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Mimi Shotland Fix. Start & Run a Home-Based Food Business
START & RUN A HOME-BASED FOOD BUSINESS
Introduction
1. Location and Space
1. Start Your Business in Your Kitchen
1.1 Storage and work space in your home
2. Finding a Kitchen Outside Your Home
2.1 Kitchen incubators and shared kitchens
2.2 Places that accommodate large gatherings
2.3 Renting a commercial space
3. Get the Rental Agreement in Writing
2. Finding Your Product Niche
1. Foods Made without Heat
2. Stovetop, Hot Plate, and Microwave Foods
3. Baked Foods
4. Specialized Niches
4.1 Convenience foods and meal parts
4.2 Ethnic foods
4.3 Health-oriented, allergy specific,and other special diets
4.4 The seasons
4.4a Winter
4.4b Spring
4.4c Summer
4.4d Fall
4.5 Fashionable foods
4.6 Gift packages
5. The “New” Catering
6. Things to Consider before You Decide on a Product Niche
6.1 Foods that are labor intensive
6.2 Consider the shelf life
6.3 Copyright issues on character cake pans
6.4 Limit your products in the beginning
7. Create a Signature Product
7.1 Develop a few specialties
8. Researching the Market
3. Preparing a Business Plan
1. Executive Summary
2. Statement of Purpose
3. History and Background
4. Description of the Business and Products
5. Company Values
6. Operations and Employees
7. Market Research
8. Promotional Strategies
9. Financing and Start-up Expenses
10. Projections and Forecasts
11. Personal Business Plan
12. Business Planning Help
4. Making Your Business Legal
1. Your Business Structure
1.1 Sole proprietorship
1.2 Partnership
2. Choose a Business Name
2.1 Register your business name
3. Employer Identification Number or Business Number
4. Business License and Seller’s Permit
5. Food Production License
5.1 Food production license and legal issues
6. Insurance
7. Zoning Laws
5. Financial Management
1. Start-up Capital
1.1 Minimalist approach
1.2 Moderate approach
1.3 Flush-with-capital approach
2. Bookkeeping: Keep Track of Your Business
2.1 Business expenses and deductions
2.1a Saving receipts
2.2 Business income
2.2a Collecting payment
2.3 Separating business finances from personal finances
3. Hiring a Professional to Help with the Bookkeeping
4. Paying Yourself
4.1 Retirement savings
5. Setting up Your Home Office
6. Purchasing Cooking Equipment, Utensils, and Supplies
1. Cooking Equipment
1.1 Worktable and counter space
1.2 Refrigerator
1.3 Freezers
1.4 Ovens
1.5 Stovetop cooking or frying equipment
1.6 Sinks
1.7 Cooling rack
1.8 Proof box
1.9 Microwave
1.10 Mixers
1.11 Food processor
1.12 Bread machine
2. Cooking Utensils and Other Kitchen Necessities
2.1 Saucepans and stockpots
2.2 Baking sheets, trays, and pans
2.3 Rolling pins
2.4 Measuring utensils
2.5 Timers
2.6 Miscellaneous small hand tools
2.7 Aprons and towels
2.8 Pan holders and pot holders
2.9 Ingredient scale
2.10 Certified scale
2.11 Ingredient bins and tubs
2.12 Shelving and racks
2.13 Cleaning tools and supplies
3. Purchasing Supplies
3.1 Food supplies
3.2 Holiday supplies
3.3 Packaging supplies
7. How to Name, Package, and Label Your Products
1. Product Names
2. Packaging
2.1 The basics of packaging
2.2 Trays and platters
2.3 Gift packaging, bags, and baskets
2.4 Outer packaging and transporting
2.5 Shipping
2.6 Eco-friendly
3. Labeling Your Products
3.1 Ingredient list
3.2 Nutrition facts label
3.3 Health claims
3.4 Universal Product Code (UPC)
8. Pricing Products
1. Calculating the Costs
2. Adjusting for Change in Cost of Goods
3. Wholesale, Retail, and Courtesy Discount Prices
4. Wedding Cakes and Other Exceptions to the Rule
4.1 Contracts for wedding cakes and other special orders
9. Where to Find Your Customers
1. Wholesale: Finding Businesses That Will Sell Your Products
1.1 Restaurants, diners, delis, and coffee shops
