Corinne L Palmieri

You cannot do that type of business from home. Instead, you need to use a commercial kitchen. http://forrager.com/faq/#commercial

Correct, it’s almost always illegal for someone to operate a restaurant in their neighborhood, even a small one. When these services get large enough, they have to answer to regulators. One Bay Area service like this (Josephine) recently got shut down by the health dept because they were growing very quickly.

Self-employment tax includes social security tax. That’s the tax you pay in your quarterly estimated tax payments as a business. If you earn under a certain amount, you don’t need to pay quarterly.

Yes, you need a license and you need to use a commercial kitchen. http://forrager.com/faq/#commercial

Geani, probably the best thing would be to create two labels for the different types of cupcakes. If you are selling a package that contains both kinds, then I think it’s okay for you to merge them into one label, but not as useful for the consumer. From what I’ve seen in the grocery store, usually the ingredient lists are separated when a package…[Read more]

I’m not sure about buttercream. Florida’s ag dept has said that it prohibits “milk & dairy products”, but they might allow milk and/or butter in a frosting.

Actually the ag dept’s stance on sampling recently changed, and this element got overlooked when I updated that law page a couple weeks ago. Sorry about that!

You can offer samples as long as they are prepackaged in your home kitchen. They don’t need to have individual labels, but you do need to have a fully-labeled product on-hand to show the…[Read more]

You would need to start using a commercial kitchen and get a license from your health dept. http://forrager.com/faq/#commercial

You would need to start using a commercial kitchen and get a license from your health dept. http://forrager.com/faq/#commercial

Yes, you can use all of those methods, but your sales must be made in-person.

I’m sure it will depend on your state laws and what the health or ag dept in your area decides. I doubt that you can do this with a cottage food law, but perhaps some states would allow it.

Yes, you need to get a license and find a commercial kitchen to use. Most importantly, you need to talk to your health dept about all the steps required in starting the business. http://forrager.com/faq/#commercial

No — that would be considered an indirect sale.

Ashley, you won’t be able to transfer it. You will just need to start up a new business in Florida under their cottage food law, just the same as if you had initially lived there. It’s actually much easier to start a CFO in FL, but also much more restrictive, as you can only sell $15K of product per year.

How to close down your business in GA…[Read more]

Hi! We have a cottage food business in Georgia, but will be moving to Florida in the Summer. How do we stop the business here and start it back up in Florida?

If you can get into a farmers market, that would be a great starting point for all of your items. And also ask around about other markets, like artisanal markets.

Regarding the GF baked goods, I’d say that the success of that is a combination of the GF demand in your area and the types of baked goods you’re offering. Some people have been quite…[Read more]

Hi Lauren, I think that’s totally dependent on what you are selling! For instance, custom cakes are best done from home. What are you planning to make?