Cooking as a Home Based Business
Start a Home Based Party Business - Bake and Decorate Cakes Like a Pro - Start Your Own Cake Decorating Business - Become a Caterer - Be a Personal Chef
Cooking is a Great Idea for a Home Based Business if Cooking or Baking is Your Passion

Professional Home Kitchen Design Idea All appliances are commercial grade. This design illustrates the well-planned work triangle.

Navigate This Page:
Government Regulations
Your Home Kitchen Set-up
Food Handling Safety
Equipment Tools and Gadgets
Pricing Your Services

Related Pages:
Party Ideas and Menus for your Party Planning Service
Time Management
Free Recipes for your Family and your Business
Nutrition Basics
Family Dinners

Learn to Bake Like a Pro. Video Cake Course.
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Cake Decorating Business Secrets. Insider Secrets from a Professional Cake Decorator. How to Make a 6 Figure Income with your home based cake decorating business.   Click Here!

 World Class Baker and Cake Decorator, Michael Prudhomme teaches his
 Yummy Arts. Party Cakes, Cookies, Candies. Start Your Own Business.
 Click Here! to get online video training.

Fully Equip Your Kitchen For Your Home Based Party Business!  Slow Cookers.  Pressure Cookers.  Durable Stainless Steel Cookware.  Chef's Cutlery.  Bakeware.  Quality Brands For Best Results. 
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The creative art of cooking or baking is an expression of yourself. Your mind is brimming with wonderful ideas for healthy recipes and party menus. Use these ideas to start a home based party business. What better way to earn a living than to do something that you love.  Something you're passionate about.  Something you enjoy.  Something that makes you happy.  Someone once said that if you make something you love your career, you'll never work a day in your life.  Going to work every day will be fun. Publicize your home based cooking business with an online presence - a website built with Site Build It!'s exclusive Content-Traffic-Presell-Monetize system - and you'll have more business than you can handle. Make money doing what you love and stay home with your children.  That's the best of both worlds.  Read the SBI! testimonials in the column at right. You'll find some of my personal recipe ideas in the pages of this site to get you started.  Others are adaptations from cookbooks and other sources to which I have brought my own ideas, style and flavors.  I've even changed some of the ingredients.   I invite you to do the same, and use your own ideas to make these a unique expression of your own culinary talents. Restock your cookbook library from Amazon's incredible inventory.  Combine and modify the recipes to make them unique.  Make them yours.  That's how you make yourself remembered and sought after... and well paid!!  But before you begin, there are some things you need to know if you're starting a home based business in catering, personal "cheffing", food styling, cooking for parties, cake decorating - or any other food based home business where your cooking skills would be in demand.

 

Site Build It! Testimonials from Real SBI! Owners

"I feel so fortunate to be a part of it and I suppose I'd be considered "one of the lucky ones," living the best of both worlds... at home to raise my kids, giving them the gift of always being there for them, while running a successful business at the same time. Passion, freedom and fulfillment... does it get any better?!" ~ Michelle Schill style-hair-magazine.com http://case-studies.sitesell.com/home-biz-chef.html#WAHM "I'm not kidding, Ken (but I am bragging a touch). We started our business with zero customers. Every single one of our customers this year came from SBI generated leads." ~ Jerry Mack Sonomahealth.com http://case-studies.sitesell.com/home-biz-chef.html#LEADS "I am thrilled with the direction my business is going. I believe in the "Law of Attraction" where I am seeing many more good things being unfolded right before my eyes. And what's amazing above it all is that it doesn't seem like I'm selling. People who contacted me have already been sold on my website. They have already seen and felt my passion and know that they want what I have to offer. When they call me, their mind was already made up to make that purchase." ~ Sara Ding Juicing-for-health.com http://case-studies.sitesell.com/home-biz-chef.html#MLM "If you are just starting out to create an internet home for your business, know this. C T P M is an unstoppable success story when you do it like the Action Guide says. If you are a corporate executive, don't assume SBI is not for your company." ~ Richard Cannon WebsiteDesignBuilders.com http://case-studies.sitesell.com/home-biz-chef.html#RICHARD

Catering Business in a Box. Everything you need to get started. Take a look.
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What You Need to Know Before
You Start Your Home Business

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You Must Comply with Government Regulations When You're Cooking as a Home-Based Business

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The first thing you should do is contact your local government regulatory body to determine their guidelines and laws regarding cooking at home for profit.

You can find this information online at your city's website, and for additional business start-up information and guidelines, buy new and/or deeply discounted books at Amazon.com to help get you going.

You may need an Occupational/Operating License, especially if you plan to apply for government funding to start your business. You will also need to register your company name and get an Employer Identification No. (EIN) for tax purposes.

If you have a CPA, he can handle this for you, or you can find the proper agency online and do it yourself. 

