Help! Want To Start Business But Requires Commerical Kitchen
Business By momofjil Updated 13 Jun 2006 , 4:43pm by SweetThistleCakes
I just found out today that Indiana requires that any person operating a food service must do so from a commerical kitchen that is not used for anything other than that business, ie. no home kitchens. I was wanting to just start my business on a small level since I work fulltime until I could pay down some small medical bills we have, then look into a larger business. Does anyone have ideas. I hate to think of going into debt to rent a building with kitchen to do this part-time. Any Help?
I have run into the same problems just today, infact! So I started calling around to see it I could rent a kitchen. I found a reception center that was more than willing to let me rent from them. So your options are not all expired yet. Start calling local bakerys or reception centers. Good luck! Keli
momofjil ~
Where are you in Indiana? I'm from Indiana too!
I've been looking for a place to rent, but everything around here that is halfway affordable is in such bad shape. I can't afford to just purchase another property, but I hate to pump a lot of money into a building that I don't own either.
I've heard a lot of people have success with renting space from reception halls or mom-and-pop type restaurants as long as what you have to offer doesn't compete with what they have.
How about some larger churches or churches with daycares?, this may not fall under thier "anything but commercial" guidelines but I know this works for some people. My sister was the "cook" at a daycare at a large church and a lady who was not a member for a very small fee baked and decorated her cakes there, they even gave her a portion of their large fridge as part of that rent and a small locked closet to store her things.
you could always sell cakes to friends and there friends? you wouldnt need a liscence for that and could do it from home....only thing with that is you wouldnt really sell that many cakes. i guess it depends on how many cakes you want to sell. if you worked in a someone elses kitchen that was liscenced,you could advertise and sell more cakes.
i bet they let you use the kithens for pretty cheap.
let us know how it turns out
melody
I have a licensed KITCHEN in the state of Michigan. I just talked with an inspector yesterday, and the KITCHEN needs to be licensed in this state in order to sell for a PROFIT. If you are not licensed you can only make cakes for friends and family for DONATIONS to cover the cost of ingredients only, not labor. Most churches get a state inspection for fund raisers that is for that day only. Licensed daycares do not have licensed kitchen for commercial use, as they make meals for their daycare kids in that kitchen. The best advice is - if you are going to SELL cakes, make sure that you are legal - in this age of lawsuits, I don't need to worry about someone eating my cakes, suing me and losing my house (where the cake was made). My cake business is a separate building from my house (2 1/2 miles away). I also understand the trend in larger cities and downstate Michigan is, that in order to deliver to a hall, restaurant or anyplace that has a licensed kitchen in the building, you will have to be licensed by that state and a copy of your licensed has to be on file with them. Check your state's requirements!!
-cakesoncall-
I think I sent you a personal message because I too am from New Castle. Did you get it?
Hi momofjil~
Just got it and sent a reply. I've been in and out the past few days; my fiance's father was having surgery at Ball Memorial.
That's just too wild that we're from the same little town! I have Disney's "It's a Small World" running through my head! 
momofjill
I am from Evansville, Indiana and am getting ready to put a kitchen in my garage. I was extremely depressed when I first found out about having to have a seperate kitchen and started looking into renting a place. The only one I found was $20 an hour and I wouldn't be making anything if I paid that. I found the health department here to be extremely helpful. They came out for free and looked at my garage and my plans and okayed everything and told me some things I needed to change. Example : My dish drying area was to close to my hand washing area and I might splash and contaminate the clean drying dishes. Anyway, I have filed an application for special use with the zoning committee and they will vote on it October 20th. I had to send certified letters to all my neighbors and they have all been very supportive. I don't anticipate a problem with that but you never know. I am not beginning construction until the zoning application goes through but I have gotten estimates from everyone and it looks like it is going to be around $5000. This is with a friend doing the drywall for free and another friend giving me a great deal on the plumbing. So, maybe you should think about turning a room in your house into a kitchen. I have a three bedroom house with two kids and no extra rooms so the garage was my only option. My space is going to be small because it is only half of the garage but it will get me legal and that is the goal. Then I can advertise and really get my business going. Hope everything works out for you.
