Bakers Law Question

One other thing that comes to mind is that the law treats sales and service businesses differently and you might be able to use this to your advantage. There is a difference between selling baked goods, and hiring out your baking services. I remember reading that in the very early years Martha Stewart had a business where she would come to people's houses and cook a meal for their party - in their own dishes, so it looked like they cooked it themselves. This also allowed her to avoid the need for a commercial kitchen, because she was not selling food, she was selling her services. If you could position yourself to sell large amounts of baked goods at one time to a single person, it might be worth doing things this way and going to your customer's house.

As Denise said, there are lots of regulations. You can also rent kitchens to work out of - Garland has one so check in your area or you may need to rent from another restaurant etc.

There are many business costs - startup and otherwise for you to read up on to get ahead with.

Good luck!

The renting the kitchen thing is the best option if you can't have a separate kitchen to work in at home. Having said that i do not agree that you need to be able to sell at or lower than walmart store prices. people will and do pay more for a home made item. Homemade jellie's, candies, cakes etc. They taste better than a store bought item and people are very nostalgic about having something that they had as a child. Check into the guidelines for your area and go for it. GOOD LUCK!!!!!

Call all of the churches, ask for suggestions from them.

Denise D. is correct. I recommend that you call the Health Department and ask to speak to the Inspector for your area. They can explain the laws to you and answer any questions that you have. There are a few exceptions that might allow you to do some work. For example, cooking for your church or a group that you are a member of. Again, get your info straight from the source up front and you will not have to be worried about getting in trouble for something you "thought" you could do legally. Here is a commercial kitchen that leases time to projects like yours. It is not cheap, but it is much more reasonable than providing your own commercial kitchen and can give you a way to start your business without a huge financial investment. http://www.elixirkitchenspace.com/contact-us/ Good luck!

I would say call your local Vo-tech and talk to someone in their food service education program. You might call your city hall and ask them too. Our Vo-tech has a program that assists small businesses the first year and it only costs about $100 for the whole year. They help on setting up the finances such as bank accounts, taxes, the support for a person unfamiliar with the area laws, etc.... They helped me when I had a child care center, I didn't need a location but they also had some support int hat way too. A vacant classroom or an area where no one was using a shop or something.

If you have a University closer than Dallas/Ft. Worth you might call and talk to an advisor in the restaurant/hotel management area. I think if your kitchen at home was inspected by the health inspector and certified then it could be used for public food processing. Maybe call them too.

Love Flower Mound, my FIL is there right now visiting my husbands Aunt.

Food laws in Texas are regulated at the County and City levels. You must check the laws for your County (Dallas) and City (Flower Mound).

In the very least you will need the following: Food Managers License, State Sales and Use License (for collecting and filing State Sales Tax which you must file on a Quarterly or Yearly Basis), and become a LLC (This will protect your personal property from any lawsuits if someone attempts to sue you). You should also look into acquiring Liability Insurance.

Even if the Cottage Law passes, you cannot certify your home kitchen unless it is completely closed off from the rest of the house. This means if your kitchen has an open area to any other part of the house you are out of luck. You also will need 3 sinks (Prep, Dishes, and Hands). If you have any inside animals... nope, can't certify. Pantries and Storage also will have restrictions (nothing sitting on the floor, items MUST be on shelves), Separate refrigeration for business food items. Refrigeration MUST maintain a constant temperature.

Oh yes, and this isn't EVEN looking at the new FEDERAL laws that they are trying to pass now..... These are so bad that there is fear that the government is going to run small business OUT of business.

In order to make any profit, you will have to add ALL of these business costs into your product. Otherwise you will go broke! You will NOT be able to complete with Walmart or your local Mega-mart on your prices. They WILL be cheaper than you. They are larger and have more buying power. Until you have the sales to support your budget, do not get sucked into buying everything in Bulk. Your inventory will over run you.... of course then there is the whole Storage issue too.

It burns my cookies to see someone start selling their goodies and they sell them at or below Walmart Prices. That is always a sure sign that they have NOT gotten all of the proper licenses.

Bottom line, do your research. There is ALOT more to selling edibles than just baking something and selling it.

D.

where I am you can take foodsafe courses and get approved to prepare food at home for commercial sale. I drove a lunch truck, a few of the girls had the licencing to make their own food. Ive also thought of selling baked goods, through craigslist, facebook, Ive seen people sell perogies on facebook, word of mouth advertising. I would think you could do that sort of thing without a licence.