Selling food from the comfort of your own home

[GRUBie UK]

Hi everyone!

Just wanted to say beforehand that this is my first time posting here so apologises if this isn't the right place to post. Feel free to remove it or put it where it should go.

We are starting a marketplace where we connect home cooks to customers. Anyone from home can sign up to our site and cook and sell their meals. Essentially, it will be something similar to Just Eat where a customer can search their postcode and find home cooks near them and order food.

We have a lot of interested home cooks already but I wanted to post something here and see if anyone else was interested in starting a home food business.

You would need to have a food hygiene rating - you can do this by registering your food business with your local authority. They will then send an Environmental Health Officer to inspect your kitchen and give you a food hygiene rating. You will need a minimum of 3 stars to register as a cook on our site as we want to try and keep home food businesses as hygienic as possible. Preferably we would want every cook to have 5 stars.

For delivering food - you can either do this yourself or use our delivery service. Our only charge for using our services is a small commission - there is no joining fee, no contracts, no leaving fees, nothing!

It's a very convenient way to kick start a business with minimum investment. It's all from home so you don't pay rent. You would need to invest in packaging and if you really wanted to build a brand, you can design a logo and invest in stickers to stick onto your packaging. Assuming you already have a car, you would need to invest in business insurance or just use our own delivery service and save that hassle. You could start this business with £250 and if your successful you could have your own chain of takeaway brands after a few years!

If you have any questions or want to discuss anything please feel free to post or PM me!

You can register by typing <removed> into your search bar.

Click on register and fill out the form. Our full launch is planned for this Autumn so you have time to set your home food business up.

Thanks for reading!

 

[Chris Ashdown]

Why not just offer your services as a cook for the night, you arrive with all the food and equipment, cook the meal and serve it out, clean up after and go home

I would prefer that than a luke warm meal like most delivery firms offer

 

[Mr D]

Wow, so cheap.
Your planned marketing spend is considerable?

 

[Mark T Jones]

I'd be intigued to know how you will monitor quality to justify the claims you are making.

And what budget you have allocated for marketing

 

[GRUBie UK]

Why not just offer your services as a cook for the night, you arrive with all the food and equipment, cook the meal and serve it out, clean up after and go home

I would prefer that than a luke warm meal like most delivery firms offer

This is a good idea too but its a more limited market as there are a few companies doing this already.

 

[GRUBie UK]

Wow, so cheap.
Your planned marketing spend is considerable?

Yeah we plan to start small and if it becomes successful we will look for investment and that will be used for marketing. We've kept the running costs low so the commission we receive covers everything including marketing.

 

[GRUBie UK]

I'd be intigued to know how you will monitor quality to justify the claims you are making.

And what budget you have allocated for marketing

Quality is a subjective topic - I may like a type of food that you find disgusting. I don't think I made any claims regarding quality. What claims are you referring to exactly?

 

[Mark T Jones]

Quality is a subjective topic - I may like a type of food that you find disgusting. I don't think I made any claims regarding quality. What claims are you referring to exactly?

From your website

as our cooks will be serving up amazing dishes made from traditional recipes that have been passed down for generations. (Just like mama used to make!.. Sorry, we couldn’t help ourselves).

 

[GRUBie UK]

From your website

as our cooks will be serving up amazing dishes made from traditional recipes that have been passed down for generations. (Just like mama used to make!.. Sorry, we couldn’t help ourselves).

We will have a vetting process and introduce something along the lines of a "Verified Chef" badge. Any cook can apply for this. To actually receive the badge, they will have to pass a series of questions on the recipe used, presentation of the meal, the taste, packaging used, etc.

 

[Mark T Jones]

We will have a vetting process and introduce something along the lines of a "Verified Chef" badge. Any cook can apply for this. To actually receive the badge, they will have to pass a series of questions on the recipe used, presentation of the meal, the taste, packaging used, etc.

Kind of changes the intial premise of 'anyone can sign up'

It's a core issue for you. The business will stand & fall on reviews & as you've pointed out 'good food' is extremely subjective. There are people whose idea of a 'good meal' is one where it's so loaded with stodge that you get it free if you eat it all, others who expect the highest quality ingedients and full provenance.

 

[ecommerce84]

Loads of people do this successfully on Facebook and Insta and have been for some time.

How are you going to drive enough traffic to your marketplace to make it worthwhile for businesses? What can you offer them that Facebook doesn’t?

 

[Mr D]

Yeah we plan to start small and if it becomes successful we will look for investment and that will be used for marketing. We've kept the running costs low so the commission we receive covers everything including marketing.

