HOW TO START YOUR OWN FOOD BUSINESS

Transcription

1 HOW TO START YOUR OWN FOOD BUSINESS 2016 Redmako Hospitality RTO Number: 40700

2 Introduction Quick, what s the one thing, aside from air and water, which humans simply must have? Did you say food? Congratulations, you re on the right track. If you ve ever dreamed of opening a business one day, food is always a good start. People need food not just to survive, but also to unwind and have fun. If you do open a food business, you won t run out of customers and will actually have a sizable chance of winning big. In this short e-book, we will give you the basics of starting your own food business. This is not a technical, step-by-step guide to the specifics of running a business. Rather, this e-book divides the process into several easy-to-understand steps designed with young and new entrepreneurs in mind. That said, have fun reading this e-book and planning for your future success.

3 Table ofle Contents T AB OF C O NT E NT I. Learn the Craft II. Know Who will Eat Your Product III. Tantalise with Your Menu IV. Make Quality Top Priority ```Learn the CraftYour V. Go Social ```Know Who willmile Eat Your Product VI. Go the Extra VII. Start with Your Staff ``` Tantalise with Your Menu VIII. Get an Accountant IX. Be Government-Approved ```Make Quality Your Top Priority Conclusion ```Go Social ```Go the Extra Mile ```Start with Your Staff ```Get an Accountant ```Be Government-Approved ```Conclusion

4 LEARN THE CRAFT Reuben Brennan, founder of Redmako Learning and former hospitality business owner, says that passion and a clear vision of the concept you want to bring to life are two important things you must possess when embarking on a food business. Sounds deep huh, but when you think about it, it actually makes sense. Let s say you love pasta. Because of this, you plan to put up an Italian restaurant in the future. This restaurant will produce high-quality, authentic pasta the kind you d fall in line for. This pasta will be made the way you know perfect pasta should be prepared. But how do you make sure that your future restaurant will produce pasta that s up to your standards? You could hire an excellent chef, of course. Or you could learn to make first-rate pasta yourself. 1

5 LEARN THE CRAFT Learning the art and the craft of cooking is one of the best ways to prepare for your food business. Here are reasons why: 1. You save money. Why hire a chef when you can do the cooking? If you are planning on a small food business, such as a small restaurant or food truck, acting as cook will allow you to limit the members of your team to the ideal small number. 2. You can cover for your staff. What if one of your cooks is absent? If you know how to prepare meals, then there shouldn t be a problem, right? 3. You have better control over your menu. Because you know how to make food, you don t have to depend on others to design your menu for you. 4. You get to boost efficiency. You understand the process and what you can do to shorten it, increase its cost-effectiveness and make it more streamlined, letting you produce more food for far less time and money. 2

6 LEARN THE CRAFT There are a number of ways you can learn to cook, such as the following: Watch videos. There are a lot of quick, easy-to-follow videos available on YouTube and other websites. Try your hand at simple recipes first and then progress to more complex ones once you have gotten the hang of cooking. You may also watch cooking shows on the television. Hit the books. You can learn the old-fashioned way by using cookbooks. You can also find cooking reference books, some of which are hundreds of years old but are still in use in culinary schools. 3

7 LEARN THE CRAFT Practice. Put what you learn to good use by practicing when you can at home. You can even ask your mum and your other elders for help if you re having problems completing recipes. Train. Enrolling in a traineeship is one of the best ways to learn to cook. Not only do you access recipes, you are also taught a variety of culinary techniques you can use for your business. Whatever method you use, remember that learning takes a lot of time and effort on your part. But let your passion do the talking and keep on doing your best to become good at cooking and potentially, at running your own food business. 4

8 Know Who will Eat Your Product Let s say you ve decided to go ahead and build your Italian restaurant. How do you make sure that your pasta will sell? Aside from working on the quality and preparation of your food, you also have to know what your customers like. Why is this important? As Reuben puts it, Passion and a clear vision aren t enough if that vision doesn t resound with a significant enough audience. Think of it this way: while opening a restaurant may be your dream, at the end of the day, your business is for your customers. You need to know who they are and what they want to eat. This way, you know how to give them the kind of food and service they d gladly pay for. 5

9 Know Who will Eat Your Product What questions should you ask to learn more about your customers? 1. Who are they? What age groups do they belong to? Are they mostly male or female? 2. What do they do? What are their occupations? What are their hobbies and interests? 3. Why do they buy? Do they buy because they want to dine and linger? Quick meals? 4. How do they want to buy? Do they want to buy in person, online or through delivery? 5. When do they buy? Do they buy before or after work? How about weekends? 6. How much can they buy? Can they afford to buy big meals or small ones? 7. What do they expect of you? Do they expect authentic foreign food? Do they want prompt delivery? 8. What do they think of the competition? What do and don t they like about the other restaurants in your area? 6

