If you want to sell your cakes by the slice do you need to have insurance? I am waiting to hear back from the contacts of the markets to answer me but I figured that someone here might know.

Does anyone else rent kitchen space in a commercial setting? What would be considered a fair price for rental? If so do you have to have your own insurance?

where do you get the insurance from? Can you use whomever you use for your homeowners etc? Since you rent space here is another question for you. Do you think it's worth it? I have a full time job and cake is my passion. I have not much savings (under $500.00) and can't invest yet into a cakery but really want to do this. any suggestion tips would be appreciated.
thanks

My business insurance is with American Family. My home insurance is AAA. I called AAA first, but they don't sell business insurance. I just called some numbers in the phone book that advertised business insurance and went with who had the cheapest rate for the most coverage.

I love making wedding cakes. That is all I make now. I do about 2 or 3 a month. I hope to get enough business after the bridal fair this month that I will be doing 2-3 per week. It is not worth it to rent a bakery if you are trying to make money selling birthday cakes. People always want cheap cakes for birthdays and at $15 an hour, one hour to bake and one hour to decorate (roughly), your profit is gone. The money is in wedding cakes.

I have a wonderful arrangement to rent the bakery on a as needed basis. I would not have done it if I where charged a fixed rate whether I needed it or not. I would not leave your job to do this right off. It takes awhile to get your name out there. I work at the bakery at night. Try to find something like that. It may mean long hours on some days, but it will build your name and business without having to go into debt. Save the money you make to be able to move your business into a place of your own with only a small loan, or no loan at all. My goal is $25,000. That's a lot of cakes, but that's what it's going to take to renovate part of my house to a legal cake shop. I've turned a profit of over $700 a month, so it should only take me about 2 1/2 years to get there at this rate. (And that is with only 2-3 cakes a month, it should be significantly less time the more cakes I can get.)

Renting this way was the only way I could afford to become legal. I already own almost all the cake stuff I needed. (I did buy doubles of all my pans, though. It was cheaper to buy a pan and bake both layers at once than it was to pay by the hour and bake one layer, wash the pan and then bake the other layer.) I didn't put any money down for the bakery and I just pay them at the end of the month. I did have to pay a hefty fee to the Health Department though. With the state fee, the county fee, and my food handler's permit fee, it cost me about $500. (But that varies from state to state.)

I think is has definitely been worth it. I love being "self-employed". I have yet to have an employer that would actually treat an employee like a human being with a brain, so I hate traditional jobs. I also only work when I need to. I'm not there to kill time and fill space "just in case business comes in". And when I work, I work. At $15 an hour, you want to finish as quickly as you can without compromising your work, so you stay busy. I also work alone, so I get to turn up the music and forget the stresses of the day and just be with the cake. It is almost paradise for me. It will only get sweeter when the cake shop is mine and I no longer have to pay rent. So long as your desire to make cakes keeps going and the business keeps coming, how could it not be worth it?

SweetArt I think what you are doing is amazing. I am an accountant in corporate America who is wanting so much to do what you are doing. I wish you all the luck in achieving your goal!!!

Sandy

thank you for taking alot of time to give me such wonderful advice. I do have a steady flow from my house which is scaring me not being "legal". Oh and did I mention I work at a law firm haha. I hate working for someone else but the steady income is scarey to give up so thats why I figured I would start this way. I have turned away standard b-day cakes because I agree you can't make any profit on them alone. I do 3d type cakes for b-days and can charge more. I will start calling around for rental spaces and then insurance. Thanks again and I wish you the best of luck.