# Business License



## foodie4life (Jun 29, 2007)

If I am just starting out, no commercial kitchen though. I just go to clients houses and prepare or get the food ready there. What type of License should I apply for? I was told about something called a Mobile Caterer, but for some reasons that want work. Any thoughts? It is crucial that I get it asap!


----------



## jbd (Mar 17, 2008)

You really should talk to your local or state health inspector. They will have the correct information for your state.


----------



## izbnso (May 12, 2007)

You might not fall under the local health dept's pervue if you are cooking in someone's home or other "on site" places. For example: in my area I can have six coffe pots running 24/7 in a commercial retail establishment and bring in pastry from outside and unless I have coffee syrups with pumps to dispence the syrup the health dept has no jurisdiction. Sugar, creamer etc doesn't count either, just the pumps because they have to be rinsed. Crazy, but true.

Your best bet is to call city hall because it sounds like the only license you might be under pressure to get is a business license for tax collecting purposes. Call the health dept first to see if they regulate your type of service at all (in most Southern states there is no sales tax on a service so you don't have to charge it or collect it). Then check with city hall for the same type of business license that a cleaning service might need.

If you keep refering to your business as a service you might save yourself some tax related headaches. Might not be true for your area, it just depends on local business regulations.


----------



## tsc (May 27, 2008)

Hi. I operated as a personal chef here in Richmond VA for a while before securing a commercial kitchen to operate from. I called the business licensing department and was informed that as long as I only used the client's kitchen for food prep then all that was needed was a business license- no health dept approval required. I kept putting off being licensed and going forward with a business like this as the idea of obtaining correct licensing was intimidating. In actuality it was a piece of cake and so great to be able to start off with legal aspects all in order.
Hope this helps and good luck


----------

