So how to get a permit to sell food from home.

Posted by Damian Roberti on June 14, 2022

So how to get a permit to sell food from home.

So if you're looking to start a home based food business, which so many of our viewers here are marketing food online, get their start at home. Actually the vast majority of food businesses actually start at home. You need to understand what permits licenses and even insurance you potentially will need to have. I've got a great list right here. I'm gonna cover each one of them and explain to you what they are and roughly how much they cost for you to give. We're gonna dive those permits, licenses, home food.

All right. So welcome back to market, eat food online. It is Damian, and I've got a great video in store for you. If you are going to start at home based food business, if you're kind of lost and not familiar with the process, and you're getting a lot of missed information and mixed up information online, I wanna try to clarify it. I've got a great list here of hermits licenses and insurance that you may actually need. And in some states, some of the states do not require for certain licenses and insurances, but you should get them. And I'll explain a little bit more about that as well. But before we do definitely hit the subscribe button and the bell notification, we've got a ton of great videos. We upload videos all week long as well. Check out down below. We have a YouTube memberships program as well.

So how to get a permit to sell food from home.

The little button below this video, that's kind of blue looking and says, join. You can actually click on that. And there's a video. That'll explain to you more about our memberships program with different perks and different types of products for you to enjoy at different levels. So let's jump right into it. Let's get to it and waste no time. At the end of the video, stay all the way to the end. I've got three additional resources I'm gonna pop up here on the screen. That would be great for you if you were starting a home based food business. So check out the video from beginning to end. It's only going to benefit you. Number one. So you may or may not actually need to get this. This is a food handle, handlers permit card food handlers permits fall. Of course, under the permits column. Food handlers permit is actually a course

That many states do require cottage food operators to have. This is a course that you can actually study online, but I believe most of the time it's taken in person, you'll have to be at a, at a facility to take the course in order for you to get certified. But food handler course are fantastic. Believe it or not. It's great to understand, even if your state doesn't have it, I even recommend you even try to take one online and learn a little bit more about it. It talks about food, sanitation, how to prepare food, how to hold food, how to keep your ingredients cool, and what temperatures. And there's just a vast amount of really useful information. Not every state will require this, but many of them under the cottage food laws will have you do this. It's not very difficult to take.

So how to get a permit to sell food from home.

It's pretty simple, but it's got a, a load of actual great resources and information in it. And when you do take it, it ranges between about 75 to a hundred dollars. And that's known at a, as a food handler's permit. And again, most states do require these types. You wanna check specifically with the city or county that you are looking to start your home based food business in that's where you can get the yes or a no on that one. Now next up, this is something that a lot of home based food entrepreneurs are unaware that it actually exists. And, and this is true because many owners associations will actually need to get another approval, thumbs up or thumbs down. This is not a city or county permit, but I've actually heard, I have had emails from people who've said, Hey, I was trying to do a business at home, but our homeowner's association levy to permit fee or a fine, because they didn't know that I was making food from home.

So if you were looking to start in a neighborhood and you have a homeowner's association, also known as an HOA, they do sometimes have permits and you need to actually follow what they say too, because they are the ones running the show in your neighborhood and believe it or not, they can find you in some cases, if homeowner's associations buy laws within that little booklet that you get, when you buy a neighbor by a neighborhood, when you buy a house in a neighborhood with a homeowners association, they're gonna give you a booklet information about their homeowners regulations and such. They actually sometimes require you to pay a permit. And some people don't even realize they're doing this. And if you do get caught, it's actually gonna be a fine, but it's much cheaper just to get the permit, which is between about 50 to a hundred dollars.

So how to get a permit to sell food from home.

Now, just to let you know, really quick, the amount of money that I'm showing you on these permits licenses and insurances are pretty much averages. Apart across the board, we checked into a lot of research on different areas within the country, different regions to find out what are people actually paying and what are those averages? So some of these actually might be a lot cheaper than what I'm telling you. And some of 'em may be a little bit more than what I'm telling you, but these are really good ballpark figures to help you understand it. Next up. Number three, under permits is local event permits. Now this has nothing to do with cottage, food, local events. If you go to an event, they are not part of cottage food laws, so they can levy whatever type of permit they choose. For example, farmer's markets, farmers, markets local events or community events.

So if you go into a farmer's market and you actually go there setting up a booth in such, and they're gonna say, Hey, Damien, you know what? It's actually $75 per day or the whole weekend for like 200 bucks, or they'll say, you know what? It's a flat fee that we're gonna charge you, plus 5% of whatever you sell. So keep this in mind that if you're looking to create a local home base for business and you begin to get into the community and attend different events, it's not free. Most of the time, it's not free. So you need to be aware of it. And it's about 75 bucks to sometimes up to $200. If you have the opportunity to do it, where you can pay a flat fee, I would recommend that because if you did really well over the weekend and they take a percentage, it could be well over 7,500 or $200.

So how to get a permit to sell food from home.

You could be giving them four or $500 worth of your profits because you're doing it based on percentage. So something, a lot of people don't don't think about. So the local event, next one is a home inspections permit. So believe it or not, you will possibly have a home inspections permit. And this is to pay either the health department or whatever government agency is overseeing the cottage food operations in that city or county to pay someone like me. If I work for that agency to come there and to do the inspections. So in some cases you may have at home inspections permit, this is between about a hundred to 125. And again, these are not really gigantic fees. When you think about it, most of these also are annual. So you're not gonna be paying this every single month. It's just something that you pay every 12 months.

