How the Harry do you start a home-business if you cannot charge for anything that you make in your home? If you are only able to "give away" what you make, how do you make any money. I was thinking about starting a cookie business in my New Jersey home, but I hear that the laws are VERY strict in Jersey and I do not have enough money to put an extra kitchen in my garage!

huh. Well, in my state, you can accept money for your cakes, but you cannot advertise or claim to be a business of any kind.

You can do a 'barter' system for your goods. You can trade your cakes and cookies for a gift card to the store of your choice OR one of those wonderful new prepaid mastercards.

I built up my clientelle by word of mouth.I just kept getting calls from mothers wanting Birthday cakes for their kids parties after they had seen one of my cakes from another kids party they attended.Then you end up doing cakes for all the kids birthday in one family!! Then some ask if you do othr cakes like Baptisms,showers,anniversaries etc..it kind of just went from there.I do not advertise in the papers etc but I do put up a few flyers at the preschool and local community boards.

I live in MD - in a county that is VERY strict about home food businesses! Unless residents of my county are licensed and have everything in order (and there is a lot to have in order!), they can NOT sell cakes or cookies. And, they can NOT accept payment of any kind, in any form for those baked items...

For example, accepting "payment" for boxes, and giving the cake for free or having the custimer give you a "thank you" gift/gift card in exchange for the baked goods is still considered "selling" - at least in my County!

That's why I don't sell any of my cakes. I only give them away.

Good luck!

You also have to be careful about bartering. It is considered taxable by the IRS. If you make any enemies and they turn you in, the IRS does not have a sense of humor.

Keep low on the radar (and don't piss anyone off), and you can probably take the risk.