How to Start a Business Selling Food

Opening a food business can be a slow process, but is usually very rewarding. You'll be most likely to succeed if you take your time to evaluate the market and choose the best option for your surroundings.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Identify your customer. This is done by first deciding on the type of food you want to sell. Start with a list of very general categories: packaged food, cooked food and food for delivery are good examples. Then start breaking down the categories and deciding whether you want to serve customers directly, sell to businesses or provide a mix of services.

2. Find out about the laws and regulations in your area. You can do so by contacting the local Chamber of Commerce and getting a list of state and city offices responsible for registration, or you can go directly to the FDA website to search for the link to your city.

3. Register your business with the proper authorities. Where you register depends a lot on the type of food you’re planning to sell. If you are planning a business that focus mainly on packaged food, the regulations are easier to meet than if you plan on opening a café or restaurant. People looking to start a food cart (selling hot dogs, for example) will also need a different set of paperwork.

4. Get a certification in food safety. This is essential if you’re planning on handling food directly or opening a kitchen. Certifications are available from different organizations and companies, usually following a series of classes and an exam. The National Registry of Food Safety Professionals (NRFSP) and ServSafe are considered the top certification providers in the country, and both offer online as well as local training.

5. Hire professionals. Starting a food business will require qualified people to handle the food preparation and delivery. Working with inexperienced workers can lead to sanctions and problems getting your business up and running.

Tips & Warnings

• Starting a small business requires a lot of dedication and commitment, since you will be doing a lot of work even before the place is up and running.

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[businessexpert]

on 4/22/2009 The information is very basic in this article. If selling burgers or fish and chips is what people are thinking of starting up, I recommend you read How to start and run a fish and chip shop or burger bar. Its available on amazon. My friend who wants to open a fish and chip shop restaurant has told me that the book is very good and seems to be the first and only book written on the fish and chip business topic. And because it can support burger businesses aswell it is most useful. A fast food business cannot be easy in the market today. With businesses large and small all selling to their customers. I suggest people to read and learn all they can to help their business or dream be successful. The upside to this saturated market is that people need to eat!