What would you want?

Dolly Welsh

Wed, Sep 10 2014, 2:20 am

something that

people like all the time
a little bit of a bother to make themselves, so they would rather you do it
you have a secret recipe that is a bit above the usual

Forget healthy. Salt sells. Sugar sells. People adore those tastes.

See if you can devise one simple thing or the same thing in both sweet and savory versions and be known for just that one thing, a specialty. Not a complicated thing.

Is your market an impulse buyer, an unmarried person who wants a quick nosh right now? Probably. Married women are less likely customers.

Consider the potato knish. Don't forget to put pepper in it along with the salt.

You might work up an item, such as a knish, and give it a month to see if people come back.

(Opinions are changing in some quarters about whether salt is so bad anyway, and oil, too.)

It's not your job to make the world slim. It's your job to make money.

Another thing is crepes. They are made to order, sort of. A jam filling, or just oil, sugar and cinnamon (you will get your fillings in bulk from somewhere else) with powdered sugar all over the outside, and you have a fast food. There are electric crepe makers.

The main thing is what do people around you want? That has nothing to do with what you want to cook. What will they grab?

Avoid whole wheat flour.

Try to find that one great item. Don't do a lot of different items. It is confusing to them and to you, and it raises people's expectations.

Don't be perceived as a good chef. Be perceived as a humble maker of this one fun food. If people perceive you as a good chef, they will start asking why it doesn't have yak butter in it, or why it doesn't come with spinach filling, or, can you make it this way or that way different, for my party, and you will go nuts and not make money. Every minute you are listening to someone talk is a minute you are not making money. The answer is: "this is what I make. I sell a million to the school kids and the unmarried and the lunch hour people. If you want a lot of them for your party, pay me in advance and come pick them up".

Keep public contact simple and not much. But what little there is, be very smiley and nice. Talk little. Have no opinions. Do not discuss healthy foods. You are there to make money. Stay focused. Smile and shrug and "you don't know".

Then let the smell of cinnamon or vanilla bring you the next customer.

If you have a big urn of strong sweet coffee, no fixings, just as is, it might be good.

Do some math. Figure out what you are going to spend on it all and what you had better get per piece to keep going. Your strength is not infinite either. Your supplies can go bad, so think about cost of storage and how much to keep on hand.

Be scrupulously clean about spills and surfaces; you don't want bugs.

Everything should be parve, parve. You might want to think about getting a hechsher.

shabbatiscoming

Wed, Sep 10 2014, 5:46 am

hinenimuchan wrote:

Your biggest challenge will probably be that to be big enough to make significant income, you may be big enough to need hashgacha. I assume the rabbanut's there charge for their service, but even if they don't you have to coordinate your schedule with the mashgiach's. You may need to rent or buy kitchen space as well. Requires alot of careful planning, and makes it difficult to compete with large companies!

This is usually true but not always. We have friends who do a catering business out of their home. They dont have an official hashgacha because it costs too much. But they get business left right and center so they are not worried. They just tell their clientele before they book.
So, people can start out with no hashgacha and even have a home business without one. If everyone knows their kashrut level and trusts here and all.

Ruchel

Wed, Sep 10 2014, 5:49 am

Yes, word of mouth will help if no supervision. But some people will not buy.
Me, I would buy from whoever I would eat at or accept a dish.
Frankly if you eat out you take risks and have to be ok with it. My chassidishe friend served me unwashed (not even rinsed) strawberries. I ate them to not offend (sensitive soul), looking at them well. I later asked a shaila because I was feeling bad (even my lite MO parents would have rinsed or cut or SOMETHING) and the rav said I did well. But whatever isn't made under your eyes, is a "risk"...

catonmylap

Wed, Sep 10 2014, 7:07 am

I don't see the lettuce thing working...

some women have done okay (or so it seems) on fancy cakes and there's another local here who does salads..

I've seen lots just not succeed at this...

the price points are usually too high... you need enough people who can afford to pay so much...I'm often tempted but then it's like I can make that myself for way less ...

there's someone here doing school lunches -- I don't know how much business she got.. but I see appeal of having that taken care of (if my kids wasn't such a picky eater, I'd seriously consider signing up).

also, something that really worked was there was someone bringing soup and later on sandwiches, and muffins to the workplace -- -with a low price point -- you will get a lot of customers for that... the take out places nearby were expensive and you had to leave the building, something there that is healthy and cheap will sell...

lots of people will be trusting about hasgacha (or none) if the person seems trustworthy.. it can be impossible to get a local rabbanut on a home kitchen in some places..

Sanguine

Wed, Sep 10 2014, 7:31 am

shabbatiscoming wrote:

It's very limiting if you don't have a Teuda. Two women in my neighborhood cater from their homes. I actually used them for my son's Bar Mitzva cause the guests were local people who would eat in their homes but one guest (A Rabbi in the neighborhood), said he would eat in their homes but ate nothing at my affair since he won't eat at an affair that doesn't have a hechsher (I said I wish he had told me and I wouldn't have paid for his meal Wink

). But overall if you have guests who don't personally know the cook, people expect a Teuda. Then they can decide if they trust it. It's not for the host to decide that people don't need. This year with Shmitta it's even harder.

You can't get a Hechsher on your own kitchen. These two women now took an unused bedroom in one of their homes and put in a serious separate kitchen. They really couldn't get large jobs without a Teuda.

Another thing. I've mentioned my neighbor Saidels Bakery. It's a home business. It's Kosher LeMehadrin (doesn't use their kitchen at all). They thought they would bake and people would come running to buy. They had a couple of very hard years till they really tweaked the business to the success it is now - Very different than their original plan

shabbatiscoming

Wed, Sep 10 2014, 7:58 am

Sanguine wrote:

Sanguine, the people who I am talking about do quite well. They cater in the gush, jerusalem and I know that they have even gone to karnei shomron to do a simcha once. They are doing just fine.
Not everyone cares about a teuda. Im going to have to check next time they do a brit in the yishuv if the rav eats there. Then Ill get back to you.

Dev80

Wed, Sep 10 2014, 4:06 pm

I live in a neighborhood with a lot of Americans and there are LOTS of people who sell from their homes and the local makolets. Some of these items include sushi, american style cream cheese, tons of different types of herring, baked goods, pareve ice cream, challah, potato kugel, and dips for Shabbos.

I'm sure there's more but this is what comes to mind. I have no idea what kind of profit is made though, I wonder if anyone on here does this kind of thing?

The prices are generally higher than I'd want to spend but when it's a hectic week and I'm not making sides I will spend 20 shekels on a potato kugel, 25 shekels on liver, and my husband will spend 20 something on herring. We don't live off of it or need it every week but we enjoy it for those hectic weeks.

Rutabaga

Wed, Sep 10 2014, 6:16 pm

There's a woman who lives locally who does a great business selling yummy prepared food that's a patchke to make. She does best around Y"T, but people also order things for shabbos (especially if they're having guests). Her trick is that she's willing to bake/cook food in her clients' own dishes so that it looks like they did all the work themselves.

She also gets hired to do cooking demos in supermarkets and for women's groups and she does cooking classes. She's great at promoting herself. She posts videos online and goes on Jewish radio shows, etc.

I don't know if something like that would sell in Israel. What about baking fancy/decorated cookie platters for simchas or as hostess gifts?

Have you considered a non-food related business? Are you creative or artistic or do you have a great sense of fashion?