Do you have a passion for serving people delicious roast beef with incredible topping and then delighting when they give you a five-star rating on one of those apps that rates food spots?
Can you imagine yourself holding the title of the best young entrepreneur of the year in your community and taking a picture with a minor celebrity? (That’s also local, of course.)
‘Course you do, and can.
But here’s a curveball – Are you tough enough to talk calmly for ages with a hysterical customer who gets in your face about the temperature of the lemonade? Or, replace for the fourth time a full plate of your very best meatballs (your nan’s special recipe, no less) just because ‘Oh, a fly briefly landed on it and then went away immediately, but that still makes the whole thing inedible. Can you take it away please?’ (And, yes, there are customers like that – you better believe it.)
Here’s a rough truth – running a food business can be incredibly rewarding, but fairly stressful too, at times, so kick-starting one and then maintaining it is not going to be a walk in the park. In this article, we’re going to list some important matters you need to tend to as a food business starter.
1) Come up With a Business Plan
Simply assembling a couple of willing friends, renting a local venue, and installing a stove in it isn’t going to cut it for starting a food business.
The thing is, food-based businesses often require several different secondary items other than the obvious fridges, stoves, and countertops. Furniture such as chairs, tables, angular sofas (depending on the décor of your restaurant) all requires careful planning to incorporate in your business plan.
So, the first thing about establishing a food business would be to understand what you are going for. Is it a simple hotdog stand, or a fully developed restaurant complete with a cutting-edge kitchen and lavatories?
Another thing you should take into consideration at this stage would be the health and safety aspect of your business, which will always be hovering above your head, so to speak. Therefore, it’s smarter to take care of it sooner rather than later.
Make sure that your cooks and waiters work unsanitary conditions and that the object you’re in has the appropriate kitchen fire duct system in case there’s a fire or some other form of disaster with plenty of smoke. (An overly roasted piece of Poulet Rôti, perhaps?)
2) Assemble a Team
Perhaps there is no business undertaking that benefits more from teamwork than a food-based business.
Here’s the thing – if you have one person that cooks and prepares outlandish meals, another that carries the prepared dish around and serves it, and then a different team that prepares the fresh ingredients enabling it all to run as smooth as greased lightning, you have hit the jackpot.
The truth is, however, that getting to a place where you have such a team of people on your side takes time, patience, and a little bit of trial and error, too.
Therefore, arm yourself with patience, willingness to train new people, and sooner or later you’ll find that special clique that can face any challenge you place before them.
3) Grab the Bureaucracy Bull by the Horns
When it comes to any type of business, bureaucracy will always be there for you to keep a big fat system of checks and balances, lest you manage to acquire some sort of gain against the law, so to speak. Of course, when it comes to running the show with anything that’s got to do with food, you can count those rules and regulations as double as you would otherwise have to face.
This may be annoying and expensive, but ultimately, it’s much wiser to get your permits and licenses at the beginning of your business venture than to worry about surprise inspection visits.
4) Find Your Food Niche
This move is not those faint of heart, so to speak.
While running a restaurant that offers a wide variety of different dishes would certainly be a low-risk choice, establishing your restaurant as a unique place on the food map of your town or city can grant you esteem and fame that you can’t otherwise procure.
Whether it’s high-quality Japanese ramen noodles, or barbeque meat made in one thousand different ways, or even something as simple as a hot dog stand but with a curious twist on it (reflected in the unique toppings, for example), it’s way easier to market your business’s uniqueness if you have something, in particular, to talk about.
The bottom line, as long as you are interested in making your place work and you have a passion for serving people delicious foods, you have a chance at success with a food business. Add to that a sound organization, a mighty team, and a little bit of innovation – and there’s no doubt you’ll be on the right path to culinary glory.
