Do you all bake and decorate in the facility or do you just bake and mix up frosting then decorate at home? It seem like it would be really costly to decorate at the site as well. How do you all still make a profit? I only have a few cakes a month at best, and if I pay for renting it seems that I'll just be paying the rent!

Everything needs to be done on site.

I wondered the same. Decorating does take me the longest. If I had to pay rent, I wouldn't make any money unless it was a high priced cake. I was thinking if everything was made at the licensed location, then you could just decorate at home. Not much different than if you deliver and set up a wedding cake and then have to put on some final touches, borders, etc. Everything is already made. I think I may check with my local health dept for their response.

I have wondered that myself. Thanks for posting this question.

My guess is the health dept. will say that everything has to be done on site. I went yesterday to my local health dept. to find out about getting liscenced. I still have yet to find a kitchen that will let me bake my cakes. I have two that I'm waiting for a call back on. I just don't see any profit in it unless you know the person running the kitchen or you can get a really cheap rental price. Any more suggestions would be appreciated!

Yep, everything has to be prepared in the licensed kitchen.

Maybe you could find a coffee shop or something like that closes in the afternoon and ask to rent after hours or on weekends...you might be able to trade out some of the rent. Maybe make desserts for them as partial payment.

Some other possible places to check for renting are local churches with a kitchen or a caterer; a catering company that doesn't offer cakes, of course. I viewed one caterers website and it has a list of a few cake companies for their clients to check. That's one way to get exposure especially if you get into a working relationship with the caterer. I just haven't called yet to see if they would be interested in renting their kitchen. The one church I did call, the secretary seemed positive that the pastor would work out some arrangement. I just need to call back and speak to him directly. Hope this info helps.

what does everyone consider reasonable rent for a kitchen? Is it set up where you pay one monthly rent and have access whenever, or if you only need it once in a while, is it set up with a daily or weekly rent based on your usage? Just curious on how it works....

I think it all depends on how many cakes you have to do and how you can work it out with the owner.

I would think if you have a steady amount of cakes coming in every week then a monthy rate would be good, but if its a few cakes here & there maybe paying a flat fee for each day that you use it.

I'm not sure what a reasonable rate would be....you would have to sit down and price out how much it costs you to make the cake & what you are charging for the cake & then go from there.