Get Startup Help Here

LegalZoom online is a good one for assistance with the legalities of setting up and incorporating your company.

Some States don't regulate catering from your home kitchen, but they do regulate baked goods, especially wedding and party cakes.  Others are the opposite.  Most require that your home kitchen be licensed and open to inspection if you're cooking for profit.

Make sure of your State's regulations before you start operating your home based cooking business.  You don't want to have some inspector come in and shut you down on a day when you are in the midst of preparing a customer's party menu.

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Designing, Re-arranging and SettingUp Your Home Kitchen For Your Home Based Business

The design and layout of your home kitchen will have some bearing on how well you are able to produce the quantities of food you require, as well as being in compliance with State regulations.

In Florida they require that you have a separate range and oven for the business, as well as a refrigerator and freezer used only for your commercial venture.  You could buy these on eBay and install them in your garage after getting the necessary permits.

As far as the convenience of a well-designed work space goes, observing the following guidelines will make your experience less stressful.  Remember, you're in this to have fun as well as make money.

Good lighting and ventilation are a must.

• The Work Triangle - Refrigerator, Range, Sink.  These should be relatively close together and within easy reach of your work table.  This makes for more efficient production and will help in keeping your work space uncluttered and safer.
• Work Surface - You should have a large work table at a comfortable height so you can work without bending over for long periods of time.  This helps to avoid straining your back.  Stainless steel or hardwood are preferable.  A large marble or granite island in your kitchen is also an excellent choice if you already have one or can afford to have one put in.

The Work Triangle.  Commercial appliances.  Stainless steel surfaces.

• Have open storage shelves under this table or area so you can keep the work surface uncluttered
  as you  work and still have what you need close at hand.
• A separate storage area for your supplies, tools, and equipment is also a good idea. 
  This will allow you to efficiently keep track of your inventory, utensils, and ingredients.
•  Basically -  Keep your home based business and its equipment separate from your household supplies and you
  should be OK with the government as well as with your production activities. 

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Handling Food Safely

Food safety is a huge concern these days as we learn more about bacterial contamination etc.  If you have a home based party business, these guidelines MUST be observed.

Typical guidelines are

• Wash your hands properly and often, especially before and after handling meats, cheese, eggs or chicken.  You should use water as hot as you can tolerate, preferably about 130° F, and plenty of soap.  The process should take from 30 - 40 seconds to be sure as much bacteria as possible are removed.  Dry your hands on single use paper towels and discard after each use.
• Leave your apron in the kitchen on trips to the rest room and wash your hands meticulously before returning to the kitchen.  Dry hands with paper towels and use a towel to turn the water off and to open the door to leave the rest room.
• Use separate chopping boards for meats, especially chicken, fruit and vegetables to avoid cross-contamination.
• Keep your knives and other utensils meticulously clean.  Wash in hot water and dry after each use.
• Clean work surfaces with a bleach solution - 1-2 capsful bleach to 1 gallon of water - before each use.  Wipe down again during the workday every 2 to 3 hours, especially if you're working with eggs, cheese, and meats.
• When handling food that is not going to be cooked again before serving, such as a dessert or salad, wear disposable gloves and discard after each use.  Use a new pair of gloves if you should happen to sneeze or touch any uncooked meats, or body part, during the preparation of the dish.
• Hair must be covered and if it is long, it should be contained in a hair net.
• Fingernails must be short, unpolished and clean.
• Keep perishable foods such as dairy, meats and vegetables refrigerated.
• Trash cans must be covered and several feet away from the food prep area.
• When storing food items, remember the following - FIFO - First In First Out.  Store your new purchases behind previous purchases and use the oldest first.  Pay careful attention to expiration or use-by dates and discard as appropriate.
• In the refrigerator or freezer - keep meats and fish at the bottom, dairy and produce above.
• When storing dry goods and other food items on shelving, the lowest shelf must be a minimum of six inches off the floor.
• Floors should be able to be wet mopped with a cleaning solution after meal preparation.

At service

• Pay attention to food temperatures, especially when serving at a buffet, and make sure food is held at the proper serving temperature to retard the growth of bacteria.  Hot foods must be hot and cold foods, cold.  Use sterno under chafing dishes and warming trays to achieve this. Keep cold food cold by nesting dishes in bowls of ice.  A kitchen thermometer is a good investment.  Take it with you to the event to keep tabs on the temperatures. Hot food should be held between 140 °F as the lowest temperature, and
  145 °F or slightly warmer as the high.  Cold foods need to be held at 40 °F.  Perishable foods should not be left out at room temperature for more than 2 hours (1 hour when the atmospheric temperature is above 90 °F).  Click Here for in-depth information on this subject. 
• Have enough serving pieces available to avoid possibly transferring bacteria or bits of other foods from one dish to another.
• Have a plate, small tray or a pretty charger at the side of each dish where guests can place the serving piece after serving themselves if service is buffet style.  This will go a long way to preventing spoons from slipping into the serving dish and having to be fished out.  It will also reduce stains to your table linen.
• Supervise as much of the service as possible, and to make sure there is always a clean utensil being used, bring along extras.
• Pay meticulous attention to detail.