Lindsay
I understand what you mean about being "legal" but you're comment about working full-time got me interested b/c this is the situation that I am in. I wanted this as a second job, no interest in it being full time. I'm in TX and the laws here are the same about no home kitchens, even modified ones. What I was told that if you don't "advertise" yourself as a business then your ok. To be real honest with you, between family, friends and coworkers, I have been pretty busy. My rule is that I don't make a cake for someone that I don't know, where you would run the risk of getting sued. While yes, someone from work could sue me, the chances of that are rare and I don't do it all the time. I know everyone will not agree with my rationale but when you look at the expense of renting a place, your profit is almost out the door. Also, how much time do you really think you would be able to manage for cakes already working full time? Even 1-2 cakes a week get to be too much for me between work and life. So weigh those options out and take a look at your situation.
Sorry, lots of rambling but it's pretty much the same situation I was in. Good luck!
I understand what you mean about being "legal" but you're comment about working full-time got me interested b/c this is the situation that I am in. I wanted this as a second job, no interest in it being full time. I'm in TX and the laws here are the same about no home kitchens, even modified ones. What I was told that if you don't "advertise" yourself as a business then your ok. To be real honest with you, between family, friends and coworkers, I have been pretty busy. My rule is that I don't make a cake for someone that I don't know, where you would run the risk of getting sued. While yes, someone from work could sue me, the chances of that are rare and I don't do it all the time. I know everyone will not agree with my rationale but when you look at the expense of renting a place, your profit is almost out the door. Also, how much time do you really think you would be able to manage for cakes already working full time? Even 1-2 cakes a week get to be too much for me between work and life. So weigh those options out and take a look at your situation.
Sorry, lots of rambling but it's pretty much the same situation I was in. Good luck!
I agree with mamafrogcakes.... Honestly, how many cakes do you think you'll be doing while working full time??? Probably not enough for the health dept to worry about. If your starting small, then I would just do it from home and only sell cakes to people you know. If you find that this is something you really want to pursue and you get really busy, you could always look for a bakery at that time. Your probably not going to get busy overnight, so I wouldn't worry about it right now.
I too am pretty hesitant about the "business" aspect of decorating cakes. This is something I love to do and would love to be one of those stories "It all just started in my kitchen and blah blah blah" I have zero $ to spend on an off site facility of any type.
Does it matter if you are making only two or three cakes a month and sometimes even less...not turning a huge profit??? I just want to be legal and to be able to advertise myself very carefully without stepping on any toes or legality issues. I'm just trying to avoid all the headache of finding an offsite kitchen to use as I don't have the funds or even live in a HOA that would allow such a thing.
Amy
I have appointments to discuss kitchen rental with 4 businesses next week that have commercial kitchens. The advice I was given by two women in other states, not on the board, was to offer baked goods, in exchange for the kitchen use, that they can sell for profit. For instance, if you use a diner kitchen -then you could trade pies and cakes that they can sell by the slice. I'm trying this offer with the restaurants I talk to next week. One coffehouse, one sandwich shop, and two larger restaurants that don't start their lunch prep until 10:00am. I'm hoping one of the four will have a nice kitchen and be willing to work out that type of deal with me.
Maybe that could work for others too.
BUMMER! I'm from Indiana too. I just bought a web address for a year and now I won't be able to use it
Funny so many from Indiana. I was born and raised there, now in CA. I miss home and my family. lol.
I would still place your cakes on the website, just watch the wording. Don't make it sound like a cake business, but more of a personal showcase. Then it can be easily turned easily into a business website later if you so choose to make it so.
On one hand, I am glad we have health inspector's who watch the restaurants and food related businesses, keeping them and us safe, but it sure makes starting a small business costly and almost impossible at times.