And if you broke it up over every month, it's like $10. That's not really, really much. Okay. But a home inspections permit is something that is a permit you may have to be associated with when you get a cottage food business up and running next up is the health department. Now this is not necessarily a home inspections. There are some health departments under cottage food that will charge you about 125 to $175. And this is for the health department to either have you on record, keep track of your cottage food. Not a lot of states have this, but health departments within certain cities and counties will require you to be quote unquote on record, knowing that you are preparing products within that city or county. So the health department has to maintain the record. So they charge you a fee and all that, but they don't necessarily come and inspect your kitchen where you're working at home.

So how to get a permit to sell food from home.

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Now let's dive into some licenses now, cottage food licenses. It was kind of shocking when we did a little bit of research about this, but most of the states that offer cottage food, businesses of any kind don't require a business license. I know it sounds odd, but they don't. If you operate a quote unquote home based food business, you would think that they would have a law requiring you to have it, but they don't. Now with that being said, like I said, it's not in every single city or state in every single county, but the business license is something that if you don't need it and you can get it, I would recommend you do that. Okay? Now we're getting into some of the, the licenses and insurance things that are not necessarily required under cottage food. Here's the reason why when you start to operate any business of any kind, especially a food business, where people are consuming your food, I've done a lot of videos here talking about the legalities of it.

Cottage food operators, aren't required to have business licenses, but as you get a business license, it's gonna protect you along with creating an LLC. Of course, an LLC is a league is a limited liability company. That's actually an entity status for your business. A lot of states don't require this under cottage food, but when you get a business license and you create that LLC. And then in a moment, when I talk about the importance of insurance, you're gonna understand that there is a liability on your shoulders. And if you're willing to take that, Hey, that's fine. That's up to you. That's your decision. But if you can create that business entity and get your business license, it's gonna separate you from your business. And it's gonna help. It's gonna give you a lot less headaches in the long run when operating a business from home.

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So how to get a permit to sell food from home.

That's, what's kind of really unusual. It's kind of caught me off guard when they do have laws in place to let you really operate a business from home, but they don't require business license next up cottage food license. Yes. Now some states do have this on the books and it is called actually a cottage food license. This is an annual license that is issued for cottage food operators. And the average for that is around a hundred to 150 bucks. So cottage food license is something that actually does exist. There are states that do require that as well. They don't really classify it or name it as a business license, but in essence, that's really what it is. But I wanted to bring this video to you so you can understand some of the terminology too. You can see this, and if you actually have to follow this, you'll understand what it means.

So yes, cottage food license, we'll permit you to actually create your food business at home and sell it next up. This is something that many food truck owners and home based food business operators don't know that this actually exists. And in some cases you will get into trouble. So I'm hoping that I can educate some of you so you don't get into trouble about this, but multi-city business licensing. Now let me explain what this means. A lot of times when you have a multi-city business license, okay? And this runs into here from 125 to $200. Now let me explain what this means. Many food trucks that cross over a city line or a county line, and even a state line. When you operate a business where you're transacting in that city or county, that you don't have a business license in, you have to have a business license in.

So how to get a permit to sell food from home.

Does that make sense? Every time you go over to a new city, you're actually conducting business in someone else's city, not the one that you have a license in. So you may actually have to have a multi city or county business license in every single city or county you operate in. Yes, it's actually true. You need to double check with the city or county that you're going to, for instance, if you're in Florida and you have a business in Miami, and yet you go over to Ft, Lauderdale, you go over to Orlando, you go to Tallahassee, you go to other places and conduct a business. You need to make sure that you don't have to have a business license while you're there. Same thing goes for cottage food operators, because many cottage food operators go to farmer's markets in other cities or counties, right?

And if you go to farmer's market, you go to festivals, you go to events, whatever it may be, a concert, a wine cheese festival, whatever it is, you need to make sure that you are covering yourself. And you've got a license to operate there. And in some cases you have to go even further than that. And if you need to collect any sales tax, it has to be remitted to that city or county. A lot of people don't realize that that's true, but it is okay. Lastly, really important is the insurance now, cottage food operators, going back to this again, they are not necessarily needed to have this, which is unusual in my opinion, but whatever policy. Now, this will cost you a food business policy. Don't cover what this means about 500 to $600 a year on average, roughly for a basic food product liability product liability is a type of insurance policy, which will cover your food products.

So how to get a permit to sell food from home.

And it needs to be a food policy, business li business insurance policy. But it makes sure that somebody they get sick. If there's any I elements or anybody gets sick or have allergic reactions, or they have hospital bills or they lose work. If they come to find out that it's your fault and they wanna Sue you well, insurance. And of course, an LLC and a business license is gonna separate Damien from Damien's business. They can pursue the business, but not Damien personalized. So having this type of coverage, again, it's really odd, but they don't require it with home based food businesses in most states, actually a lot of states I've even heard of, that's not required, but I recommend you get it. Okay? Do that because you definitely wanna protect yourself from any potential liability and issues with your product. Just like any other product you're selling, you need to have product liability.

We have to have product liability. We have insurance because we sell our products online and we ship them everywhere. So we have to make sure that we have that. So if you're looking to figure out how to get a permit, to sell food from home, these are, this is a rundown of these different variations and types that you may come across. Just so you're more educated. That's why I do this video and that'll help, you know, whether or not you need to get it. So you have me check out these videos here. We also pop up some extra resources right there at the end of the video that help you understand your home based food business. You have questions about this, let us know down in the comments and make sure you subscribe. If you've got anybody, you know, who could benefit from our channel, please do share. We do always appreciate that. I'll see you guys on our next video.

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