Recently there has been a huge boost in the number of people who are looking to start a home based cooking business. It’s certainly being boosted by the amount of people who ar e in need of a home delivery service because of COVID-19. 

Whether you are an expert in vegan cooking or baking, a food business can be a really n vegan cooking or baking a home food business can be a brilliant way to be successful in a fulfilling home based career. 

You probably already have a good idea of the kinds of food you will be making, so here are some other consideration you will need to make: 

Registering Yourself As Self Employed

Regardless of whether this is a side hustle or a full time career, the first step you need to take is to make sure you get registered as self employed. You will also need to register with Companies House. Both are really straightforward to do and you will feel like you have hot a huge milestone in building your home business. Some  handy things relating to self-employment that you should become familiar with include:

• Self employment and maternity rights
• Looking after your finances 
• Food safety regulations–  requirements around food preparation at home
• Clear food safety procedures in place

The first step for you to take is to contact your local authority’s environmental health department. They will carry out an initial assessment which will help decide how often you’ll need to be inspected and if your business needs formal approval. They will also be able to make recommendations for things such as improvements including the need for commercial dishwashers, improved kitchen preparations areas or better hygiene practices. 

Decide Your Business Strategy

While you are thinking about you perfect menus and dishes, where your heart might be at, you also need to make sure you have a clear idea of how and where you’ll be selling them.

A local market can often be a great place to start, or you could approach coffee shops or cafes to place orders with you. With COVID-19 in mind you may want to think about a way you could deliver your service to your customers who are stuck at home. If you are thinking of starting a catering business, you could use this time to prepare. 

It is likely that you will need a website or Facebook in order to build a customer relationship. 

Pricing is also important, you don’t just need to cover your costs, you also need to ensure you factor in some kind of salary for yourself into to make the business viable as a career 

Sales And Marketing

One of the best ways you can market yourself as a new home business is to use tools like Facebook. You may want to think about doing free samples or giveaways so you can get people talking about your goods. With the way things are at the moment, ordering from home for delivery is almost a necessity over market stalls or bakeries, therefore you may want to consider getting yourself set up to make deliveries. 

Buying Your Supplies

Think too about where you will be getting your ingredients. While it may be easy to buy from your nearest supermarket, you can expect much better profits by sourcing things at the lowest possible price. Have a look for your nearest bulk buying service or see if bulk buying online will cut your costs. 

Starting a new business can be nerve racking but it can be very fruitful too. Are you thinking about starting your own food business? What have you thought about?