Introduction
Perhaps your heritage gives your recipes an edge, or you are reinventing recipes your great-granny used to make but now with a twist. Maybe you have discovered a niche and are working on recipes with dietary restrictions. Whatever it is, you are now thinking about the possibility of starting your own food business from home.
Many people love the thought of doing something they enjoy and earning a living from it. With home food businesses, often people can feel they don’t have any professional experience or training, and it can be hard to know where to start.
Our guide will show you how to start selling your homecooked food to the public. It provides practical information that’ll help you ensure you are legally compliant, gives you the knowledge to operate best practice in your premises, and helps you get comfortable with spreading the word about your goods.
Want to learn more about successfully starting your own food business from home? We offer a range of online training courses and, whilst our Level 2 Food Hygiene and Safety for Catering course will cover your hygiene requirements, our Starting a Home Food Business course goes into depth about everything included in this article and more.
Why Should You Start a Food Business From Home?
Starting a business from home can be daunting, but there are numerous positive aspects to getting going. You don’t need to have any work experience or background in retail or manufacturing products. You don’t even have to be a marketing guru, or have a business degree – there is help out there for everyone!
The number one ingredient you must have is a passion for your product. Making your offering the best you can will speak volumes when you come to selling your homecooked food to the public. If you’re still not sure this is the right venture for you, we’ve compiled a list of reasons why a food from home business can be an attractive option. For inspiration, we’ve also included some success stories below:
- Low cost
Most people develop food businesses at home because they are already creating their product there. This means that when they want to get started with their business, they generally already have most of the equipment and the knowledge they need.
Spice Kitchen was set up in 2013 by a mother and son team. It was begun without any investment or loans, and has never sought any since. When starting up, you will need to make sure you have capital to cover immediate key expenses, such as ingredients, equipment, packaging, labelling and potentially distribution. You may need some help with accounts and tax returns, so bear that in mind.
- The ability to be creative in your job
What you produce is entirely up to you and your passion – you can make whatever you want and market it any style you wish to. Just make sure you research your intended audience, so you know it will be well received.
Higgidy Pies were deliberately marketed to women. The first flavors they did had great feedback, such as their Beef, Stilton and Ale pie, but there were many comments asking for smaller and lighter dishes. In response, Higgidy developed a range of vegetarian quiches and tarts. These are now a huge part of the business.
- A simple business model to follow
In business terms, the concept of making something and selling it is very straightforward, which is probably why starting a food business appeals to so many.
The husband and wife team, Camilla and Nick, who started Rude Health didn’t have a business plan when they first set out. Having studied Japanese at university and enjoyed a career in Marketing, Camilla soon realised she needed to devote her full attention to Rude Health. They had great support from Nigella Lawson, Abel & Cole and Riverford organic vegetable box schemes. They are now also stocked in Waitrose and Tesco.
- The ability to create your own working schedule
There’s no doubt that starting a business from scratch requires huge effort, and you will likely want to be working 7 days a week, every hour of the day. But that will be your choice, there is no one to tell you when you should work.
From Dorset With Love began in 2010 while Chrissy was on maternity leave. She started it as a hobby and went back to work when her maternity leave ended. Her passion for preserving never wavered and in their first year, two products attracted 1 Gold Star and 2 Gold Stars from the Great Taste Awards. Inspired to continue, Chrissy now works full time on the business, with her husband Karl, their two sons, and a family friend helping with design and ad-hoc production in their spare time.
- Diversification opportunities once the business takes off
The business could have unlimited potential, depending on which route you want to take. You have the freedom to choose your own path.
Yorkshire Provender was originally founded as The Yorkshire Party Company, where they catered mainly summer, private events. In order to develop income year-round, Belinda began experimenting with homemade soups in 2004, and Yorkshire Provender was born. Recognizing that the soups had more potential allowed her to grow and develop the range. Yorkshire Provender is now available in Sainsbury’s, Booths, Waitrose and other independent shops.
- The business can be run from home
This is a huge plus for many people. Being able to work around other commitments, and having no additional overheads if things don’t work out, can ease the pressure on you to make your fledgling business a quick success. However, it can make the start of your home business difficult to manage, especially when there are boxes and products all over the house!
Debbie & Andrew’s Sausages. When Debbie and Andrew lost their herd of pigs, they had to be creative and think of something else to provide for them and their family. As they already knew how to make sausages, it seemed like a logical step to take. They began making sausages and wrapping them by hand, at the kitchen table, and selling them to the local pub. Now they have stock in supermarkets up and down the country.
- You can create healthy products with minimal ingredients
Many people start creating food at home to satisfy a need they have, be it honest food without preservatives and ingredients you can’t pronounce, or an allergy that has you reaching for free-from recipes. Knowing what is in the food you eat is a real concern to consumers, so you may have discovered a niche in which you can satisfy a growing demand.
This is what happened with Proper Nutty. On returning from living abroad in 2012, Stuart and Kathryn realized they couldn’t get hold of any good quality peanut butter, that wasn’t full of additives, so they started to make their own. Quickly they moved from their kitchen table to a small factory in Dewsbury, installed a roaster and grinder imported from Italy and began producing on a big scale. They only have two products: “Nowt but Nuts” is 100% peanuts and “Slightly Salted” which only contains peanuts and 0.5% natural sea salt, and that’s it. Now, they supply shops around the country, including big supermarkets.
What Do I Need to Start My Home-Based Food Business?
There are certain legal requirements you will need to meet when setting up a food business from home. Use the drop downs below to go through each stage. Our helpful step by step guide will get you ready to begin your business.
Creating A Business Plan
Having a business plan is really important as it makes you think about what you want your business to be, where you see it going, and what you want to achieve from it. Whether you want to start a catering business from your home, a decorative cake company, or anything else in between, it will help you set out your objectives for your home-based food business. It will also help you to prioritize your next steps.
There are a number of things to consider when planning your business, so we’ve asked the key questions below to get you thinking:
- Who is your target market? Do you have a niche market in mind, or have you discovered an old family recipe you feel modern day consumers would love? Understanding your target market will help you focus your brand. This will influence how you market your product and interact with your customers. For example, with the rise of milk or lactose allergens, maybe you are making a range of hot chocolates using milk alternatives – who would buy these? What else do they buy, where would you find them shopping for other goods, could you use social media such as Instagram to reach out to these consumers?
- Do you have a unique selling point? Why do you think people will love your product? Consumers love a back story – they want to know where your inspiration and love for your product comes from. Having this in mind will come across in your product design, and it will help you sell too.
- Where do you want to sell your home-baked goods? If you are looking to sell your product at local markets, research into the best places near you, keeping in mind your target audience. For example, cakes and sweet treats could sell well at craft fairs, as well as at farmers markets.
- How do you want to sell your food? Have you considered selling online? eBay, Facebook and Amazon Pantry can be great platforms for getting your goods out.
- Will you be delivering items yourself, posting or using a courier? Factor in the time spent delivering, as well as the monetary cost.
- Will you make to order? Or could you batch make your product in bulk and keep some in reserve? Making to order could reduce waste on products with a short life, while bulk batching could keep profit margins high, but it would require a bigger initial spend for ingredients and possibly packaging and storage.
- How are you going to know if your product is liked? There are potential product testers everywhere, you could use your friends and neighbours for initial feedback but the real test is how paying customers like it. Approach some local cafés, delis or shops to see if they would take some goods in return for some feedback.
- How much start-up capital do you need? For example, when starting a mobile catering business, you may need to buy or renovate a food truck. If you do need to ask for a loan, having a good business plan will help your chances of approval.
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