The Key To Dealing With The
Legalities When Starting A
HomeBased Baking Business

When starting a homebased baking business it's crucially important that you understand
the legalities and the rules dictated by your local health department. Discover one
woman's determination to start a home baking business and what she had to do
to overcome the variouslegal hoops required by her local health authority.

 

When You Want To Start Your Homebased Baking Business, There Are A Lot Of Questions That Come Up

 

Many questions range from "how do I get started in my home baking business?" to "how do I know how to set my prices?" to "what should I do first?". Well, truthfully, step one has to be to gather your thoughts. Sit down with a piece of paper and begin to write all of the Who? What? Where? How? and Why? that answers the following.

  1. What it is your business will be come known for?
     
  2. Who it is that you will serve? and
     
  3. How will you keep your business going?

 

It also helps to understand the stories and start-up experiences of other homebased baking business owners who have already started their businesses and had to sort it all out.

 

I recently heard from a homebased baking business owner who wanted to share her story of how she got started. As you read her story below, pay close attention to why.

 

Dear Latarsha And Fellow HomeBased Baking Business Entrepreneurs,

I started a home baking business to be able to stay home with my baby, I didn’t have any professional baking or restaurant experience but had always been a great baker and wanted to see if I can get paid doing it.

My baking focus was children’s events such as birthdays, baptism/christening, first communions, births and even baby showers. Below I will tell you of the steps I took to get my homebased baking business off the ground.

 

Starting My Own HomeBased Baking Business Step One - I Performed Preliminary Research Online

 

First I had to find out if it was going to be a profitable business, and after weighing potential cost and revenue, I thought I had a pretty good idea that it was worth a serious try.

I went online onto search engines and tried to find any information I could find about a home based baking business and it had never occurred to me that the home based part was regulated until I read an article about it online.

 

Starting My Own HomeBased Baking Business Step Two - I Visited My Local Health Board To Determine What I Needed To Do To Keep My Business Legal

 

I didn’t want to do anything illegal so I called my local township to ask about what I needed to do to ensure that my home baking business was in code.

They told me that as long as I had (a) access to the three things listed below and (b) could pass a local health inspection, then I would be ok to proceed. They also mentioned that other townships close by didn’t allow a home baking business at all, so I felt very lucky.

To open my homebased baking business I needed to have access to:

  1. A separate space for the business and
     
  2. Cooking space that had stainless steel counters, and
     
  3. Equipment that I would need to cook with.

 

Starting My Own HomeBased Baking Business Step Three - I Applied For All Of The Licensing Required By My Local Health Board

 

The deeper I got into the licensing process, the more I began to understand all that was required for me.

  • I went through the licensing process, and again, I called my local business license authority and found out that I also needed to apply for a license as a food retailer.
     
  • When I applied for the food retailer license, I learned that I also needed to take a local ServSafe Course and pass an exam.
     
  • So, I was granted a temporary license which was pending having to take the ServSafe course, passing their exam and then passing a health inspection.

 

Starting My Own HomeBased Baking Business Step Four - I Took All Of The Course Work Needed To Meet My Licensing Requirement

 

I took the course and the exam at a local community college, was lucky enough to pass it.   I also scheduled my health inspection, it was grueling, but after making some minor changes including locking my dog away from my kitchen, I passed!

 

Starting My HomeBased Baking Business Step Five - I Had A Life Circumstance That Required That I Move, So I Had To Meet The Requirements Of A New Locality

 

The downside when unfortunately we had to move to a nearby town that I knew didn’t allow my home business, they required a commercial kitchen, and since I didn’t have the capital needed to start a bakery at a commercial location and to buy all the equipment, signage and such, I started looking into rental a commercial kitchen.

I found out that there are many out there for rent by businesses like mine but none was close to me, the closest one was 2 hours away.  So I started calling every bakery around me and asking if they would consider allowing me to work at their location, I offered coming in at off hours, at night when they were closed or any day they were closed, I must have gotten a hundred no’s before I got the only yes I needed!!

 

Starting A HomeBased Business - My Recommendation To You

 

If you’re considering a home based baking business, I would recommend you start by checking your state website for legal requirements, then call your city or township, also check out ServSafe.com they have a list of all states requiring their course and places and times you can take it locally and test for it.

If you’re able to start at home, that would be ideal to keep your cost down and your overhead low, if not, start calling and be prepared for much rejection, but someone out there will help you!

 

Best Of Luck To You All!

 

Here's To Your Success Starting A Home Baking Business That Your Customers Just Can't Get Enough Of!

 

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