Help with Opening a small baking business

Yes.

You can do small amounts from your home, but no one will take you 100% seriously and pay the market price for them BECAUSE you did them at home. If you start doing some serious volume at home you will have space and equipment problems, and some customers might want reciepts for large items. Without the proper health permits and inspections you are flying under the radar--no big deal for small amounts, but a potential hazard for larger volumes.

If you really want to get a "feel" for it, work in a small bakery. You'll also realize that the key for most bakeries survival is not steady clientelle, but key contracts/accounts.

where do you live?

Check state and local requirments. I am a big fan of having insurance ($1200 ish per year), licences ($200 ish) and inspections ($200 ish). Also, get incorporated, it will protect your personal assets ($250 plus legal fees). Take a sanitation class and get a certificate. ($free to $300 ish)
All it takes is one bad cookie and you could loose everything.

I wish I could say sure, run with it, but that would not be responsible. You want to run a business, then run it like a business. If you want to have a hobby, then give away your items to friends and family.

Who knows, you could be the next big thing!!!

Good luck.:bounce:

I have one big ditto! to m brown. Also insurance,incorperating, if you can get it , is usless if your flying under the radar. They won't pay a dime and probably will investigate more then whoever is sueing you so they don't have to pay.
Sounds like I'm trying to scare you, I am!!! Don't produce food for resale if you don't do it right. It's not fare to your customers.
I can never understand why someone would put thier family and monies at risk?

Starting Small

We make bottled BBQ sauce, so we had to have full paperwork and produce the sauces in a commercial bottling facility. But we started out selling baked goods we made at home in a flea market on weekends. We were completely illegal, but as the weeks passed and we found out what sold and what our margins were, we started getting the licenses and papers together to go legit. 3 months after we started we were fully legal and producing in a commercial facility (we pay $350 a year for "caterer's insurance" that covers whatever we make in the commercial kitchen).

A good way to start is to find a flea or farm market where you can get a booth 1 or 2 days a week. Some places will let you in as long as your products are packaged and labelled: it's as though you bought at Wal-Mart and are just re-selling. It is also a good way to test pricing and items. You will also find out if you have the "chops" to bake and bake and bake, and start working out a proper production schedule to see if you can stick to it.

I think that "flying under the radar" is a great way to test the waters before you invest a lot of $$, but you are taking risks. Why spend a couple grand getting ready when you might hate it after 4 straight weeks of rolling pie crusts 2 days a week (or scooping cookie dough every **** day)? Just do shelf-stable items with a long shelf life and avoid cream fillings, cheesecakes, buttercream frosting, etc until you're insured. There are hundreds of kinds of cookies that last for months. Rollout decorated cookies are always popular, and a great way to avoid killing anyone! (Wilton's recipe is a winner).

Good luck

WHAT!!!!!:lol: :crazy: :cool: :chef: :p :look: :( :beer:

Yes, What

As I said, we are legal. But I know from personal experience that there is more than one path to food business success. Every state is different.

Some states are BRUTAL about retail/commercial food prep regs. But then I read articles about people in **Texas** cooking BBQ in their garages for retail sale. In New York State if your land straddles 2 counties, you can cook in your home kitchen for retail on one side and not on the other.

In NYC, Dean & Deluca and the former Balducci's and Jefferson Market sell/sold more baked goods made in "illegal" home kitchens than you can imagine. If you're a foodie in NY you know the drill. 20 years ago we actually sold homemade items to several shops. It's like someone said about being a writer: "if you can possibly stop yourself, then stop! Don't be a writer" (sorry for the poor paraphrase). But if you are driven and obsessed, what choice do you have? A person has to try.

Not everyone goes to culinary school. Many pros started out wherever they could. I think Magnolia Bakery is one. The press is full of former investment bankers opening twee little baking shops, but we don't ALL have $20 mil in the bank.