You need the customers searching and buying, you need the cooks making and delivering. Two different groups to market to and need both to make it work.

It can be done but it is risky. Not enough of one group will doom the business.

 

[poppington]

We are starting a marketplace where we connect home cooks to customers

If you have any questions or want to discuss anything please feel free to post or PM me!

Well for a set off the word home cooks is just a right turn off! (if I was) I am looking for a profesanol chef with a proper menu; now show us what you have on offer and price and everything?

 

[billybob99]

profesanol chef

You mean a profreshanol shef.

 

[poppington]

I am not talking about those idiots with there heads so far up there egos on youtube channels . i mean someone who can fking cook and cook from raw ingredients and cook the same recipe over and over again with out balls ups

This is a trade like any other that must be learnt over time and practice

 

[Aniela]

To me it seems highly flawed.

1) Why don't they just use something like Just-Eat? You don't have anything that sets you above them. Your only "pro" it seems is that you will offer lower fees but lower fees are pointless to the home-cooks as you'll have no customers using your service.

2) It's likely impossible for you to infiltrate the market if you offer low fees as you wont have the marketing budget. You're not going to infiltrate this market with a £200 a month marketing budget.

3) There are already "low" commission just-eat etc alternatives.

 

[Mark T Jones]

I am not talking about those idiots with there heads so far up there egos on youtube channels . i mean someone who can fking cook and cook from raw ingredients and cook the same recipe over and over again with out balls ups

This is a trade like any other that must be learnt over time and practice

To be fair, most of Just Eat's members don't employ 'professional chefs' - mostly pot-stirers and burger-flippers.

Also, there are many home-cooks doing well via Facebook etc.

The big challenge for the OP is that they haven't yet established who their customer is or what their brand values are.

 

[poppington]

the amount of junk mail we get though the mail nowerdays. a lot of its pizza delivery stuff

 

[ExoPaul]

My daughter has a home based food business that is about to launch nationally after a successful local launch earlier in the year.

I can see some value in what you are offering but I do have a couple of questions regarding it.

1 - Who is delivering on your/clients behalf? You say the driver turns up at the door to collect it and then delivers it, but who is this driver and who is he hired by? Are you using a network like JustEat/UberEats or have you literally hired across the entire UK?
It is kind of important to know that before signing up because I know that there are NO food delivery networks where I live and my daughter had to do local deliveries herself. So how can you offer a driver to turn up at her door to deliver, when UberEats/JustEat/Deliveroo cannot offer it?

2 - 15% commission is far too high. That is the equivalent of adding on £4-6 delivery charge for many average orders. I don't know what competitors charge in terms of commission but my daughter advertises via social networks for free and delivers for a £2.50 delivery charge and profits nicely off that delivery charge too. To give you the rights to deliver on her behalf would not only take a delivery charge, but a chunk of the profit on the product too.

3 - Does it have to be hot food, or can it be any type of food that can be delivered?

 

[Mark T Jones]

delivers for a £2.50 delivery charge and profits nicely off that delivery charge too.

With due respect it's unlikely that she 'profits nicely' in a truly commercial sense.

All great if you're making cash while having a bit of fun, but if you want to make it a business, hese things are significant.

 

[ecommerce84]

15% commission is far too high. That is the equivalent of adding on £4-6 delivery charge for many average orders. I don't know what competitors charge in terms of commission

Just Eat - 14-% + 50p per order + VAT
Deliveroo - Up to 30%
Uber Eats - Up to 35%

I never use these ordering systems for that reason. I’d rather ring the eatery and place an order so they get the full whack or I get a cheaper rate (or a mixture of both). A phone call is quicker also.

Of course the OP doesn’t have the traffic Just Eat et al has so there is no way they can charge 15%. It needs to be 0% for some time until they are established.

 

[poppington]

My daughter has a home based food business that is about to launch nationally after a successful local launch earlier in the year.

Sounds like an a illuminati family blood line stitch up if you ask me pal

 

[poppington]

Of course the OP doesn’t have the traffic Just Eat et al has so there is no way they can charge 15%. It needs to be 0% for some time until they are established.

I have know of takaway food shops charge a pound extra for delivery

 

[jimbof]

I must say that a word so close to dirty (Grubie vs grubby) would not have been my choice for marketing of a home cooked food service.

 

[ExoPaul]

With due respect it's unlikely that she 'profits nicely' in a truly commercial sense.

All great if you're making cash while having a bit of fun, but if you want to make it a business, hese things are significant.

