I wish I lived in your area because I'm looking for a kitchen to rent.
Jacqui
1. Post on Craigslist: Licensed kitchen for rent. Include keywords like cake, home bakers.
2. Go to cake decorating supply stores in your area and ask if they will let you set out cards or a flyer. The kitchen I rent from did this at the premiere cake supply store in Austin.
Post it here.
http://www.toomanychefs.net/archives/001303.php
Thanks everyone, those are good suggestions! Problem is I don't have the kitchen YET, hopefully in the next 2 months (I am due June 24th, so I don't want to start it close to my due date) I'll have it, but it would not be a good idea to start without having some potential renters......
A radio ad or a billboard seem too expensive and my niche is pretty small so that seems like too wide of a net for the small operation I'll have.......
Go to web sites like onewed.com or partypop.com and search for wedding cakes in your local area. If Fresno is anything like Phoenix, most of the listings will people that have no commercial kitchen to work in.
Thanks pieceofcakeAZ,
does Arizona licence home bakeries? California does not allow ANY food preperation out of the home, period! So I hope the people on those websites are licenced. It would be pretty stupid in my opinion to be doing something illegal and then advertise it 
I'm really looking for people who are doing hobby work at their house and want to have a side business of baking and be legal. So people who already have a business established aren't my niche. I appreciate the help though!
My unofficial slogan is "I don't want to be a small business owner, I want to be a TINY business owner" or something like that.
My husband is a stay at home dad, I have a full time and a half job (I work really hard!) and I do cakes as my hobby. It would be insane for me to open my own kitchen to make 5-12 wedding cakes a year. BUT, I am sure other people are in the same boat. They make cookies, brownies, cakes, etc... and would like to sell a little on the side, but keep it on the side. They dictate the business as to how much and when and not have to worry about selling enough to pay rent and other overhead costs...... So those are the people I am on the lookout for.
So I am looking for a way to advertise that would help me to get the word out for people who don't want to be full time bakers (at least yet, maybe they just want to build up some clientel and confidence) (or maybe they will be like me and never want to go full time, just want to fuel their hobby).
I adjusted my cake matrix I created to show how even by paying for kitchen rental it can be profitable for someone to have a tiny business. So I am hoping I have a viable business plan. I just need some interest before I go fully forward.
NO Arizona does not license home kitchens. I know many of the people listed on the sites mentioned and they are licensed. I wouldn't advertise without being licensed and I don't know anyone who would. Too scary.
I do think craiglist is good. I have seen someone advertising they rent out a licensed kitchen on there before. What about cake clubs?
NO Arizona does not license home kitchens. I know many of the people listed on the sites mentioned and they are licensed. I wouldn't advertise without being licensed and I don't know anyone who would. Too scary.
I know many of those people too Bonnie and some are licensed but the vast majority aren't.
I assume by "licensed" that you mean licensed by the Maricopa County Department of Envirnomental Services.
There is one reliable way to check for Health Department approval in Maricopa County:
http://www.maricopa.gov/envsvc/envwebapp/business_search.aspx?as_page_title=Food%20Establishments%20Search&as_type=Food
I am just saying the ones I know are. I would think that unless they don't know the laws they wouldn't want to advertise. People have been told they are ok to do a few cakes if they don't advertise. So why risk it ya know. I know too that they don't tkae down the listings if someone moves etc.. since I just did that. I wonder if some are old.
I am just saying the ones I know are. I would think that unless they don't know the laws they wouldn't want to advertise. People have been told they are ok to do a few cakes if they don't advertise. So why risk it ya know. I know too that they don't tkae down the listings if someone moves etc.. since I just did that. I wonder if some are old.
Admittedly we advertised before we were legal. 
We had a legal place to bake out of but the health department had never inspected it for our business name. Even though we worked out of a legal kitchen, we were operating illegally in the eyes of the county/state.
Now we are listed on the county web site so we are 100% legal. 
I am just saying the ones I know are. I would think that unless they don't know the laws they wouldn't want to advertise. People have been told they are ok to do a few cakes if they don't advertise. So why risk it ya know. I know too that they don't tkae down the listings if someone moves etc.. since I just did that. I wonder if some are old.
Admittedly we advertised before we were legal.
We had a legal place to bake out of but the health department had never inspected it for our business name. Even though we worked out of a legal kitchen, we were operating illegally in the eyes of the county/state. Now we are listed on the county web site so we are 100% legal.
What does it take to get legal in AZ? I'm in the process of finding a space to rent from a license kitchen. I just filled out paperwork on tax id and got a food handlers card. Is there another license that I need?
What does it take to get legal in AZ? I'm in the process of finding a space to rent from a license kitchen. I just filled out paperwork on tax id and got a food handlers card. Is there another license that I need?
The next step would be to find a kitchen that you can use and find out the contact info for their specific health department inspector. You will need to inform him/her of your plans to use that kitchen and they will likely want to schedule a time to meet with you (they will go over all of the requirements; ie. all food prep work must be done in the commercial kitchen, a commercial vehicle will be required if you deliver, etc).
Once they verify that you can meet the requirements, there will be some paperwork you have to fill out and you will have to cut them a check for a few hundred bucks.
A couple weeks later you will receive your Health Department certificate in the mail and you will be listed on their web site. Every 6 months or so they will be in for an inspection.
They will likely require you to be a Certified Food Manager (the course and the test is only a couple hundred bucks ) unless you will be working there when a CFM is already present. You usually have 90 days after the inspection to become a CFM.
Only talk to the actual inspector for the site you are planning on using. 90% of the time a call to a random employee of the department will result in you getting the wrong information.
Best of luck!
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