Fancy yourself a whizz in the kitchen? It’s not just your friends and family who can enjoy your food creations — the general public can, too! Selling your food creations is actually easier than most people think, allowing you to bolster your income in a fun and creative way.
And while it’s unlikely that you can replace your usual salary, you never know what it might lead to! Some leading brands got started with modest ambitions.
In this post, we’ll run through a few key steps you’ll need to take to begin selling your food creations. From there? The sky’s the limit.
Perfect the Recipe
You’ll need to have a great recipe if you’re planning to sell your creations. Just because a dish gets a thumbs up at home, that doesn’t mean that it’ll automatically translate to business success. The public has high standards, and with plenty of competition out there, your long-term success will be dependent on having a quality recipe that people genuinely love eating.
Before going public with your creation, make sure that you test and refine your creation as much as you can. Once you feel confident that you have a product that people will love, you can move on to the next stage.
Find a Market
You might eventually end up selling your food creations in a store or a restaurant, but you’ll likely start on the streets. This is a great way to get your products in front of a large number of people, allowing you to quickly begin making sales. There’ll be a host of different markets in your local area, so it’s recommended to conduct some research to figure out which one will be right for your product. Try to find a market that is popular with your target audience (for instance, a sustainability-focused market would make sense if you offer vegetarian food products).
Focus on Presentation
It’s not just the taste of your creations that’ll influence the customer’s experience. The presentation and packaging will, too. Even though you may be a small operation, you’ll still be able to present yourself with professionalism. Attaching labels to your jam jars, wrapping your hamburgers in printed greaseproof paper, or offering your juices in branded cups are all effective ways to increase the perception of your brand, as well as helping to solidify your branding. While they might seem like small details, they can make a big difference to the customer’s experience.
Create an Eye-Catching Stand
You’re unlikely to be the only food stand at the market. As such, you’ll need to find ways to get yourself ahead of your competitors. Ideally, your customers will be drawn to your stand because of how awesome your stand smells. But you can’t rely on that — your competitors’ food will probably smell delicious too! One way to grab the attention of passersby is to create an eye-catching stand that demands attention. That means infusing your stand with your branding, having a cheery demeanour, and even possibly handing out samples of the products you’re selling.