The food business is massive, and every year, thousands of new entrepreneurs try their luck. While it’s now easier than ever to get in, it’s getting more competitive every day, and unless you have a great idea and know how to execute it, you’ll have trouble staying afloat. Thankfully, there are tons of proven businesses that you can start in this space, and many of them only require a minimal investment. Here are a few food startups worth trying.
Virtual Restaurant
Virtual restaurants have been around for a while, but have exploded during the pandemic. These are restaurants that only exist online and rely solely on delivery services for clientele. There are many benefits to this model.
For one, you can greatly reduce your overhead costs. Not only that, but you won’t even need to think about things like staffing. That’s because you can use a ghost kitchen and have them prepare the dishes for you. All they need are the ingredients and recipes and they’re good to go. You can also rent kitchen space and run the whole thing yourself if you want to.
Selling Proprietary Mixes
Another great way to get into this business is to create your mixes and sell them. This could be things like spice blends, trail mixes or other types of mixed snacks, or dry bases for baked goods.
A lot of people want to make food at home, but don’t have the expertise or don’t want to look for ingredients. They also want something that is high quality and doesn’t feel mass-produced. If you have a great recipe and understand a few things about branding, this could be a great opportunity for you.
Here, we would suggest that you start looking at packaging since it will be very important not only for branding but for maintaining shelf life and facilitating logistics. You should look at food packaging solutions from The Packaging Lab. They offer flexible packaging that is perfect for this application and enable you to print packaging fast and on-demand.
Start a Catering Business
A lot of people will jump head first in the food business by opening their restaurant. But so many more would succeed if they started catering instead.
If you want to start a restaurant, catering is a low-risk way of getting familiar with things like inventory and management. You’ll also see if you truly have what it takes. A catering business can be started on a shoestring budget from home, but you have to check with your local jurisdiction first.
There are many ways that you can find clients. The most important is choosing the right niche and delivering. One way to stand out would be to offer a specific type of cuisine. You could specialize in one particular type of ethnic cuisine, for instance. Or you could target specific demographics, like vegans. You can decide to work on corporate events, weddings, or with people in your community.
These are all great business ideas for anyone wanting to get into the food business. Most of these are low risk and can be started with little capital, so don’t be afraid to give them a try. You don’t have to be daunted by the start-up process. There is a wealth of information and advice available online about everything from managing your finances to learning how to hire new employees as
your business grows.
