How to Start a Meal Assembly Business
Busy lives mean mothers don't always have the time to cook for their families, and yet they don't want to rely on fast food. Couples on the go eat out more than they eat in, but still want to eat healthy. If you like to cook, have the head for menus and food combinations, and are thinking of starting a business, consider a meal assembly business. You decide the menu, assemble the prepped ingredients and let the customers do the cooking.
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Things You'll Need
- Food preparation outlet
- Kitchen appliances
- Utensils and storage containers
- Licenses and inspections
Instructions
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Scout out the retail centers near you for a location that can easily be converted to a food preparation site. It might be a closed restaurant, bakery or empty retail shop. Make sure it has the room and the electrical capacity for multiple stoves, ovens and refrigerators. Before signing a lease, have the premises inspected by the local health department. Minor renovations are to be expected, but you don't want to have to pay for major expenses after you've signed the lease, unless you can plan for them.
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Choose a location near a residential area that would be along the way home from major work centers. The convenience of being able to stop after work will boost your business, as opposed to a location that's out of the way.
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Check out what licensing is required beyond the health inspection. That includes business and sales licenses and possible food handling licenses. Liability insurance is a must for accidents that might occur during food preparation and for any problems with food consumption afterward. It's a good idea to check with an attorney to see what releases from the customers he recommends.
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Purchase at least two refrigerators, two stoves and two ovens to begin with. Ovens and stoves can be cooking more than one dish if the dishes are started and expected to be finished at the same time. You'll also need ample counter space on which to work, as well cooking utensils and disposable baking and storage containers.
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Prepare a daily menu for meal preparation for every day of the week for the first few weeks of business. Figure out what supplies and ingredients will be necessary for each entrée or other dish to serve four people. Print up the menus for the first week.
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Market the business through flyers, handing out of menus, cooking demonstrations, press releases, newspaper advertising and online activities. An effective way to get media coverage is to have a charity event as part of the grand opening. You could offer donations to a food bank or prepare food for the homeless shelter.
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Tips & Warnings
• Cleanliness is extremely important to the success of a food assembly business. Customers will not return if they don't think the facility is sanitary, even if the health department says it is.
• Be generous in your estimation of portion size. After working to assemble their meals, you don't want customers to think they won't be getting enough to eat.
• Obtain adequate liability insurance. Your customers can slip, cut or burn themselves, or get sick on the food because they didn't store it properly. Of course you'll get the blame.
