Recipe for success: AMA Hosts Are Bringing To Light Tips For Entrepreneurs In The Food Industry
Do you have a passion for culinary creations and exquisite ingredients? Do you spend your days at the office dreaming of becoming the next celebrity chef? We don’t blame you! There are plenty of people all over the world who have taken their passion for cooking and turned it into a profitable business (think: Jamie Oliver, Delia Smith, Gordon Ramsey, Marco Pierre White, etc) and the “food scene” has emerged as an integral part of popular culture. Chefs have gone from hiding behind closed kitchen doors to serving as the restaurant’s main attraction. Gone are the days of dinner and a show. Today, dinner has become the show.
Anyone who enjoys cooking has probably thought about what it might be like to work as a high-end chef. And let’s be honest — more than a few of us have pretended our kitchen was a studio and we were the latest Food Network star. True, everyone who tastes your _____ (fill in the blank: pies, pickles, pralines, etc.) say they’re the best they’ve ever had, but it’s a long way from receiving culinary praise to launching a successful food business and selling the product commercially. In reality, the road to becoming a chef takes time to travel. It requires countless hours of hard work, especially in the early years.
Managing a food business takes special skill and tact. While purchasing ingredients and creating a perfect meal or food specialty may seem like obvious challenges, there are other considerations for managers. With a focus on food, food businesses must also rise to the challenge of meeting customer needs and keep up with trends in the culinary world. We’ve put together some tips we got from our AMA hosts on the best business ideas to start, as well as some guides on how to start a food business. So let’s start right away!
Do your homework!
If you’re determined to pursue your dream in the specialty food business, you’ll need to get a handle on where your business will fit in. The food industry, in general, is very competitive, so it is imperative that you do your research before getting started. You could have the best cupcakes on the planet or the tastiest dry rub ever invented, but if there is not a market for your product, then you will not be able to make revenue on your product. Market research will help you understand your customers, familiarize yourself with the competition and get to know what people are prepared to pay for your product or service. Also, if you use your business plan to get financing, which most small businesses do, you’ll not only want to inform them about the state of the industry but to show your potential investors that you’re informed.
In your research of the overall retail market in your targeted area, look at:
- What is the demographic of the population?
- Are shoppers in that area local, or are they coming in from a distance?
- What types of retail shops are there? Thrift shops, dollar stores, pop-up seasonal stores, small take-out restaurants, and chain drugstores? Or high-end clothing shops, jewelry stores, sit-down dining, and specialty stores like photoshops and chocolatiers?
- What’s the price-point range of the merchandise? Do the stores tend to have sidewalk sale racks or discounted sections up front in the store? Or are the display win¬dows done in high-style displays changed on regular basis, with the marked-down clothing on a rack at the very back of the store?
- Do shoppers come away with merchandise in custom rope-handled shopping bags or in used plastic bags from the grocery store? Are shoppers actually coming out of the stores having purchased merchandise?
- What kind of staffing do the shops have? Are they mostly one-person shops where the owner is also the cashier and sits behind the counter eating her bagged lunch?
Find Your Profitable Niche
Within each concept, restaurateurs must niche themselves to attract loyal patrons. Niches can include interesting hours (early bird or night owl), a particular style of cuisine (e.g. fried chicken, specialty sandwiches, or farm fresh), or atmosphere (creating a unique room that stands out from other restaurants in the same concept category). Above all, you need to do something better than your competitors, right? A key aspect of determining your niche is a market analysis to assess who your competitors are and how to set your restaurant apart.
Baking is one of those hobbies that many people enjoy and many people excel at. What is the difference between a hobby and a hobby becoming a business? Meet Sheri Hartzog, the owner, and operator of Sassy Pants Sweets & Treats! She has turned her love for sweets into the full-time family business and now they offer a wide variety of unique sweets and pride themselves on having allergy-friendly options.
1. Keep your calendar full! It doesn’t have to be major events every weekend (even though that is helpful!), but you do have to stay busy. The after Christmas lull was a great time for us to actually rest for a week or so, but we still had custom orders to fill and we are currently preparing for Mardi Gras and Valentine’s day. We have one major event on the calendar for this month, but we also did/are doing smaller community events to fill the gaps. Even though we travel, we still have a home base of customers that need us and want to support our little family business! They keep us going!