Fair enough if you don't think she has a business and is just dabbling for a bit of fun..... but she is generating around 100 orders a week and turning over a final profit of £900-1,100/week, and that is before she fully launches a nationwide service. That is just on local orders.

My point about her "profiting nicely" from the delivery charge was that the delivery cost to her is 50p/order on average, so 80% of the £2.50 delivery charge is pure profit to her. And hence why it would make no sense to her to hand over deliveries to someone like the OP, that is going to take £6/order from her, when she is able to deliver it for 50p/order and actually generate approximately £200/week profit just from the excess delivery charges alone.

Sounds like an a illuminati family blood line stitch up if you ask me pal

My family has many different businesses. This is her first step into the business world age 19. And to be honest, Coronavirus has made it a lot easier to start a home based business and expand it. It is traditional retailers that are finding it a little more of a struggle if they rely on footfall rather than online sales.

 

[Aniela]

Fair enough if you don't think she has a business and is just dabbling for a bit of fun..... but she is generating around 100 orders a week and turning over a final profit of £900-1,100/week, and that is before she fully launches a nationwide service. That is just on local orders.

My point about her "profiting nicely" from the delivery charge was that the delivery cost to her is 50p/order on average, so 80% of the £2.50 delivery charge is pure profit to her. And hence why it would make no sense to her to hand over deliveries to someone like the OP, that is going to take £6/order from her, when she is able to deliver it for 50p/order and actually generate approximately £200/week profit just from the excess delivery charges alone.


My family has many different businesses. This is her first step into the business world age 19. And to be honest, Coronavirus has made it a lot easier to start a home based business and expand it. It is traditional retailers that are finding it a little more of a struggle if they rely on footfall rather than online sales.

Yes, so as Mark Jones said, that's not a commercial business. 100 orders a week is just a bit of fun.

Profits seem great, if what you say is true; which isn't likely.

I would say you're smudging the truth quite a bit as it doesn't really add up.

She has a decent paying job. Which is great, don't get me wrong!

What does she sell. Home made cooked food like hot dinners etc?

 

[ExoPaul]

Yes, so as Mark Jones said, that's not a commercial business. 100 orders a week is just a bit of fun.

Profits seem great, if what you say is true; which isn't likely.

I would say you're smudging the truth quite a bit as it doesn't really add up.

She has a decent paying job. Which is great, don't get me wrong!

What does she sell. Home made cooked food like hot dinners etc?

Wow.... just wow!

The 'About Me' page of this site:
Welcome to UK Business Forums, your central resource for small business knowledge, advice, debate and good old fashioned camaraderie.

I have never seen a support forum of any kind, that is as toxic, narcissistic and critical of every single new/experienced business owner that does not fit into their dozen-strong clique who patently have limited knowledge or experience of any kind of business outside of their own expert field.

To tell someone who has set up a business, generating approximately £1000/week profit from scratch in just 3 months, is just playing for fun and is not even a real business, and then to suggest that the whole business is not likely to even be a real thing and suggest I am lying about it, is just frankly offensive, let alone providing any "business knowledge, advice or good old fashioned camaraderie" to support fellow business owners. The word "small business" seems to only count to some members on here if you are a 30 store retail chain that has a £20M a year turnover.

The site is a toxic playground to support the fragile egos of a dozen business owners who want to put down upcoming business starters to make their own businesses seem important to the world.

Believe me or not, I really don't give a shit. I was not here to have my business ass liked by the likes of a few arrogant know-it-alls. And my bank account simply does not need you to believe whether what I tell you is true or "smudged".
I was here to network with other business owners to forge potential business relationships with them, and to ENCOURAGE brand new starters with support, advice and friendly good old fashioned camaraderie.
I can see, counter to what the About UKBF section suggests, this is not the place for that and I, along with my experience and knowledge, am out of here.

Goodbye.

 

[billybob99]

100 orders a week is just a bit of fun.

Bit rich coming from someone that doesn't sell 100 items a week of anything.

 

[Aniela]

Wow.... just wow!

The 'About Me' page of this site:
Welcome to UK Business Forums, your central resource for small business knowledge, advice, debate and good old fashioned camaraderie.

I have never seen a support forum of any kind, that is as toxic, narcissistic and critical of every single new/experienced business owner that does not fit into their dozen-strong clique who patently have limited knowledge or experience of any kind of business outside of their own expert field.

To tell someone who has set up a business, generating approximately £1000/week profit from scratch in just 3 months, is just playing for fun and is not even a real business, and then to suggest that the whole business is not likely to even be a real thing and suggest I am lying about it, is just frankly offensive, let alone providing any "business knowledge, advice or good old fashioned camaraderie" to support fellow business owners. The word "small business" seems to only count to some members on here if you are a 30 store retail chain that has a £20M a year turnover.