There is a really good post somewhere on CC about this very topic. One guy and his wife gave an honest opinion about selling cakes from home then turning into a full-time business. It was very honest and some of the things he said made you stop and say, Wooooooo They have yet to make a profit; working 14 + hour days with little to no vacation time, etc. The cost in starting was big. They were hoping to see some profits this year. It was both encouraging, given their determination and taking all those steps, but discouraging when the reality of the business side comes into play.
The moral or lesson I took from it was really, really prepare and become knowledgeable about the whole process, from financing, marketing, managing to personal tolls.
Ugh. I'm in the same boat as everyone. Work part-time from home, have two kids who will be home schooling next year, AND run a growing company that we have started from home, so I'm a full-time secretary, office manager, etc. already. (super busy already). I have done a few cakes in the past and am getting more orders for weddings this year for strangers instead of the usual friends/fam. My state doesn't license home kitchens at all. My husband has agreed to build me a kitchen here separate on our land (we have 5 acres) but we haven't looked into what we'd need to do to even get THAT going.
I've thought about trying to find a place to rent, on a per-day basis, because I'm not that busy, but I have strangers now calling and ordering big wedding cakes, but I haven't had time to get out and really pursue that. The only thing I keep thinking is, do I really want to be out baking in some strange kitchen at strange hours of the day (super early? very late) alone, OR if I can be there during the day, what in the heck am I supposed to do with my kids? Bring them?
It's almost too much to bother with, really. I love doing cakes, but for now, until we look into building on site later, I'm just going to see how it goes. I have one cake in July that I will have to figure out, though, because it's a cheesecake for 150, and it's being served at a swanky country club/dayspa/golf club etc. Maybe THEY have a kitchen I could use...?
I'm almost worn out from mulling this issue over. It seems like a total catch-22. We could convert part of our garage and still possibly squeeze my car in there, but it'd be pretty small indeed. Maybe that would be best....who knows?
Then you read all these wedding articles here and there that tell brides to seek out "noncommercial bakers" who "work out of their homes" because of the quality and care that goes into their (our) work. Then in the same breath, it will tell brides that because we work at home (nothing about the legality is ever mentioned!) we don't charge as much. Why teach them to expect THAT?? My work is better than the bakery's; so it sure won't cost less...!
ramble, ramble...
I wish there was an answer.
My head is spinning...ugh...
I just got licensed here in TX. I had to bust my rear to get city temp food permits ($25 per month), 2 year permit from the state $100-something), $50-75/ month for a weekend space rental in an Expo center, and to pay the $75/5 hr kitchen rental to do it legally. And then about another $300 on supplies and ingredients. The cost and the frusteration is almost enough to make me want to fly under the radar. I want to "hang low" but my S/O keeps telling me that this is what happens when you go to work for yourself. I'm gonna be in debt for awhile, I'm going to be tired, and I'm going to be frusterated. I'm at the point where I just dont know if I want to do this. At our first public selling event this past weekend, we made $53. 
I really like what I do, I'm good at it, but as of now, I'm almost $1000 in the hole. How do you know when to throw in the towel? I quit my FT job to bake, so I have plenty of time- I dont mind spending it to establish myself. I live in a town where there is no bakery, and that is our long term goal, but I'm running out of motivation here. What can we find as being the cost effective way?
I have found expos and weekend markets to be less than money makers. It takes a lot of work to get ready, and sales are not predictable. It is hard to sell a cupcake on a rainy Saturday.
Try to think of some places in your area, that would have regular need of cakes and make a few small "gifts". They don't need to be elaborately decorated, but they need to be your very best recipes.
then deliver the gift in a box with a label, business cards, or something with your business info on it. To save money, I used the printed postcards that are packaged for printers to make a mini brochure.
Don't give up too soon. You are sort of lucky. My kitchen cost me over $20,000. to build.
Thank you for your encouragement, Joann.
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