2. Be Flexible! We keep roughly the same inventory for every event. We have a vast variety of some tailored products, based on which event we are attending. We have found that each city/state/area/town likes different things! The popular items are different for Every. Single. Event. What we thought would sell out of one event, no one wanted, but everyone bought at the next one. You have to stay flexible and roll with it! Also, *something* always happens. You could be caught in traffic and arrive late to set up, you could forget your money box or your boxes fall off the dolly and you have to throw away product (all three have happened to us!!!), you just have to stay flexible and not let it stress you out!
3. Keep your prices reasonable! What we have noticed in this business is that we have lots of $3–5 items, but we sell A LOT of products. Volume is your best friend. You’re better off selling a lot of small items, than for someone to think your prices are too expensive and not make any money! Our items are perishable and any leftovers are thrown out after an event! It’s not like we sell t-shirts and can store them in a storage unit in between events. We’ve had people choose us over a food court because our prices are reasonable!
Study Food Trends
Food, like fashion, goes through trends and fads. Some menu items are classics and will never go out of style- think burgers and pizza. Other foods fall into trends, such as artisan panini sandwiches, while others are fads, like bottled water.
Choosing a Restaurant Concept
Your restaurant concept is the foundation of your brand and the starting point of building an impactful and competitive restaurant. Concepts include the names of dishes on the menu, service style, dining room decor, and — of course — the style of food.
Your style dictates your customers’ demographics, which include such things as income level, age, sex, and more, which we outline below. Every restaurant can be boiled down to one of four styles: fast food, bar & bistro, casual, or fine dining.
Fast food establishments or as the industry knows it, quick service establishments, are defined as having price points at $4 to $7 per meal, offer limited menus, and are counter-service. From 15 to 35 age range, spontaneous and not planned, often connected to another activity like shopping or an evening out with friends. Lower income profile, high population density, and high foot traffic are all key considerations.
Bar & Bistro: from 25 to 45 age range, high disposable income, often takes place after work, often spontaneous, most customers drink alcohol, relaxed social ambiance is important, price point depends on the neighborhood.
Casual dining: has price points at around $15 per meal, offers a full menu as well as table service. Families with children aged under 16, mid-income households, the safety of location are important, often planned, customers will drive, often connected to another activity like shopping or going to the movies.
Fine dining restaurants: can range in fanciness, but they are defined as full-service restaurants, with high-quality foods, and the finest in decor and service. 35+ age profile, high-income couples and executives dining out, high price point, high service expectations, pre-planned and booked in advance, arrive by car and expect onsite parking, willing to drive up to 30-minutes drive-time from home.
Certain restaurant concepts will cost more than others. For example, do you want to specialize in authentic wood-fired pizza? A wood-fired oven is thousands of dollars more expensive than a regular pizza oven. Does your restaurant menu require expensive ingredients like seafood or steaks? Don’t forget about these “little things”. With everything in alignment — from service-style and menu items to your design and location — customers walk away with a lasting impression.
Master your product first
Do you just want to make bbq sauce? Are you known for cookies, but would like to make brownies and ice cream sandwiches? It seems like an obvious one, but if you aren’t 100% happy with the product you’re selling, how can you sell it to anyone else? It takes ongoing effort, but it’s crucial to keep refining your product until you get it right. Good food and service with a smile are important, but if nobody knows you’re serving, you’re out of luck.
Friends and family are great for the first round of tests. Invite them over, have parties, and have fun trying out the food, but get them to offer you honest critiques so you can make the best version of the product possible. Let them know that criticism is okay — you’d rather hear it from them than get ripped by customers and food critics and have your idea fail publicly.
Once you’ve settled on your final version, write down exactly how to make it, including what goes into it and the step-by-step cooking process. Make it several times to make sure it’s consistent. Ask someone else to make it so you know the product can be reproduced. Scale it up to see how it’ll do in larger quantities. This will be important for when the business takes off and you need more.
Keep in mind that not everyone is going to like your product — and that’s okay! Some people prefer Coca-Cola to Pepsi, and some don’t like Coca-Cola at all.
Packaging
How are you going to package your product? Do you want to put it in glass jars? Printed pouches? The food itself isn’t the only part of the specialty food market to which you’ll want to pay attention. Packaging is a huge part of the industry; sometimes packaging alone can help launch a food product to success, especially if it’s unusual. Packaging that stands out will encourage curious consumers to try your brand and will give retailers an incentive to carry your products.