The site is a toxic playground to support the fragile egos of a dozen business owners who want to put down upcoming business starters to make their own businesses seem important to the world.

Believe me or not, I really don't give a ****. I was not here to have my business ass liked by the likes of a few arrogant know-it-alls. And my bank account simply does not need you to believe whether what I tell you is true or "smudged".
I was here to network with other business owners to forge potential business relationships with them, and to ENCOURAGE brand new starters with support, advice and friendly good old fashioned camaraderie.
I can see, counter to what the About UKBF section suggests, this is not the place for that and I, along with my experience and knowledge, am out of here.

Goodbye.

I do encourage small businesses etc. I just don't encourage lying.

I was only commenting on what you said as the numbers don't add up. Sometimes in life, things are obviously not true. When people lie, it needs to sound believable usually.

"And my bank account simply does not need you to believe whether what I tell you is true or "smudged"

Your personal website asks for Paypal donations and links to 'free bitcoin' style websites so you can earn some points towards getting $5 worth of bitcoins. I would say that doesn't aid your case in what you say there.

 

[Mark T Jones]

Wow.... just wow!

The 'About Me' page of this site:
Welcome to UK Business Forums, your central resource for small business knowledge, advice, debate and good old fashioned camaraderie.

I have never seen a support forum of any kind, that is as toxic, narcissistic and critical of every single new/experienced business owner that does not fit into their dozen-strong clique who patently have limited knowledge or experience of any kind of business outside of their own expert field.

To tell someone who has set up a business, generating approximately £1000/week profit from scratch in just 3 months, is just playing for fun and is not even a real business, and then to suggest that the whole business is not likely to even be a real thing and suggest I am lying about it, is just frankly offensive, let alone providing any "business knowledge, advice or good old fashioned camaraderie" to support fellow business owners. The word "small business" seems to only count to some members on here if you are a 30 store retail chain that has a £20M a year turnover.

The site is a toxic playground to support the fragile egos of a dozen business owners who want to put down upcoming business starters to make their own businesses seem important to the world.

Believe me or not, I really don't give a ****. I was not here to have my business ass liked by the likes of a few arrogant know-it-alls. And my bank account simply does not need you to believe whether what I tell you is true or "smudged".
I was here to network with other business owners to forge potential business relationships with them, and to ENCOURAGE brand new starters with support, advice and friendly good old fashioned camaraderie.
I can see, counter to what the About UKBF section suggests, this is not the place for that and I, along with my experience and knowledge, am out of here.

Goodbye.

Sincere apologies if you saw my post as 'attacking'.

You don't know you or your businesses, and my post was definitely not intended that way.

I'm genuinely happy when folk set up side-hussles which evolve into serious businesses. However, having worked a lot with start ups, one of the common fall-over points is where people start to pocket 'profits' without taking into account the full cost of delivery or of operating a business.

Comes up a lot on the insolvency section here!

All the best to both of you.

 

[dinem.co.uk]

Not trying to be negative but the idea has been trialled in other countries and has its limits/caveats. Food business is quite strict in terms of regulations and quality. Many things could go wrong and potentially have impact on public health and your business.

 

[PugwashEQ]

Grubie,

its a great idea, and one that in many countries would work really well- it should work well here but you may hit some barriers from the enviromental health perspective.

The difficulty may well be in getting home cooks to get 3 stars on an enviromental health visit. Most people's kitchens wouldn't get one star, not because they are dangerous, but because they fail some key areas- for example joins in worksurfaces are unacceptable to many EHOs. I tried to help my Mum setup an artisan barkery at home on the same basis; we ended up spending a lot of cash converting the garage with specialist wall and ceiling coverings and Altro floors.

There is a tonne of other stuff you'll need, but you could help the cooks with a lot of that (risk assessments, food monitoring processes etc) which could be a great differentiator. however your home cooks are going to need to invest a chunk in equipment (even multi coloured food safe chopping boards aren't cheap for example).

Ideally all your cooks will need a basic food hygiene qualification (can be done on line, but it is illegal to sell food without one), whilst its not law, if they don't have one and injure someone (which is much more common than you think) they are very very vulnerable. You may find that you are jointly and severally liable in this situation....

The people that advertise on Facebook are operating illegally, but are too small for EHOs to care about. This will change when someone is poisoned- which will happen eventually!

i'm all for supporting food businesses, having spent almost a decade building a chain of fish and chip shops, but you need to understand the risks.