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post #16 of 26
12/7/10 at 9:44am
Thread Starter 
I should have mentioned, she was reffered by a friend, and that friend has known her since high school. Not super close, just knows OF her, but she in NO WAY is an inspector.

I did infact email her and said basically "not during family hours" and that why don't we do the tasting at her house, and set up another weekend time that's mutually agreeable, on the weekend IF she wants to go with me. Hey, fact is she may not want me at all, who knows. She did respond saying she understood and to come to her house at original time / date. icon_biggrin.gif

True, home bakerys are not legal in Florida, but until you do this a few times out of your house and build up enough of a clientel to hold you over, who could afford a bakery? This is a side thing for me. Maybe I'll put in my contracts that it is a "suggested donation" instead of being actually paid...LOL j/k And until I built up a small clientel I couldn't even rent a portion of a bakery kitchen or church kitchen. It's a catch 22, that's for sure.


Thank you for all of your input.
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post #17 of 26
12/7/10 at 9:54am
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Originally Posted by shannycakers

so i doubt any caker is going to put all the time, money and effort into making cakes , try new designs, stacked cakes and all for anyone and everyone for no cost at all, till her work is good enough for a real business.


Actually, that's exactly what many people do. Cakers practice by doing cakes for free, working on dummies, working for other established bakeries, etc. It's not an easy process, but no one ever said starting a business was easy.

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In my area it is extremely hard to start a business without a bank loan. And who knows if they even want to start a business until they try things out and see if its worthwhile.


You don't need a lot of money to get started if you rent a licensed commercial kitchen instead of jumping right into your own retail shop. We started our business (in CA) with less than $5K upfront.

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So in your mind, next time your at a dinner party and they ask for a contribution toward the food, you should tell them they need to start a business asap, instead, otherwise everythign is free..


There is a big difference between helping to defray the cost of either buying food from a licensed caterer or making food for a non-commercial event, and selling cakes commercially out of an unlicensed kitchen.

If you are selling a few cakes here and there to family and close friends out of an unlicensed kitchen, that's a relatively low-risk activity, but once your name gets out there and you get friends-of-friends and strangers as customers you are taking on greater and greater risk in terms of product liability, not to mention health code violations and tax evasion.
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post #18 of 26
12/7/10 at 9:56am
Niki, 1st, Welcome to the CC forum! 2nd, You have probably figured out by now that your seemingly innocent question pushed a "hot button" here at CC. 3rd, As to your original question, I'd recommend telling her exactly what you just told us. It is a reasonable answer to why you do not want to do this on Monday night. If the bride can ONLY do this on Monday night, then you've got a decision to make.

(As to the "hot button" issue: I am a one year hobby baker, but I kinda doubt that it's a sneaky health inspector saying they can only come on Monday night.)

OP --When I'd finished above post, I saw your second post. Good luck. Sounds like it will work out just fine.
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post #19 of 26
12/7/10 at 11:18am
I'm not going to get into anymore of the conversation about legalities in florida, i just brought it up b/c there are many who don't know about the legalities. I would hate for someone to be "trapped" and not know the regulations, it's better to be cautious.

But since it's an acquantince and you're looking to move forward with the order. The only other suggestion i have is to make sure that the venue she will be having her reception at will accept a cake from a non-licensed facility. Some venues require licenses, inspections, and insurance papers to be shown. Just don't want you to end up making a cake and then have it refused and cause major issues on a wedding day.
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post #20 of 26
12/7/10 at 11:45am
Ditto, what leily said, and she doesn't have to be an inspector to turn you in. Accepting any form of compensation, whether a donation or barter for another thing, is still legally considered money or a value being exchanged for running a business.
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post #21 of 26
12/13/10 at 1:08pm
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The only other suggestion i have is to make sure that the venue she will be having her reception at will accept a cake from a non-licensed facility. Some venues require licenses, inspections, and insurance papers to be shown. Just don't want you to end up making a cake and then have it refused and cause major issues on a wedding day.



You really should check into this. I live in OH which allows home based bakeries, both licensed and unlicensed. A friend of mine got married a couple of years ago at an upscale country club. Someone she knows offered to make the wedding cake as a gift. This person did not have a licensed home bakery so the venue said "no can do". That is really rare here because the state does not require a license. I have yet to be asked by a venue to show a license (I am licensed just in case I run into a similar situation).

You would hate to make the cake and then be turned away the day of the wedding. As a bride I would be extremely upset if I thought you knew this could happen but didn't check (assuming the bride is unaware of the laws for home bakeries in FL so no reason for her to think you wouldn't be allowed to delivery the cake).
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post #22 of 26
12/14/10 at 3:19pm
Agreed with cai0311! Very wise idea!
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post #23 of 26
12/15/10 at 5:28am
Im a hobby baker, so every once in a while will do wedding cakes for friends, they just buy the ingredients, but I make sure they ask the venue if its ok to have me do it! Wouldnt want to put all that time and energy into it and have them all come to my house for the cake cutting!
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post #24 of 26
12/31/12 at 2:23pm

I admit that did not read all of the posts b/c they were off subject so I hope this helps. (1) I am from Florida and Florida passed the Cottage Food Law in July 2011 so it is legal for her to sell her cakes from home. (2) I agree with the poster that suggested you reschedule as the date conflicts with non business hours for you. The customer has the right to check it out and the OP doesn't have a problem showing it. I certainly wouldn't want a customer coming into my kitchen during personal family time not b/c it's not clean but because it's chaotic. Explain your hours and reschedule. Good Luck with your business!

 

Check out this thread for good info on the law. http://cakecentral.com/t/752358/know-the-law#post_7344707


Edited by dkltll - 12/31/12 at 2:32pm
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post #25 of 26
12/31/12 at 2:34pm
This thread is from 2010, before the FL cottage food law was passed.
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post #26 of 26
12/31/12 at 2:38pm

Thank you Jason, I guessed I missed that. icon_redface.gif

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