1.2 Stores and markets
1.3 Caterers and party planners
1.4 Online merchants and catalogs
1.5 Florists, gift shops, and specialty boutiques
2. Retail: Finding Your Customers
2.1 Street fairs and markets
2.1a Setting up a retail table display
2.2 Mobile carts
2.3 Office delivery route
2.4 Wedding cakes and other specialty products
2.5 Residential neighborhood sales
2.6 Kitchen sales
2.7 Mail order
2.8 Holiday sales
2.9 Celebrating year-round
2.10 The custom gift business
10. Promoting Your Products
1. Create a Logo
2. Advertising
3. Marketing
4. Publicity
4.1 Press releases
5. Public Relations
5.1 Brochures
5.2 Flyers
5.3 Business cards
5.4 Websites
5.5 Portfolio
5.6 Coupons
5.7 Write your own ads
5.8 Point-of-purchase promotional materials
5.9 Promotional products
5.10 Newsletters
11. Using and Measuring Ingredients
1. Availability and Substitutions
2. Use Natural Ingredients to Extend Shelf Life
3. Use Fresh Ingredients
4. Find a Multifunctional Recipe
5. Increasing the Ingredients
6. Formatting Recipes
7. Tweaking a Recipe
8. Testing Product Shelf Life
8.1 Freezing your products or ingredients
9. Measuring Ingredients
10. Utilizing the Leftovers and Excess Products
11. Ingredient Equivalencies
Table 1: Ingredient Equivalencies
12. Recipe Advice and Tips
1. Ongoing Problem Recipes or Products
1.1 Occasionally good recipes go bad
2. General Tips for Recipes
3. Muffins and Quick Breads
4. Cookies
5. Bars and Brownies
6. Coffee, Bundt, and Pound Cakes
7. Other Cakes
8. Cake Frostings
9. Pies, Pastries, and Sweet Crusts
10. Breads, Buns, and Breakfast Pastries
11. Fruit Sweetened, No-Sugar Added Products
13. Production and Business Tips
1. Production Tips
1.1 Seasonal production
1.2 Scheduling production
1.3 Assembly line method
1.4 Being organized
2. Food Safety Tips
3. Kitchen Safety Tips
4. Business Tips
4.1 Look professional
4.2 Your food should look professional too
4.3 Organize your home office
4.4 Be timely
4.5 Be consistent
4.6 Be a thinker
4.7 Problem solve
4.8 Know your competition
4.9 Donations
4.10 Don’t give away recipes
5. Customer Service Tips
5.1 Put on a happy face
5.2 Keep in contact
5.3 Dealing with pushy people
5.4 Observing your customers
5.5 Hire good employees
6. Taking Care of Yourself
6.1 Prioritize to reduce stress
6.2 Manage your time
6.3 Avoid isolation
6.4 Occupational hazards
14. Expanding Your Business
1. Keeping Your Business at Home
1.1 Increase production capability
1.2 Upgrade equipment
1.3 Renovation
1.4 Increase your outlets
1.5 Extend your product varieties
1.6 Profit from emerging trends
1.7 Continue to advertise
2. Opening a Retail Shop
3. Wholesale Space
4. Co-Packers
5. Making Decisions
Resources
1. Professional Associations
2. US Business Help
3. Canadian Business Help. Canada Business
4. Tips for Naming Your Business
5. Trademarks
6. Food Ventures and Shared Kitchens
7. Farmers’ Markets
8. Recipe Software
9. Nutrition Label Information
10. Universal Product Codes (UPC)
11. Recipe Sites
12. Successful Businesses
13. Interesting Bakery Sites
13.1 Traditional bakeries
13.2 Fun sites
13.3 Health-oriented bakeries
13.4 Social-consciousness bakeries
13.5 Dog treats
14. Mail-Order Business Information
14.1 Retail mail-order outlets
14.2 Wholesale mail-order outlets
16. Specialty Supplies
16.1 Novelty and character cake pans
17. Commercial Supplies and Packaging Businesses
18. Promotional Products Companies
19. Co-Packers
20. Magazines
20.1 Trade magazines
20.2 Consumer magazines
20.3 Food Magazines
21. Recommended Books
22. Trends
23. United States Food Handling State Licensing
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Other Titles in the Start & Run Series
Notice to Readers
Self-Counsel Press thanks you for purchasing this ebook
Contents
