Are you the designated chef friend of your group? Maybe you have one sweet you bake really really well, or you’re a BBQ master. Whatever it is that you cook up best, perhaps you can count on it to become your new side hustle and bring in some extra income. With consistent work and a little bit of luck, you might even find that hustle turns into a full time business, or a fun fruitful hobby.
Kickstarting from your kitchen
Many think that selling food is reserved for restaurants and professional chefs, but these days, it’s easier than ever to start a food business from home. Every state allows some form of home food business and has simple online processes to get you started.
Getting a Cottage Food License
If you’re cooking out of your own kitchen, the proper way to make sure your business is up to local health codes is to apply for a Cottage Food License. The rules and regulations for these vary from state to state and even between counties, but applications are usually easy and cheap. Start your search by Googling “Cottage Food Operators + COUNTY”. These applications are usually managed by the county’s health department – for example, here’s the Cottage License homepage for Los Angeles County in California.
Pre-orders = more flexibility
When you think of a traditional food business, you’re probably picturing a brick and mortar shop that’s stocked with inventory every day. Your cooking side hustle can take a different route: pre-orders only. Start with one cooking day a week and allow your customers to pre order your goods for pickup during a specific window. This is how you maximize profits of your side hustle by preparing only what you’ve already sold, saving time and money.
Designing a menu
Don’t overthink it. Pick one or two items that you make really well and stick to those. Take eye catching photos and videos of your food to post on your ordering site and social media pages.
Hotplate for orders and payments
There are a lot of tools and softwares out there to help you accept payments from customers, but only Hotplate is specifically designed for smaller scale food businesses operating on a pre order model. We make it super easy to post menus so your customers can order in just a few clicks. Then, we compile prep and pack lists for you to help pickup days go super smoothly. Minimal effort on your part means less time spent on admin work for your side hustle.
Growing your customer base
You only need a few loyal customers to bring in some extra cash from this side hustle, so focus on getting your first customers and giving them a good experience. Set up social media pages, hang up posters, tell your friends, post on facebook groups – anything to get the word out. We have some more tips around growing you customer base in this section of our blog.
Scaling up the side hustle
Let’s explore the best case scenario for a second: You create a killer product that develops a cult following in your neighborhood. Your Hotplate drops are selling out every week, and you’re struggling to keep up with demand in your small home kitchen. These are good problems to have and it means your side hustle can become something bigger.
Your next step could be to look at commercial kitchens or commissaries. Bigger spaces with their own health department certification that will allow you to cook or bake more products every hour. We have some tips on what to look for in a commercial kitchen here.
The bottom line
Food businesses don’t have to be a huge undertaking or a money pit like many think. You can easily start a small food focused side hustle for extra cash right out of your own kitchen and grow it into a business that sustains you.