10 Know Who will Eat Your Product Basically, you have to understand who they are, what motivates them to buy and how capable they are of purchasing your products. But how can you learn more about your customers? 1. Ask questions. The best way to get the answers you need is to ask questions, right? You can use the questions above, as well as other questions you feel you will need. You can start by asking your friends and family about their preferences. Always remember to be polite, too. 2. Read studies. These data are comprehensive and can be found in books, the news and the Internet. If you live in a well-known area, getting data you need might be easier. 3. Go on social media. Your customers could be your Facebook friends or Twitter followers. You may use social media to create polls and get the answers you need for your questions. 4. Learn from competitors. Look into other restaurants and take note of why they re earning big (or why they re not earning). This will give you a glimpse into what your customers like and what they don t. Getting to know your customers and actually understanding them is the first step to creating a relationship with them, which is vital in capturing their loyalty to your food venture. 7

11 Tantalise with Your Menu The food you serve is what your food business will be known for. It will form a huge part of your business identity and reputation. Because of this, it pays to really put some thought into how you create your menu. There are four things you need to keep in mind when designing your menu. 1. Your concept. In the planning stage, you need to decide what kind of food business you will be putting up. Is it going to be a restaurant where you ll be serving mostly food? Will it be a bar where you ll concentrate on beverages? A food truck that sells quick meals? Imagine also what kind of food items you will be selling. Will it be local delicacies? American snacks? Mexican sandwiches? Or in the case of our example, Italian pasta? The concept is vital because it will act as your parameters when designing your menu. While you can incorporate something different, an Italian restaurant, for example, has to serve Italian dishes. Or at least it should offer meals that use Italian flavours and ingredients. 8

12 Tantalise with Your Menu 2. Your customers. Remember what we said about getting to know your customers? You can design your menu based on the data you gathered. For instance, if you find that most people in your area love macaroni and tomato sauce, then it makes sense to incorporate lots of dishes that use those two ingredients, right? 3. Your strengths. Now let s say you studied to make Italian food. Your pizzas are the bomb, but your ravioli needs work. Because you want quality, you d naturally want to include the food items you can do properly in your menu, instead of ones you need to improve on. 9

13 Tantalise with Your Menu 4. The costs. Whatever your food business may be, it has to make profit to keep it going. Selling items that cost too much to produce may lower your profits, while cutting costs may lower the quality of your menu. Either way, you may end up losing customers. Accurate costing will let you find opportunities to reduce wastage and enhance your profits. There are two things you have to consider when costing your menu: Cost of ingredients - How much each ingredient costs will affect the final price of your menu item. You will notice that in restaurants, items with imported ingredients tend to be more expensive than those made locally. Aside from actual prices, you also have to take into account factors such as shelf-life, or how long an item lasts in storage. Items tend to be relatively more expensive the shorter their shelf-life is. Difficulty of preparation - Have you ever noticed that hand-made spaghetti is more expensive than machine-made pasta? It s because the former takes more time and energy to make than the latter. Remember that your customers will pay not just for the ingredients you used but also for your effort in making the food. Also, having too many difficult items on your menu can affect your staff s efficiency and capacity to produce dishes on time. 1 0

14 Tantalise with Your Menu Finally, if you re building a restaurant that serves your favourite cuisine, try to remember that some of your favourite dishes may be too costly or too difficult to make it to your menu after all. 1 1

15 Make Quality Your Top Priority You might have heard it said that the first step to making quality food is using quality ingredients. Customers these days are more educated about the food they eat, so ensuring that you serve them the best is a sure-fire way to keep them happy and get them coming back. There are several factors that can affect your food s quality. These include: Ingredients The best ingredients are always fresh. Always take note of your ingredients expiry date and shelf life. You also have to put into account where and how the ingredients are made. Are the animals from which meat is taken given medication with possible adverse effects to your customers? Are plant-based ingredients grown with possibly toxic fertilisers and pesticides? Are processed ingredients manufactured in clean environments using safe methods? 1 2

16 Make Quality Your Top Priority The skills of the cook Some dishes, such as those using seafood and root crops, can become unsafe when not prepared properly. Make sure you or your cook has the skills and knowledge needed to produce the items in your menu. 1 3

17 Make Quality Your Top Priority Equipment The quality and state of your equipment can have a direct effect on how safe your food is. Always keep your pans, knives, aprons, ladles and other kitchen equipment utensils clean to keep disease-causing germs and fungi away. Quality food does not only mean clean food, it also means dishes that actually taste excellent. The benefits of practice and training cannot be emphasised enough if your goal is to master the preparation of your menu. This is especially if you do not have the money and the opportunity to hire staff who can do it for you. 1 4

