Here's a link to the New England Food Safety Consortium. I'm sure there's something similar in your area. This link will give you a general idea though of regulations you'll likely encounter. There could be, and probably are, both state & local home-kitchen laws. You'll also need a business license & insurance.

Phoning your local Cooperative Extension office is a great place to start...they'll either have all of the info you're asking about or will direct you to the correct office. In case you're unfamilar with them, the Cooperative Extension system is a nationwide, non-credit educational network. Each U.S. state and territory has a state office at its land-grant university and a network of local or regional offices. They are a wealth of information on everything from gardening, livestock, food preparation/preserving, home food businesses, to general home economics. For the most part, their services are free. They do charge for somethings like soil tests but that won't be applicable to what you're looking for. I'd expect they'll send you a large packet of info...all free...that will answer most all of the questions you've got.

Unfortunately, due to the requirements placed on a home kitchen...it takes a little money before you can start making money. Some communities have "Community Commercial Kitchens" that you can rent by the hour...ask your Cooperative Extension agent if any are located near your location.

Good Luck!
/tricia

I also like the personal chef idea. There are probably a lot of different things you can do. Good luck. I know what it is like to need money. Who doesn't?

Duane

Alternatives--how about being a personal chef? Where you hire out to cook in other people's homes? There are websites of info on getting started with that.

Another option--if you create your own recipes, how about recipe contesting? There's huge money to be made in that. At any given time there are probably 40-50 or more open contests. Other than maybe subscribing to a good cooking contest website, there are no start-up costs, and very little day to day expense. However, DO keep careful records of ANY money you spend on contesting (internet, ingredients, equipment, travel expenses, phone, etc) because if you do happen to win, you'll need those records at the end of the year when you do your taxes (and you'll need a good accountant who can get things set up properly for you, so you can minimize your tax liablity).

I also know a woman who had a friend who was a professional woman who liked to cook dinner for her family when she got home from work--but didn't have the time to do the planning/shopping, etc. So the woman I knew would get recipes together, do the shopping, and have everything ready for the professional woman when she got home.

I've had the somewhat lame brained and somewhat brilliant idea of providing college students with meals, particularly the vegetarian college students. My daughter fussed the whole year she was in the dorm at the school she attended because the vegetarian offerings were very limited and not very palatable. I thought it would be neat to cater to that clientele. The obvious problem with this idea is that college students don't have money, and if they do have money to spend on food, there's plenty of restaurants around colleges that provide the same service. Still, it's a fantasy of mine to reach out to these students somehow with a better alternative than fast food or restaurant food or lousy dorm food.

If there's a way to make something like that work, (ha ha) it's an idea for you.

Sally

Dinner parties, cooking clubs, and cooking classes from your home can work. Because it's your home and not restaurant it falls out of the requirements of the county health regulations in my area. Be prepared for a boat load of work and you have to be a very good planner and shopper to keep the costs reasonable enough to make any money. You need a space large enough and nice enough to bring 12 to 30 people in.

If this is interesting to you, look for similar offereings in your town or proximity and a attend a few to get an idea how it works to see if you're up to the challenge and ready to put your own spin on it.

michaelp

But it is worth a try, to ask about, what you want to do.
Imn, that is , not you.
Did you see the Monster Bread ?
Lou

I have a friend who does the personal chef thing. She has made a specialty of catering to people with particular dietary needs, and has thousands of recipes...low salt, low fat, vegetarian, hi fiber, low fiber etc.

If you are very good with desserts, sometimes a restaurant will contract out with a single person to supply all their desserts. A restaurant I worked for did that, and the lady used our kitchen during our off hours. One bit on that, if you were to do it, make sure it's clear from the get go who "eats" the spoiled desserts...those that don't sell or those that get broken or become unusable for other reasons.

Check out "cottage industries" for your area. My daughter is a chocolatier (working from home) and sells at the farmers markets. There are women there who sell jams/jellies, baked goods and bread is always in demand. In today's world, many working women do not have the time or inclination for these things.

Good luck

If you can, look for a short (prob one day) course at your local CommColl for home based businesses, and even the ebay courses a lot of places have. That will help you with paypal and such items.

I do agree about looking for a venue to rent for a kitchen. That is what my catering friend in Portland does. She has a client base of a couple of law firms, steady and dependable. She was able to go about a year or so w/o hired help but it was daunting. If this is the direction you are interested in, start thinking now of who you might be able to hire on a p/t basis...a dependable!! person which can be the downfall of a lot of small businesses. You are willing to work your bippy off but your employee might decide to Paaar-tee! and not show up.

I'm sure the right thing will come to you..best wishes in your future of abundance. Keep telling yourself...There are no shortages! Maureen

That's a great idea, and worth investigating...perhaps the health regulations regarding kitchens would be less stringent than for human food? Then you wouldn't have to deal with renting kitchen space.