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Equipment You'll Need

 Basic kitchen equipment for your home based party business should include -

Chopping Boards. Blenders.
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• Three professional knives - 1 large chef's knife, 1 small paring knife, 1 medium to large serrated knife
• A steel for sharpening your knives
• Tongs for turning meats and tossing salads 
• A range top grill - either as part of your range or a grill pan
• Pot spoons, skimmers, forks and ladles
• A food processor
• A blender, preferably an immersion blender
• A stand mixer as well as a hand mixer
• Chopping boards - at least four to avoid cross contamination of meats and vegetables 
• Measuring cups and spoons for liquid and dry ingredients
• A scale for accurately measuring your ingredients, especially for baking
• Kitchen scissors
• Meat thermometer
• A sieve
• Rolling pin
• Can opener
• Wooden mixing spoons
• Two sets of mixing bowls - tempered glass and stainless steel
• Several spatulas, lifters and turners - silicone and stainless steel
• Two whisks -- 1 balloon, 1 piano
• A set of stainless steel heavy-bottomed professional grade cookware - saucepans, skillets, etc.

  Home Kitchen Remodel Design.
  --Gail Drury for HGTV

• Two non stick skillets - 1 large, 1 small
• A set of basic baking pans, cookie sheets and muffin tins
• Sheet pans - full and half
• Parchment paper
• Pastry brush / basting brush
• A colander
• A variety of serveware - dishes, plates, platters, bowls, trays, etc 
• A variety of serving utensils - serving spoons, slotted spoons, forks, tongs, ladles, etc.

Finding all these items can be daunting but shopping online for them can save you time and money. Look for Free Shipping offers and sale prices.  Kitchen Universe and Amazon have a wide selection of professional cookware, bakeware, tools, equipment and appliances.  Purchase durable, high quality cookware at the outset and you'll always get good results.  They will stand up to the wear and tear of everyday use without need for replacement.  This is one business investment that is well worth the expense.

Nice to Have -

• Deep fryer

  Mortar And Pestle, Red Marble - $ 16.15 Retail Price: 17.95 You Save: $1.80

• Slow Cooker for your family meals
• Pressure Cooker for quick cooking of your family meals
• VitaMix Blender/Food Processor
• Food mill
• Double boiler
• Roaster
• Meat mallet
• Mandoline for slicing thin strips of vegetables and French Fries 
• Mortar and pestle for mashing fresh herbs to release their flavor
• A steamer with enough baskets to steam a full meal -- at least 3.  (This will enable you to "set and forget" a meal for your family while you work on your business.) 
• A salad spinner for drying salad greens
• A Titan Peeler for easy zesting, slicing and a myriad of other little tasks.  It's inexpensive and very versatile.

Click Here for where to shop for some of these. 

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Free Recipes for your Family and your Home Based Cooking Business

Pricing Your Services

Set your party menu prices with complete confidence.  When you use this system of working out the pricing of your home based party business menu items, you will maximize your profits.

Here's an excerpt from an article on the subject of pricing, from the SiteBuildIt! website.

Know Your Perfect Price™ in 50 Minutes

"Why is the Perfect Price™ so important?" That depends on whether you are considering a new product concept, launching a new product, or managing existing ones...

Considering a new product concept? Not sure if it will fly? Imagine if you could know how much people would pay. You'd know if this new idea was worth pursuing... or not (think of the dollars and time saved).

Launching a new product? How will you price it? How do you know the absolutely perfect price -- the price that will maximize your income, right from the outset?
 

"Sophisticated pricing offers opportunities
for extreme profit improvements."
H. Klein, CEO Passenger Division of Lufthansa Airlines

How extreme? Consider this... suppose your net profit margin is 10%. If you could increase the price of your product by 10% without losing unit-sales, you would double your net profit margin to 20%.

A 10% increase in price would increase your profits by 100%.

Or let's say that you decrease the price of your product from $89 to $79. If that doubles sales, wouldn't that more than make up for slightly lower margins?

Up until now, it has been impossible for the small-to-mid-sized business to know exactly what price increase would still maintain unit-sales. Nor could you clearly see exactly what price decrease would double sales. Up until now, there has never been a way to know.

Now there is.  Now you can know your Perfect Price™. 

Free Recipes for your Family and your Business
Family Dinners 
Nutrition Basics 
Party Ideas and Menus for your Party Planning Service

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