Ah yes, the dream of having a cozy, organized shop quickly fades when you realize your "workshop" is just a glorified kitchen counter covered in half-finished products, coffee mugs, and "maybe-just-one-more-order" mess. The line between work and home life is a very thin one. Is anyone else accidentally running a cottage business and a full-time chaos factory? 🙃

Anyone else spent hours setting up their tiny shop, only to realize that the "perfect" new tool you bought is now just a glorified paperweight? My shop feels like a game of Tetris, but the pieces are all made of metal and sawdust. Outsiders think it's a cute hobby, but we all know it’s strategic spatial chaos!

Hi, I would like to start a home kitchen that focuses on vegan meals, cotton candy, naturally carbonated drinks, cakes and possibly chocolate bars. I live in a single family home with my two cats. I am wondering what the pet laws are in VA about having pets in the house? We have an open kitchen (without partition) and while the cats are maintained and kept in our living room, they still have access to the kitchen.

Would this disqualify me from running this business? How do other business owners manage this? Thanks.

Hi! I am currently a class A CFO operating out of LA. I am a sole properitership & registered with a fictitious business name as required by my state & local laws. I am working on getting my class B permit to ensure I can do wholesale- but I am stuck at the business part..Do I HAVE to become an LLC to move on? Can I continue operating as I am, just complete the class B application? I just need advice on the business side of things, the wording is always really confusing to me. Thank you in advance!

Hi!
I'm really struggling with trying to understand what permits I need. I'm in Riverside County, California and looking to apply for a Class A Cottage Food Operation permit. I want to sell at local farmers and night markets. I have three cats at home and my workspace is limited so I want to utilize a commissary kitchen. The commissary kitchen requires me to have an Community Artisan Operation Permit which appears to be different than a CFO. Do I need both to be able to make and sell baked goods? The CFO form for my county asks questions about my in-home kitchen so I'm not sure how to respond to that if I'm not utilizing my at home kitchen. I've included links to the forms. Thanks!

https://rivcoeh.org/sites/g/files/aldnop361/files/2024-09/C-CFO-Registration-Permitting-Form%204.18.24.pdf
https://rivcoeh.org/sites/g/files/aldnop361/files/2024-06/Food-Facility-Application-Registration%206-27-2024.pdf

Hey ya'll, I've come to a fork in the road. I live in Kentucky, and a friend and I have formed a business, part of it being baked goods. We have all our ducks in a row, but as we're making the ingredient labels, one of the requirements is that the date the product is made is on there. Our issue is we are doing pop-ups, farmers markets, or other like events, and we don't know when our next one will be. These are the current requirements. I wondered if maybe we could get one of those stamps where we can set it to whatever the date is, but I didn't know if that would suffice. We just know the labels have to be printed and the date it's produced is required.

Hey all, First post here! Looking for some bright ideas

Rebuilding this old boat house that seems to be on its last limbs. I've attached a number of photos.

There are some giant concrete blocks for foundation. A couple pieces are sinking in.

We are hoping to use the same existing blocks, straighten the sunken ones.

Salavge any wood if possible and reuse it.

We have power run to the structure

Would like to make it a parking space for a watercraft with a garage door along the lakeside. Entry door

Hoping to find some inspiration

Hey all, First post here! Looking for some bright ideas

Rebuilding this old boat house that seems to be on its last limbs. I've attached a number of photos.

There are some giant concrete blocks for foundation. A couple pieces are sinking in.

We are hoping to use the same existing blocks, straighten the sunken ones.

Salavge any wood if possible and reuse it.

We have power run to the structure

Would like to make it a parking space for a watercraft with a garage door along the lakeside. Entry door

Hoping to find some inspiration

Hey everyone. As the title mentions, I have a question on quantity for sale.

I'd like to start up a cottage bakery and I have a set list of about 4 or 5 items I'd like to sell.

While some of the items can sit for a while, I do want to make some bread and rolls which have a shelf life of about a week before needing to be frozen. Rolls and cookies eventually go stale, what are my best ways to prevent this? I can make the smaller items in bulk the day before, or even get up early and fresh bake, but having enough bread seems to be an issue.

I can only make 2 loaves at a time due to only having 2 pans. I'd like to buy more, but I'd want to see if it takes off before investing in equipment.

To my fellow bakers. How do you all produce enough bread for sale? Do you bake, cool, and freeze? How many loaves do you find adequate for sale?

TYIA

Hi reddit community - I’m Rishi and I founded a software company aimed at helping bakers start and grow their food business using a pre-order model. We’ve been around for about 3 years and have grown our community to over a thousand chefs ranging from bakers selling sourdough from home to big businesses like Pop Up Bagels (NYC) and Butter and Crumble (SF).

I spend literally all day talking to bakers that run their own businesses so I have an inside look at how a lot of chefs are running a successful business. The best part of my day is being able to share the insights I learn with the bakers I talk to, and one of our customers recommended that I open up myself and my knowledge to bakers outside of our Hotplate community.

So here I am! If there’s anything I can answer with my unique perspective, reply to this thread and I’ll check back regularly to answer. Some things I can help with:

• Building menus and picking the right items
• Converting your business to a pre-order model
• Optimizing farmers markets
• Integrating different softwares into your workflow
• How successful businesses run social media/email marketing
• General insights into small food biz

xoxo, Rishi

I’m currently building my menu for my micro bakery.. and I noticed some of my recipes wouldn’t be approved due to cream cheese. According to California cottage food laws it can’t be used and neither can dairy.. which I understand has to do with shelf life/refrigeration requirements/water activity.. I found recipes with cream cheese and water activity under 88.. and was wondering if I could use those recipes and just show them the recipe to prove it’s stable? Or because cream cheese is involved is it just an automatic no?

I just wanted to share my latest pendant with everyone.🌲✨

Made from an absolutely gorgeous piece of deep blue labradorite and a tiny Herkimer diamond tucked in the tree. Woven up in polished antiqued copper wire.

I hope you like her! 🖤

I’m seeking to start a home baking business. However, I do happen to see lots of restrictions with the law. I need clarity if whether or not a website can be created for the business? If I can operate a business and take payments as debit or credit cards? And most importantly is Tres Leches cake an allowed item to sale?