Investigate Legal Issues and Permit Requirements
Depending on where you live, you probably will have to work with several levels of government to be sure that you satisfy all the legal requirements. Local zoning laws may affect where you can do your cooking and how much of your catering business you can actually handle from home. You’ll probably need some sort of permit from the city you live in. It may not be fun and easy getting everything set up legally, but when it’s required you don’t really have a choice.
Starting a business illegally is a bad idea.
State and local taxes
There may be state and local sales taxes to pay. Every state in the U.S. has a website, so you should be able to find this information on the internet. Pay special attention to which goods and services are taxed.
There are links to the business section of every U.S. state official website (as well as the main portal for each state) here.
Health department regulations
Since you’ll be dealing with food and people, you’ll need to find out your local health department regulations. Health department regulations alone may determine whether you can run your catering business completely from your home, or if you’ll need to do some on-site cooking and preparation, or even put together a kitchen somewhere else.
Document everything
As you do your research, learn to document all of your business-related conversations. Later on, when you’re trying to remember exactly who told you what about which form or regulation, you’ll be glad you kept some notes.
