Starting your own food business from home

[Konijn43]

Hello! Does anyone have any advice on starting a food manufacturing (small scale) business from home? Thanks x

Its heavily regulated. what is the food?

Hello :) I think the most important things initially are;

Understanding all the regulations that go with it and making sure you are compliant

Creating a business plan to make sure you have clarity on what your goals are, how you plan to achieve them, how you will measure success, who your customers are and how you will market your business, what your financial situation is - do you need any start up funding, if so how much and how will long will you take to pay it off, what are your projected income and expenses etc

Hope that helps :)

Hello,

I'm also in the process of setting up a home-based food business. There are a lot of regulations but it varies according to what food it is you will be making. Food that is classed as 'low risk' is generally easier for a home based business. This is generally any food that does not require refrigeration after making and has a long shelf life, for example confectionery.

You will need to register with your local council at least 28days before opening-you can do this online. They may or may not want an initial inspection of the premises by environmental health. Things to consider are whether there is a separate sink for hand-washing, a bathroom sink is OK, can you keep any pets and young children out of the kitchen while it is being used for business purposes, having a dishwasher for any equipment used and labeling any food items being used/made. You will also need to keep a diary of all items made including where ingredients have come from in case there is a food scare outbreak.
Hope that helps!