To start selling homemade food and not go bankrupt, first determine your niche (for example, vegan dishes, baked goods, semi-finished products, poultry, fish).
You should clearly answer the question:
What food do I cook best?
Only after deciding on this point can you move on.
Then register as a self-employed private entrepreneur for legalization.
Also, ensure compliance with sanitary standards.
Then find sales channels: through social networks, neighborhood chats, or specialized platforms for home cooks, and think about convenient packaging and delivery, possibly through aggregators.
In fact, you are already on a similar platform, and you can see how other sellers have found themselves on the home-cooked meals to order page.
At first, you can operate without official registration, so to speak, to test your strength and see the reaction of customers. The main thing is that your workplace is clean and you remain calm and confident that you are preparing food that is safe for health. Therefore, it is of paramount importance to keep the kitchen and utensils in strict sanitary cleanliness.
Once you receive your first orders and hear feedback from satisfied customers, you can confidently scale up your business. Don't delay in registering as a taxpayer and registering your premises as a food preparation facility.
In any case, it is up to you to decide how to proceed.
1. Preparation and legalization
- Define your niche: Choose what you do best and what is in demand: home-cooked meals, baked goods, healthy meals, original recipes, semi-finished products.
- Register: Register as self-employed through the "My Tax" app, selecting "cook" or "pastry chef." This will allow you to work legally, but there are restrictions (you cannot resell someone else's products, sell alcohol, or sell labeled products).
- Follow sanitary regulations: Make sure your kitchen meets standards and your products are of high quality, and obtain a medical certificate (mandatory for working in public catering, but for the self-employed, this is debatable, though recommended).
2. Product and packaging
- Quality: Use good ingredients, and original recipes will help you stand out.
- Packaging: Purchase high-quality and convenient packaging so that the dishes reach the customer in good condition (boxes, cups for liquids, cutlery).
3. Sales and promotion
- Start small: Use local chat rooms (Telegram, VK, Facebook), and neighborhood groups to get started.
- Use platforms: List yourself on specialized platforms for home cooks to find customers without strong competition.
- Aggregators: Consider connecting to delivery services (Yandex.Food, Delivery Club), but keep commissions in mind. And our service has NO COMMISSIONS!
- Promotions: Offer bonuses to new customers and "refer a friend" discounts.
4. Logistics
- Delivery: Organize delivery yourself or use courier services/aggregators. Or outsource this part of the work to our internal service.
- Payment: Provide convenient payment methods, including cash on delivery. We recommend that you receive cash payment from the customer at the time of delivery. Customers like this method because they don't feel any risk.
Key points
- Quality = Reputation: Customer feedback will help improve your product and service.
- Uniqueness: Find your niche and don't copy large chains.
In this business, it is not so important through which channels you will acquire customers; the fundamental factor is the quality of your products. If you cook truly high-quality, delicious homemade food, very soon customers will find your contact details themselves, and the question of choosing an online platform to advertise your services will simply cease to be relevant. Only those chefs who focus on the quality of food, rather than hidden earnings, have a real chance of growth. Entrepreneurs whose goal is to make a quick buck without leaving home risk going bankrupt.
Comments
You can share your opinion and leave a comment on this publication.