I started decorating about 2 years ago, just doing my children's cakes. Over the past 6 months, I have done more and more for friends/family. I have had a few "customer" inquiries that I would like to take (1 or 2 a month) - does this require a license? When did you make the decision to go all the way and get all of the certifications and/or licenses that your state requires? In NY.
Thank you!
Yes u need a liscense. Rules vary from city to city: I couldn t do it in my kitchen and had to rent a commercial kitchen.( restaurant, retail store kitchen etc). I just called the health dept of my borough and asked them what was required for me to have a baking business. When they told me I had to bake in a kitchen that already had a permit, I started to put ads and called a lot of bakeries, restaurants etc to ask if I could bake in their facilities in exchange of a set percentage for each good I baked ( I can t afford to pay rent) and I finally found a restaurant s owner that agreed. Then I started advertising ( Facebook, manta.com, business cards etc...) I made my decision because I had been trying to help a friend with HIV by asking donations and when I realized that people were too cold to help, I told myself that if nobody wanted to help, God was going to help me make me happen using the skills He gave me to help myself but also others.
I assessed a couple of things since I m also a housewife ( stressful job!):
- How many cakes per week was I going to be able to handle and told myself to never take an order if it was going to go over my limit of what I could handle.
- To avoid stress, setting boundaries: not taking an order if it s due in like the next two days.
- Set my prices right: researching how much regular bakeries in my neighborhood charged for their different goods only to give me an idea for prices.
- Made of list of all the supplies I might need.
* I m sure a lot of people out there can give u more insights. Good luck!
Yes, you would need an Article 20-C license and bake from a commercial kitchen. However, New York has a cottage food law handled by the Dept of Ag & Mkts. http://www.agriculture.ny.gov/FS/consumer/processor.html With a Home Processor permit, many baked goods are allowed, but retail sales (directly to the consumer) are restricted to certain venues. Therefore, wedding, birthday, and all-occasion cakes are not allowed with the permit. You would need to rent a commercial kitchen for those kinds of baked goods.
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