Starting my own *out of home* business...

[smx]

Well...i bring food*to school alot...& well everyone likes it alot. So i decied that hey...i should make profit off of this...& well i starting my own baking company out of my home kitchen...& well need some pointers...got any?? Thanks Mucho

*baked goods mostley...what my business is

i need help mostly on the prices...like what should i charge...i have an order in doe 12 1/2 dozen muffins (2 kinds) & 18 3/4 dozen (3 kinds) what should the price range be?? Also like what are some shortcuts if any?? Or any other pointers that'd be great thanks

[Pete]

First off, let's start with the important stuff. Has your kitchen been inspected by the health inspector? Are you up to code? Do you have all the permits, certification, etc. that you need? Many people think it is perfectly ok to start a "home based" cooking business, but never bother to really look at the legal issues surrounding it. Do you have the proper insurance both for property and for liability? If you don't have liability what if you make someone sick with your food? How will you pay the damages? Your homeowners insurance might be null and void if they find out you have a cooking business at your house and you are not up to code. Yes, many people do this out of their homes, but it is a disaster waiting to happen. Only after you have taken care of all this stuff are you really ready to get the answers to the questions you asked.

[travisbickle]

Wow Pete! Way to rope that calf! You are so dead on about everything you said. She should also check with her local city health department on the "minimums" she can put out on a weekly basis. In some cases, permits and inspections may be overlooked if they stay under a certain volume of customers served.

[chuckwagoncook]

Where I'm from , you cant work out of your home kitchen at all. Health Dept. wont even consider letting you cook in your home kitchen. I have heard of some areas allowing minimal cooking in a home, but not around here.

Do you have an S-Corp or LLC to protect all of your personal assets if for some reason you make someone sick? Most Health Depts. require someone within the company to be Serv-safe certified.

I wish you the best of Luck, just make sure you have all of your Ducks in a row before you jump in to deep.