18 GO SOCIAL Do you have Facebook? Twitter? How about Instagram? While these social networks can be used for anything from storing memories and chatting with your friends, they may also be used for business. You don t even need any special skills to use them effectively either. Cool, right? Social media is awesome not just because of the many things you can do with it, but also because it lets you reach out to as many people as you need. Almost, if not all of your customers are in one form of social network or another, so liking and sharing is a great way to keep up with them and make sure they remember your food business. 1 5

19 GO SOCIAL Here are some great ideas: 1. Post updates. Tell them about your promotions or your newest offerings. Sometimes, even the simplest greetings can be just as effective, too. 2. Take photos. Put your photography skills to good use by taking food shots and posting them online. You may also post photos of happy customers with their permission, of course. 3. Capture videos. You know how people love cooking videos? Why don t you make one of your own? Upload video recipes your customers can follow. 4. Talk to your customers. Answer their questions or start conversations with them. These are great ways to start earning their loyalty to your food business. 1 6

20 GO SOCIAL 5. Ask for feedback. Who else should you ask if you want to improve your business? Your customers of course. Engage them and ask for their opinion about your food business. 6. Gather ideas. Stay on social media and keep track of your interaction with your customers. You might find great ideas for your food business in their updates, photos and other posts. 7. Create contests. Social media lets you conduct competitions where you only spend for your prize. You may even use these contests to increase your page s likes or shares. 8. Conduct polls. Do you need data for your research? Social media lets you create polls that are fast to make and answer, making them ideal even for customers on the go. Perhaps the greatest thing about social media is that it lets you reap the perks of advertising for far less expenses and time. All you need really are lots of patience and creativity. 1 7

21 Go the Extra Mile Customers love nothing more than being made to feel special and cared for. While a first-rate menu may invite new customers, what gets them coming back has more to do with your ability to offer an extra mile of customer service. In fact, Lee Resources reports that 91% of unhappy customers will not be willing to do business with you again. The best way to ensure that your customers are given exemplary service is by creating a customer service culture in your food business. What this means is that aside from serving high-quality food, your focus will also be in ensuring that your guests have a good time. 1 8

22 Go the Extra Mile Here are great ways to create a customer service culture for your food business: 1. Gather feedback from your customers. Your customers will be the best people to ask if you and your staff are providing good service. You can ask them to leave notes or fill out small forms that allow them to rate their experience in your food business. As mentioned in the previous chapter, you may also engage them via social media. 2. Make sure your staff knows. You can t do it alone, so turn customer service into a policy and let your staff in on it. Explain to them what customer service means and why it s important. Lay down what they need to do and what behaviour they need to show to customers. 1 9

23 Go the Extra Mile 3. Recognise exemplary members of your staff. Give credit where it s due. An Employee of the Month/Week board is a great way to do this. If you can, you may even offer winning employees a few rewards or perks, such as freebies or a day off from work. Conversely, members of your staff who are not able to follow procedure may be given penalties or retraining to keep them in line. 4. Streamline your process. Eliminate steps in your process that stall the delivery of food. For example, ensuring that a person is mostly available to clean tables after a customer leaves means new diners can take their seats as soon as they arrive. 2 0

24 Go the Extra Mile 5. Lead by example. If you are the hands-on type of business owner, then you will be very visible to both your customers and staff. Show your employees a good example by treating your customers as best as you can. This will encourage your staff to do their part. Customer service is an essential part of business. Fortunately, it does not take a lot of expense on your part as business owner. Dedication, a dash of creativity and lots of good example are what you need to give your guests memorable experiences and more reasons to come back. 2 1

25 Start with your staff. The members of your staff are among the most important individuals in your food business. From your cooks and chefs to your waiters and cleaning crew, your employees provide the manpower that allows your business to run and produce results. As such, it is only natural that you take care of them. Think about this: would you be willing to go all out for a boss you don t trust or a job you don t like? That s right, you wouldn t, right? For many business owners today, employees ought to be treated like the company s first customers. Happy employees are bound to treat second customers your actual customers more properly, which means better results for the business. 2 2

26 Start with your staff. How do you make sure you have a happy staff? 1. Talk to them. Communication is always the most ideal first step. Meet with your employees and ask them about the things they like. Do they want better pay? More break times? Better area for personnel? A few more perks? Just the thought that you care about what their interests will help them warm up to you. 2. Change. Take your conversations into account and enact changes to your business as necessary. Make compromises. Loosen up if needed. Rinse and repeat. Be prepared to change an aspect or two. Soon, you will have a business that is friendlier to your employees. 2 3

