Who really wants to have a food business?

Honestly, who really wants to run a food business?

I would never do it, as there are just so many things that the business has to do to make sure it meets all of it’s many legal and business requirements.

I take my hat off to those who step into the deep waters of compliance and manage to successfully swim without drowning or going underneath occasionally.

Anyone who thinks that running a food business is easy has absolutely no idea of what is involved.

Most who think they can start a food business have no idea what they are getting themselves into.

Not only do you need to make a food which people want to buy, you have to do it to a consistent quality, at the lowest cost possible, meet all the food safety requirements for your business and it’s product, you need to source and get the ingredients, meet all packaging and labelling requirements, you have to get it into places where customers can get it, you need to warehouse it, get it transported, minimise waste, meet all payroll and Human Resource requirements, ensure the workplace meets all safety requirements, pay taxes when required, market your product and business, develop new products to keep generating more sales, pay all your bills on time, find, train and nurture new staff, develop a business and strategic plan and work with it, somehow find time to pay yourself and between all that, and so much more, live your own life.

So why do people still go into starting their own food businesses? The answer is actually very simple – Because they believe. They just believe that people will buy their product and they can put a business together to do that.But belief will only get you so far, the rest is just plain hard work mixed with more than a little luck.

Something that all business owners must do is to keep up to date with new regulations and changes to existing regulations which impact on their business. An example of this is, in the near future all businesses which have a turnover of more than $100 million will need to include a section in their Annual Report about the modern slavery risks associated with that business.

This will obviously impact only a small number of food businesses in this country, but it highlights that each business owner must make it their business to keep abreast of what is happening around their business. They cannot just work in their business making whatever they produce, they must work on it and this will take most of their time, for it to not only survive but to grow and last more than the two years that most food businesses survive.