Rajesh Anandakrishnan

You need a commercial license, which will free you from almost all of the limitations you’re concerned about: http://forrager.com/faq/#commercial

You do need to talk to your health dept and I think Etsy is a good place to start online. However, local sales are usually an easier starting point for getting a food business off the ground.

Commercial food processing laws are fairly complicated and often county-specific. You should direct your questions to your local health dept. Once you get your business setup, you will be able to sell in most places with relatively few restrictions.

Yes, you always have to pay yearly income taxes.

http://forrager.com/faq/#pet-food

I don’t think there’s any exemption — perhaps the ag dept will allow you to hand out labels separately from the item, or possibly hand out the ingredient list separately.

If you look at some products in stores (like candy bars), you can see that a lot of info can be fit onto a small package. It’s also possible to use some creativity to attach…[Read more]

You will probably still need a business license if your county requires it. However, using the cottage food law will help you bypass a lot of the strict requirements from the health dept, like inspections. I’m not entirely sure if they will allow buttercream frosting, though… check with your ag dept.

It’s probably allowed, but you need to test the product first before you can sell it. http://foodsciencehumannutrition.umaine.edu/food-technology/process-and-product-reviews/

I’d recommend you contact ServSafe to help resolve computer issues, but you could also call your health dept to see if they have any local courses available.

I don’t know if those are allowed, but I’m almost certain that they would require lab testing before you can sell them. Some of them would probably be allowed, but I think some (like apple butter) are generally safer than others (like pear butter), so you might only be able to sell certain types of fruit butters. You will need to talk to the ag…[Read more]

I would say that getting insurance will protect you more than an LLC would. If you haven’t already, you’ll want to read these FAQs:
http://forrager.com/faq/#insurance
http://forrager.com/faq/#llc

I do not think you can do what you suggested. However, it’s worth noting that the “no LLC” info came from this report, which seems extremely wel…[Read more]

Business licenses are usually very county or city-dependent. I’d never heard about a minimal activity license, but after a little searching, it looks like it’s available in some counties for businesses with gross sales of under $10,000. In TN, as a cottage food operation, there is no sales limit, so it depends on what your yearly revenues are. It…[Read more]

I really don’t know. I’d recommend you contact the TN Department of Revenue.

Aimee, I’m not entirely sure. This seems to fall into a gray area, because it’s neither an indirect sale nor a direct sale, really. My guess, which could be wrong, is that this would not be allowed because you are not selling to the end consumer. I’d recommend you call the state ag dept for official clarification.

You don’t need it in the lease agreement (unless your landlord requires that), but it’s really a moot point since you can’t sell homemade vegan burgers anyway.

I really don’t know. This is a very county-specific determination. Sometimes it’s as simple as a written note signed by your landlord. Start by asking the ag dept about it.