27 Start with your staff. 3. Treat them like people. Remember that the members of your staff also have feelings, needs and wants. Treat them with dignity, respect and trust. Because of their experience, they may have insights about the business which you can use, so don t be afraid to ask for their feedback every so often. In the hospitality sector, the quality of customer service your business provides can have a direct impact on your reputation and by extension, your revenue. Encourage your staff to pay it forward by treating them as best as you can. 2 4

28 GET AN ACCOUNTANT Not everyone is good with overseeing money not even business owners. Even if you were, you may not be able to keep track of where you finances go, especially if you fill other roles in your food business. This is why it is essential that you hire an accountant. Accountants are specialists who are trained in money matters. Their primary function in your business involves keeping your books and managing your cash flow. The revenue that comes in, as well as the amount you use for various expenses are your scoreboard of sorts, acting as a great determiner of how your business is doing. Good finances mean you are pretty much on the right track. 2 5

29 GET AN ACCOUNTANT Why should you hire an accountant? 1. They are pros. As mentioned, accountants are trained in what they do. For this reason, they have a good understanding of everything related to money. They can give you suggestions on how to manage your money better, especially in matters such as taxation and expenses. 2. They let you focus on your strengths. Managing the books means handling everything from your expenses to payroll and liabilities matter which, as a business owner, you should have a good idea of. They can be confusing however, especially if you are inherently bad with Math. Having someone else rock the numbers for you means you can focus more on what you do best. 2 6

30 GET AN ACCOUNTANT 3. They help ensure accuracy. If you are not very good with figures, you might make mistakes. The simplest errors can have huge repercussions on your projections and budget. Accountants are professionals and can help you avoid errors and their negative effects. 4. They help ease your stress. As owner, you might have to fulfil many roles at once. Imagine yourself cooking, waiting tables, managing your staff and acting as cashier, all while thinking about payroll and how much debt you need to settle by the end of the month. If that doesn t stress you out, we don t know what will. Having an accountant will lift some of the burden off your shoulders. 2 7

31 That said, do remember that an accountant will be an additional cost and their services may not come cheap. If you have a huge start-up capital, then hiring one from the get-go can be a good idea. Otherwise, you might have to wait for a bit until your finances has stabilised. ACCOUNTANT Lastly, Reuben says that should you hire someone to help with the bookkeeping, you should delegate, [but] don t abscond. Because your finances are your scoreboard, you should not pass on all the finance-related elements of your business to another person. As a business owner, it is part of your responsibility to understand the figures, so starting to learn as early as now would be a great idea. At the end of the day, your accountant is there to help you out, not fill your shoes. 2 8

32 Be Government-Approved Before you can begin operation, you need to make sure that your business is legit. To do that, you have to procure the appropriate business licenses, registrations and permits. The government is concerned with ensuring that all businesses are registered with them. There are several reasons for this: Taxation. Being registered with the government means they can tax you. While this means additional expense on your part, taxes are crucial to the community as they are used for different public services. Your customers protection. Before you are given the right licenses and permits, the government has to check whether you comply with the current safety and quality standards. These are set to ensure that the food you deliver, as well as the equipment and processes you used, are safe for your consumers. 2 9

33 Be Government-Approved Your protection. When you are registered with the government, you are entitled to the protection given by the government. This includes protection from threats to your physical business, such as vandalism, robbery and other forms of damage, as well as other harms, including frauds and scams. Improving quality. As quality standards change with the times, so should your business adapt. This helps you ensure that your food business is always on the path to improvement. 3 0

34 Be Government-Approved The permits you need and the process of obtaining them will depend on where you live and where you want to put up your business. Good thing the government supplies all needed information in their websites. A Google search is all you need to find your state or city s website and get the information you need for your food business. 3 1

35 Conclusion To be successful, the first thing to do is fall in love with your work. Sister Mary Lauretta Starting a food business is no simple matter, but you can t go wrong with enough preparation. The way to success in business is not easy. There s a lot to learn, to consider, to keep in hand. By reflecting on your strengths and determining the factors you need work on, you can turn yourself into a better human being and an even more capable business owner. Are you good at cooking? Then there s no harm in improving your hand at the craft. Do you need work on your business Math skills? It s never too late to start learning. As a business owner, you will be dealing with a lot of people, including your staff and your customers. You will be sharing your interests, enthusiasm and passion. If you are more the loner type, you could do well by practicing to talk to other people as this will help you in everything from welcoming your guests to encouraging your staff. Lastly, always remember that there is no harm in aiming big, as long as you are prepared to work hard for your goals. That said, we leave you this quote: Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men s blood... Make big plans; aim high in hope and work. Daniel Burnham 3 2

36 Do you want to acquire the skills you need for a winning food business? Start with a apprenticeship today. contact us at QLD: (07) WA: admin@redmako.com.au