appreciate the different views you have offered - I am always open to learning more. And your point about deciding what I want to be is also good advice..... I guess I am just a bit bitter since the cafe lady used the same lingo "new businesses need to lose money in the beginning, etc" which is probably totally correct, but in her case, my loss was her gain since she pretty much wanted to bleed my dry and have me bake everything at cost. And when I inquired as to when this arrangement would evolve, she acted like it never would.
So perhaps at this point I am back to square one.....no more sales, just bake for friends, etc. A total letdown after all the build-up and work I have put in, especially to her business.
I naively designed her flyers, helped with her email lists, new email set-up, Craig's List - boy, she got alot out of me! There is a bit part of me that just is mentally breaking out the little doll that you stick pins in....(what is that called, anyway?? )
Well, I'm sure you get my drift.
And now, hearing that apparently in California we can no longer rent kitchen space to become legal, I am at my wits end. I am calling the HD tomorrow....
I..... I guess I am just a bit bitter since the cafe lady used the same lingo "new businesses need to lose money in the beginning, etc" which is probably totally correct, ....
Just an aside, I'm a home-based business, so I didn't have the same overhead that I would have if I had opened a shop, but my first year in business I made a small profit. The second year it was bigger, etc etc. I've never lost money, so no, that isn't necessarily true. It depends on what expenses you have.
It sounds like she was using that line to justify her guaranteeing that you wouldn't have a profit! It's a good thing that you're out of there.
Seriously, CakeDiva...did you do anything about the hunky husband? Inquiring minds want to know!!!
Lisa- That's hilarious. Poor hubby, now he needs to take your stress away, Cakediva. LOL
Congrats to you for getting out of that insane situation. Yes, I agree that businesses don't make much $$ (or even lose) on the 1st year, but as you said that lady was just bleeding you dry. I hope you make it on your own. Good luck,
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