The food business
is one of the most profitable businesses in the entire world. The food business
that is set in the market or it is a home-based food business, both have regular
customers and adding to pockets of cooks and owners. In recent years, Pakistan has
seen a boom in the home based food business and many men and women have entered the
industry to make their living. It is also one of the low-cost businesses to
start with. Here we’ll tell you the cost, and planning detail of starting a
home-based business. This article will also cover the detail that how to get
direct customers at your door or deliver to online customers.
Here are the
steps that are needed to consider starting home-based food business:
1. Choose Menu
Choosing a
menu is one of the most important steps in starting a food business. Your chosen
menu should be compatible with your target audience. If your target customers are
from any posh area then cooking and selling pizzas, burgers or baked items will
see a positive response. Whereas in any middle-class locality, a complete meal
deal like nan haleem, Chicken tikka, kebab, Biryani or Bar B Q will get more sales. To start with
one dish and develop customers' confidence before expanding your business.
2. Name Your Business
Give a unique name to your food business that caters to your menu and business goals. Mention your business type; whether it'll fast food, baked items, or traditional meals. Try to fix one type in start to target the right customers.
3. Fix Time
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| Steps to start home based food business |
When we use
the word business then it is something that requires extra effort, planning, and consistency to make a name and profit out of it. While starting a home based food business is to be sure that you’ll be able to manage regular time
for your business. It is good to fix a few hours according to your convenience
just to manage food business activities.
4. Buy Groceries/ Fix Per Meal Price
You should
have reserve groceries for at least one week for your food items. Plan and arrange
every ingredient and packaging stuff by the start of every week. Here for
example, you need to reserve pulses and wheat cereal (Dalain, Daliya) along
with meat at the start of the week to cook haleem. Nan should be bought fresh from the near market. Doing your grocery from the wholesale market will not only give you
fresh ingredients but it’ll save your money and will increase chance of getting
more profit. After buying groceries fix per meal/per plate price for your meal keeping in mind the minimum profit.
For examplecost price of 1 plate of Biryani price: Rs 140
Set Sale price between Rs 150- Rs 200 in start.
An approximate
amount needed: Rs 15,000- Rs 25,000 per month to cook daily for 10-15 orders.
5. Buy Packaging Stuff
Now you’ve chosen your food item that you’re going to sell from your home, you’ve bought necessary groceries for it and above all have fixed hours to work on your business. The next step is to buy packaging stuff for your meal. Disposable boxes, plates, shoppers, cling sheets are available in the market on the discounted rates. Buy them in advance and dump on a clean place.
6. Develop a team
Developing a
team is a key step to flourish any business. We do not doubt that you’re an
expert cook and a very hardworking house lady but things go messy and difficult
when you try to deal with everything in single. If you’re looking forward to flourishing your home-based food business, then hire employees to assist and help you in
cutting and packaging, and cleaning. You should increase the number of assistants
if there is an increase in orders. It may burden your pocket at the start but it’ll
help you to settle your business to achieve your profit goals in a near future.
7. Marketing
Here you’ve
reached the most difficult task of your business: to fetch customers to your home-based food business. There are many ways to market your home-based food business nowadays Some of them are:
- Sponsor small events/ Get Social
To give a kick
start to your food business, you can sponsor small events in your society on the discounted rates. You need to get social in social events to promote your food
business venture. For example, you can arrange food boxes for ladies in Quran
khawani, milad, or birthday parties. You can arrange a small event at your
house to market your business and tell the customers the benefits of getting a home-cooked fresh meal from you. You can tell the ladies about the timings when
fresh food will be ready to sell. You can ask them to send someone to get the
food if you don’t have the facility to deliver the food door by door.
- Hunt near hostels
Another big
market of the home based food business is the residents of hostels. The fellows,
who are frustrated of mess food, crave for a fresh home meals all the time.
I know an
aunt living near boys’ hostel in Karachi. She started to provide fresh dinner to
two boys in start pricing the same; boys were paying at hostel mess which was
about Rs 8,000 per guy. In no time, she had orders from 8 boys. The good thing
was that one boy arranged to visit to take the food from her place. The menu
was decided in advance. Now she was earning Rs 80,000- Rs 90,000 per month.
But it is
important to mention that she couldn’t continue her business because she was
trying to manage everything alone. She fell ill after a few months that it losses
many of her customers for not providing them regularly.
- Offices:
Proving
lunch boxes or tea break items to near offices or schools give a regular and
lump sum amount to your pocket. Your sister, neighbor ,or any relative can refer
you to deliver meal or snack items at the office. For example, getting a reference
from a teacher in society, Shehla daily delivers break items to teachers in a
near school taking Rs 1000/- per month. She daily cooks or prepares tea/snack
items for the teachers and delivers them to the school gate. It’s a reasonable source
of income for her when her kids are at school.
- Facebook pages/Groups
Joining
community facebook groups also pull customers towards your business. Here you’ll
need a delivery person to take your orders on time. If you’ve had help at home then it’s
good otherwise there are food delivery services like Food Panda, that can do it for you keeping
their commission.
8. Ideas Can Boost Your Business
Asides,
taking meal orders, you can add peeled garlic, chopped and roasted onion
rings, and finely cut vegetables services to working ladies in your society. Once,
my colleague asked the staff, if anyone wants to buy peeled and crushed garlic,
onions, kabab, and finely cut vegetables then her sister-in-law can do it at
discounted rates. Believe me, in no time she was penning down orders from the
staff of working ladies. We got our order that was finely packed after two days
and she got new orders. The staff became the regular customer of that lady even without
meeting her. The best part of the story is that once the lady herself had to visit
our office to deliver the order. Opposite to our conceived perception, we were
amazed to meet a high class, well dressed and groomed entrepreneur lady behind all that food
business. We couldn’t find garlic, onion, or kebab smell from her. She has developed herself as a branded entrepreneur
by giving a name to her services after a year. She has now printed pamphlets and
has hired two assistants at home.
9. Maintain Hygiene and Deliver Fresh
This should
be the first point in your food business to maintain hygiene in all your services.
A fresh and untainted food, with clean packaging, is a must to get your customers
back to your services. Always stay honest to your customers.
Acquiring Profit Goals Need Patience
Always remember
before starting any business that it’ll not stand in a day. Every business
takes time to pull customers and to earn a pa profit. As we told in our article “Cost
and Planning of opening private school” that an owner sometimes pays from the pocket
during the first year of its school. So in the tart, you may have to dispose of your all
meal sometimes. You may not get enough customers and positive response. Learn
from your weak points. Keenly observe the customer's demand and their buying tendency.
Modify your techniques, prices, deals, and keep on striking the customer's appetite.
It may take time but it’ll start giving you a regular income and profit once
you’re able to set your team.
An approximate
profit home-base Biryani seller: Rs 10,000- Rs 15,000.
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