Cook Wrap Sell. Bruce McMichael
your niche?
So, do you want to be a cupcake-baker, bread-maker, food stylist or photographer, recipe-writer or wedding-caterer – to create artisan produce or dream up international brands?
There are endless ways you can turn your passion for food into a business.
Start by asking: what is my niche? What skills, experience and interests in food do I have, and what marketplace(s) does this lead to?
The right speciality, effectively occupied, will be profitable. And don’t feel you have to run away from competitive markets or reinvent the (cheese) wheel. It’s okay to do things just slightly differently, maybe just more effectively, than others out there.
What twists of your own can you add?
TIP: Consider Fraser Doherty of Scotland’s SuperJam business (www.superjam.co.uk). As a fresh-faced 14-year old, Fraser used his grandmother’s recipe and his mother’s kitchen to enter the overcrowded jam market – standing out by making it healthy and fun. SuperJam is now selling all over the UK and building a strong export market.
The three Cs of the food business
There are three Cs that are key to every successful food business:
Cuisine
Offer food that you’re familiar with and can produce at consistently high quality. You want clients that clean their plates and come back for more, and you want to be able to successfully serve them when they do.
Cook
Although you might be a great cook, you mustn’t rest on your laurels. A successful food business will require you to challenge yourself and improve all the time. You may also need to hire staff at some stage. This is one of the most difficult and important tasks of a small business owner. Great chefs produce great food. Be prepared to nurture them so you can handle other aspects of the business.
Concept
A focused concept is important. Specialising in a particular service helps potential clients quickly grasp what you offer. It also helps you direct your marketing efforts and build your reputation.
Think in terms of food sources, locations, events, meal types – all filtered through your own talents and interests – and potential combinations of these.
Here’s an example of a gourmet catering/private chef business. They started with an interest in hog roasts. This led to the following notes as they worked up their business idea:
Experience: hog roasts
Locations: outdoor, BBQs
Ethnic variations: Southeast Asia, Italian, South American/Peruvian
Events: weddings, anniversaries, birthdays, funerals
Other possibilities: sandwiches for offices, cafés
Research
“When I walk into my kitchen today, I am not alone. Whether we know it or not, none of us is. We bring fathers and mothers and kitchen tables, and every meal we have ever eaten. Food is never just food. It’s also a way of getting at something else: who we are, who we have been, and who we want to be.”
– Molly Wizenberg, A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from My Kitchen Table (2009)
Researching the market to find and test your business ideas is vital. “Just because you cook it, it does not mean that they will come,” warns Olga Astaniotis of The Olive Grows, a company offering start-up companies kitchen space and business advice.
“The subjective opinions of your friends and family and even the uniqueness of your product do not necessarily equate to a brilliant business idea that you are equipped to execute.”
You will need to make some very smart decisions throughout your business life. Especially in the business’s early days. This starts with research.
First steps
Here are ten places to start finding and testing your ideas for a food business.
1 Ask your local deli or farm shop what they would like to see on their shelves.
2 Social media – get on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube and ask people what they’re interested in. Upload photos and videos of different food ideas you’ve had and see which get the warmest response.
3 The media: TV, magazines and newspapers are a good indication of current food trends. Listen to The Food Programme on BBC Radio 4, and check out great food bloggers.
4 How can you improve upon existing products? Think in terms of flavour and nutrition. Both are big selling points.
5 Attend food networking events, go to food shows, festivals, farmers’ markets. Get to know local producers and feed off their enthusiasm.
6 Discover new ingredients in speciality shops and delis.
7 Make a list of everyday food and drink and think about how you could improve on it. Do the same for your favourite meals – both home-cooked and from restaurants.
8 Explore the science of nutrition in a short course.
9 Sign up for advanced-level cookery lessons.
10 Ask family and friends. (And experiment on family and friends!)
Networking group More to Life Than Shoes has three research tips for budding foodie entrepreneurs beginning to explore the possibilities out there:
“1. Get skilled up
“Learn as many new and useful skills as possible. Go on courses – computing, bookkeeping, food safety. Get qualified. Volunteer for a charity or community group in your sector to gain contacts and skills.
“2. Embrace the side project
“Use time on the train, during lunch, on the bus. Learn as much as you can. Read cookbooks, cookery and lifestyle magazines. Question friends, family, people on farmers’ market stalls.
“3. Break it down
“If you have a job, don’t immediately resign. Once you know what you want to do, break it down into smaller steps and take them one at a time. These aren’t scary things when you start out small, and they’ll make things happen.”
More to Life Than Shoes | www.moretolifethanshoes.com
“You’ll need to look after yourself. Catering requires a certain level of fitness to handle the amount of physical work involved: from transporting heavy items to standing on your feet cooking and serving at a dinner or behind a market stall in the cold and rain for hours.”
– Henrietta Green of FoodLovers Britain (www.foodloversbritain.com)
You’ll know your hobby is ready to become a business when:
You make your children tell you about their school dinners so you can do a nutritional analysis.
You have taken to scribbling down brilliant recipe ideas in the middle of the night.
Your partner is losing sleep and putting on weight.
Source: Country Living magazine
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