Hello fellow cake people I am currently making cakes out of my home, but my state does not do home licensing. I have been told that I can do cakes for friends, or friends of friends, etc. My question is If I tell someone (say a wedding planner) that I do cakes and show her my portfolio, is that the kind of advertizing that would get me in trouble? If I stay away from print, radio, tv, am I ok? I really want to get the word out as I am just starting out. I have only sold two so far, and I need more business!!!

I would be very careful. My heatlh dept. doesn't allow it either. THey told me that as long as I wasn't advertising it was fine too. She said not to put up ads, do ads in a phone book, wedding shows, etc. But then later I learned that if you are charging people, it's still illegal and can result in a fine.

I'd keep it to advertising by word of mouth. When I started, I gave a lot away until my name was out there. People are always happy to get free baked goods and if they are yummy, word will spread quickly! Good luck!

It's not the advertising itself that's illegal, it's the actual selling of cakes.

I don't know why these health dept people tell cakers they can do illegal cakes as long as they don't advertise it. All you need is a change of staff at the health dept office and a lot of people will be in a lot of trouble.

I understand where you are coming from, but your state will view what you are doing as illegal. Eventually, your health department will probably catch up with you and bust you. The fines can be enormous. It has happened to other CC members. It's not pretty.

If you approached a wedding planner, you will be putting her/him in a very awkward position. You may have the most gorgeous portfolio ever, but I'm willing to bet any established planner will not recommend you simply because of the legal issue.

I know times are tough for many, many people, and I laud your efforts to earn money for your talent. I would hate for you to get in trouble for it. See what's required to legal, check out renting space, and sleep well at night without worrying if trouble is lurking around the corner.

Hhhhmmm. I wonder what the penalty is? Do they just tell you to stop? Or are there more stiff penalties....I know you guys can't answer that for my state, just thinking out loud. So it looks like the no advertising thing is just so you do not draw attention to your illegal activites. Well then, I would probably be ok doing that, as South Louisiana is famous for turning a blind eye to questionable activities as long as you don't rub their noses in it, or tick off someone with connections. I have been pretty careful to not leave any kind of paper trail, I only take cash, or for my friend who needed to use her credit card, I had her buy a Sam's Club gift card (I spend a stupid amount of money there each week). Hard to prove I charged for them, unless they set up some kind of cake sting...LOL. I feel like I should be standing on a gloomy street corner asking people if they need to score some cake.....

It really does vary by area.

In San Antonio, selling food from an unlicensed kitchen is a class C misdemeanor. A traffic ticket is a Class C misdemeanor too. You can't go to jail for it and the fine can't exceed $500. I know people who've done it for years and never had any problems. Not that I'm recommending it.

From what I've heard, most of the home bakers who get turned in get turned in by other bakers in their area who don't want the competetion.

I would be surprised to hear that a wedding planner would consider your products without proper licensing and insurance.

Theresa

I've heard that you can rent a commercial kitchen, bake your cakes there, and decorate it at home. Would that be legal or illegal?

[quote="alexj9988"]Hhhhmmm. I wonder what the penalty is? Do they just tell you to stop? Or are there more stiff penalties....

Research leah_s forum posts here on CC. I'm not positive, but I think the first-time offense in her state was a few THOUSAND dollars.

Each state......indeed each county is different.
you say:....... If I stay away from print, radio, tv, am I ok?.........

When I was 1st starting out this is what *the health dept told me* But let me remind you again, each county is different.

If you bake from a shared kitchen and that's where you received your license then you have to do the whole cake there with no decorating, storage or anything else done in your home. I would also be surprised if a wedding planner would do business with you without your license or insurance (most venues require it) Aside from those issues, there are the tax issues. I sell cookies to my former company and they required a tax I.D from me before they'd do business with me. So much darn red tape!