Regardless, here are a couple resources (and pretty packaging) you can browse to find what you’d like:
Determine your product’s pricing
This is the most important step on the entire list — the cost of your product. It determines if you’ll have a viable business. It determines your price on the shelf. And it could literally crush you if you don’t get it right.
Anyway, here’s what’s included in your product cost (and a couple things you might be forgetting):
- Ingredients (plus shipping!)
- Packaging
- Labor
Don’t underestimate the power of branding
Now that you’ve got your “beta” version of your product, it’s time to announce it to the world. You’ll need a brand, a product name, and a logo. No matter how small of a business you run, always keep your branding on point. In the modern world, looks are everything, so avoid those Word logos but don’t necessarily run to your local expensive graphic design agency. Plan your branding carefully and use it across all channels, proudly exposing it on your menus, social profiles, walls, windows, coffee cups, sugar bags, etc. A fun way of branding your paper cups is using a branded stamp, avoiding expensive custom prints. Design business cards, stationery, and a brochure. Make a few of your signature dishes and take photos for the brochure and your website.
Social media is your Holy Grail!
Even before you’ve launched your product, get your website up. It’ll give Google a chance to see you put something up on the web — and you’ll be able to build an email list of fans who can’t wait for you to launch! Before you start any social media outreach, define your target audiences.
- How old are they?
- Do the people in your audience tend to be more female than male?
- What groups, organizations, or associations are they likely to join? Are they foodies? Or just people who like to eat healthy or unique foods?
Don’t try to do everything everywhere. Focus on the top two or three social media sites that have proven to contain the largest number of people in your target audience. Remember, social media provides you with the opportunity to meet your audience — not sell to your audience. People join these social media networks and participate in friendly interaction and the value it adds to their day. Provide that friendly interaction, and watch your audience grow.
Start a Food Blog
Every time you write a blog post, it’s one more indexed page on your website, which means it’s one more opportunity for you to show up in search engines and drive traffic to your website in organic search. Blogging also helps you get discovered via social media. Every time you write a blog post, you’re creating content that people can share on social networks — Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Pinterest — which helps expose your business to a new audience that may not know you yet. You’re strengthening your social reach with blog content and driving new website visitors to your blog via your social channels.
Taste the World!
Imagine a social media that connects friendly home cooks with hungry guests worldwide! Yeah, we know! Egle Mockeviciute, a PR Manager of TastePlease, was the host of AMA event in which she has explained the idea behind virtual worldwide dining club where everybody is invited. Unlike other social media platforms, TastePlease’s food universe is mainly focused on sharing in-person experiences and it offers users the opportunity to create, host and joins culinary events anywhere, anytime. Professional chefs can find tasters to try out new menus, hospitable home cooks can fill the seats around their dining table, and hungry foodies can find their next unique meal. Check out this fantastic platform and connect with chefs, bloggers, and foodies from around the globe or set up your very own blog space. This is another useful tool that you can use if you have a passion for food…
Start a Mobile Food Catering Business
Mobile food catering trucks and carts provide food vending in locations where a stationary kitchen isn’t available. A mobile food truck business is a great way to expand existing restaurant sales or break into the food industry. While in the past food trucks have been associated with simple fares, like sandwiches, hot dogs or ice cream, today’s food truck business has exploded in variety. Our AMA host Shawn Walchef is an ideal example of this kind of business!
Rooted in Bulgarian family traditions of hospitality, Shawn, and Rositsa Walchef, the owners of Cali Comfort BBQ, have created a welcoming village atmosphere in Spring Valley where close friends gather to eat, drink and laugh over shared stories. Despite a recession, Cali Comfort BBQ and Sports Bar continues to grow, has 36 employees, is expanding its services and working towards manufacturing its sauces and rubs. Cali Comfort has been quickly recognized for their slow smoked Pork Ribs, BBQ Wedding Beans, “Wicked” Peach Cobbler, California Tri-Tip dishes, their Weekend BBQ Brunch and their annual Amateur Tailgate & BBQ Festival. Also, they have a weekly business and digital marketing podcast called Behind The Smoke, BBQ War Stories, so check out everything about their business!
Now, take a deep breath and land your first sale!
Written by our genius blogger Tina based on advice from our great Hosts in www.CookingAMA.com and originally published on www.AMAfeed.com
