via Cupcakes and Corsets

via Much Kneaded Bake Shop on Flickr

via artymcgoo on Flickr

via artymcgoo on Flickr

via Diary of a Mad Hausfrau

via Diary of a Mad Hausfrau

via 2cute2cut.com.au ( Kerry ) on Flickr

Can you say chocolate?  More chocolate?  Then more chocolate?  A little peanut butter for kicks?  It’s intense.  And it’s good. Recipe included.
via The Ginger Snap Girl: Chocolate Chubbies

Sourced from Sarabeth’s Bakery: From My Hands to Yours

Running a home cookie business has several insurance implications you will want to research. I have a tendency to avoid picking up the phone when I fear what the answer will be, but in the case of insurance, knowledge is power and you can’t claim ignorance and hope you will be bailed out of a difficult situation if you don’t get at least minimal insurance for your cookie business. The best thing you can do is talk to a broker. Answer their questions and hear what they have to say. It is part of their job to provide you with information on which you can base your decision. I recommend calling an insurance broker who specializes in small business insurance. You are under no obligation to buy anything. Just research the insurance requirements thoroughly.

If you plan to start a cookie business in your home, you should also place a call to your existing homeowner’s agent to understand the extent to which your current policy covers you. More importantly, you want to understand if operating a home business voids any part of your home and auto policies. Do not hesitate to divulge the full extent of what you are doing in your home and if you deliver, in your car. Should your business activity void your home owner’s policy, it is time to shop around for a new broker .

When you talk to a business insurance broker, you want to get information and quotes on

• Public and product liability
  Liability insurance protects you if someone is injured by your business activity. For example, if a customer breaks a tooth on your cookie.
• Business Insurance
  While your homeowner’s policy won’t cover your business property for losses such as theft or damage, a good business plan will.
• Business auto insurance.
  If you plan to deliver cookies, make sure you’re covered. If you use a delivery business or courier, make sure they do.

These are just a few of the kinds of insurance you may need in you cookie business. Talk to a broker for more information.

Before starting a cookie business from home, you must first resolve one issue above all others: The legality of operating a home based bakery. Is it legal in your community to sell foods made at home? While the answer may not be obvious, requiring research online, via phone calls and possibly in-person, knowing absolutely that it is legal, is the first step. This may be a significant blow to anyone living in states or municipalities where home food production is absolutely illegal who wanted to start a cookie business from home. There are 25 states with cottage food regulations that permit a home cookie business in some capacity including Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming

In states where home processing is illegal, the laws are changing. In fact,  there are eight states with active grass-roots efforts to change the laws. The states are:

California

Facebook Group

Petition

Colorado

Facebook Group: http://www.facebook.com/ColoradoCottageLaw

Georgia

Georgia Cottage Food Law Facebook Page

Louisiana

Louisiana Baker’s Bill 

Maryland

MD Cottage Food Law Facebook Page

Minnesota

MN Cottage-Food-Law

Nevada

NV  Cottage Food Law Facebook Page

South Carolina

Petition

These efforts are very effective in making change happen and while it can feel very slow, especially for those needing the income, in the past few years, we’ve witnessed many states alter their laws to allow home-based baking businesses. If your state is one of those where baking and selling cookies from your home is not permitted, do not give up. Our book outlines many of the creative ways you can work from a commercial kitchen and finance your dream. Yes, it is a cost that bakers in states where home processing is allowed do not incur. However, there are upsides to working from a commercial kitchen for rent or opening a brick and mortar bakery. The growth opportunities are often significantly higher outside of the cottage food regulations.

This video from Julia Sforza of  Half-Pint Preserves shares many of the challenges of the New York Cottage Industry Laws