Steve Kramer

Just based on their application, I believe that pets are never allowed in the home, but you should confirm that with the health dept. If you operated out of a separate building, it would probably have to be a commercial kitchen.

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

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 would need a permit. I believe it would be the same permit that you’d need if you were actually making the cookies and bread.

No — that would be considered an indirect sale.

Yes, you should be able to sell from your home, assuming you have your landlord’s permission.

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?

Jackie, I’m not aware of the specifics for NV, but everything you said sounds about right. If you are only going to sell one cake per month, then I suggest you save some money and just give away the cake for free.