Hello to all my wonderful friends on eG forums! (actually, you don't know me, this is my first post..but i have been reading all your posts and topics for over a year!) Long story short, my husband Bradley is a photographer and web designer (http://www.bradleyjensen.com) and I am a "budding" chocolatier with my own 2-yr old home-based business (actually, we are in a renovated old country school house...so that's pretty unique) (http://www.thechocolateseason.com) We are making the leap into a commercial property, where we will share a building, him upstairs, me on the main level with a kitchen a few steps below the main level. (i will try to attach a pic soon of our "drawing" later next week) My question is how do you go about making the transition? We are both self-employed and in our 20's (he's 28 i'm 25), so we don't have a huuuuuuuge budget, but are applying for a couple low interest loans. and our commercial spot we're looking at (bare bones) would be only $500 a month, and then our start up expenses, cabinetry, kitchen supplies etc) one question is: Are there certain materials you can and can not use in the kitchen? (wall materials, backsplash, floor, counter top) How much counter top space do you recommend for production and packaging? Where do you find a quality, but not huge, enrober? (remember the thread where one of our (?) german friends showed us his commercial kitchen, and his 25 lb pot of chocolate that had an attachable enrober/conveyer belt...and it could fold up vertically for storage) any health code regulations i should especially look into? (i'm in NE now, but will be located in IA for commercial when we move) pitfalls, or problems you experienced that i could try to avoid? basically any help in designing a floor plan, kitchen layout, where to find kitchen workspace tables, or equipment, enrober, guitar cutter (or something that would work in place of it) etc...i will try to be more specific later, but i will continue to write about our journey...we are shooting for the move in summer, (hopefully we can sell the school house!) with a store opening in late summer early fall? and any tips on my confections or marketing...always appreciated! i value all your opinions so much! thank you! xoxo erika