Food businesses are booming over the years and customers now seek interesting and good-quality concepts to try out. A food business encompasses preparing foods and drinks, retailing and selling it under a franchise. This can hence be on-site or off-site. With online food delivery rising due to the pandemic, most startups are considering online or home-based methods of food business. Here are 9 profitable ideas to kickstart your food business!
#1. Fast food joint
Fast food businesses are prepared in bulk and sold fast. It also requires low table space and it is easy to switch to home- delivery. However, it requires more than just serving junk food. Try providing variations like side dishes, drinks and desserts to attract more audience. Proper promotion techniques must be used to invite the target audience.
#2. Ice cream parlour:
Ice cream is liked by all kinds of people whether old or young. Although the sales volume of ice cream parlours can get highly driven in summers, most people nowadays love to have sundaes and brownie ice creams in winters too. Plus, it does not require a highly skilled labour which ends up saving your labour cost as well. Ice cream parlour requires a cosy, convenient location. It also opens up the doors of creativity from preparing new flavours to the design of the shop!
#3. Food truck:
A food truck is literally a restaurant on the go! Food trucks generally serve snacks and combos which can be eaten there and then or parcelled as well but there can be many variations as well. For example, a food truck cafe, an ice cream truck, a fast-food truck or even a vegan food truck. It offers high mobility and low investments with flexible working hours and involving less labour. You also save up on retail space investments.
#4. Home-made food business:
For affluent, working-class professionals who are away from home, home-made food is high on- demand. Preparing fresh home-cooked meals like thalis and combos involve very low investment in labour, retail space or any kind of infrastructure and can be easily made in the comfort of your kitchen. Food can be home-delivered to the customers for which you can either do it yourself or hire delivery professionals.
#5. Bakeries:
If you have a sweet tooth and a passion for baking, this business idea will get you the best exposure for your skills. Bakery business incorporates selling cakes, fresh bread, cookies, muffins, pastries and other snacks and confectioneries. With a high variety of food products, you can expand your segment accordingly. Try using creative packaging and new flavour variations.
#6. Cloud kitchens:
Cloud kitchens are delivery-only food businesses. The rise in restaurant aggregators and their users are giving an opportunity for businesses to start in ‘ghost’ mode. These businesses are a low investment as you save up a lot on retail space as you only require to have a kitchen. A greater budget will be put toward branding and marketing. Remember to tie up with those apps who have a larger audience and discuss the commissions and legal requirements beforehand.
#7. Pop-up restaurants:
Pop-up restaurants are an exciting mode of business that occur on special occasions. Pop-up restaurant involves a lot of social media marketing and branding. For opening a pop-up restaurant, it is important to choose the right location with proper access to water, electricity and other basic needs. an existing restaurant can also offer space for a pop-up restaurant. Although it can be very exciting and highly sales-driven during festive seasons, pop-up restaurants do not promise year-long profitability.
#8. Organic-healthy restaurants:
This idea can be very profitable for fitness enthusiasts and simply for those who want to eat healthily. You can sell healthy sandwiches, salads, fresh smoothies, juices, snack bars, organic snacks or simply a healthy lunch meal! Be wary about the locations you might want to open in to target your audience. It is best to open up in front of a gym, university, workplaces or near parks.
#9. Cafes:
Cafes that are perfect for hangouts, a corporate meeting or grabbing a morning coffee with a snack are great businesses as it targets a large segment of the audience. Beer cafes are also in-demand providing an alternative to alcoholic beverages and going to bars or pubs. These type of businesses are more daytime operating.
The takeaway:
Before choosing the right option for a food business, always consider taking a look at the legal requirements it proposes. These requirements can differ from place to place. Curate your business plan according to your well-chosen idea, budget, equipment required, a promotion plan and target segment.
Author bio:
Anushka Bhargava (Gravatar ID: anushkabhargava19@gmail.com)
Anushka is a passionate writer and a poet pursuing a degree in media and communications. She regularly contributes to F and B Recipes on Intuitive Energy Healing.
