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How to Sell Food Online From Home

Are you wondering how to sell food online from home? Do your family and friends constantly tell you that you make the best of something and you’re ready to share it with the world?

Creating a culinary business from your own kitchen can be super profitable, but you need to understand the basics before you begin.

In this guide, we’ll go over the process of how to start a small food business at home and the various steps involved in the process. Plus, we’ll take a look at how Castiron can help make the process as simple as pie. (Or cake. Or condiments. Whatever floats your fancy!)

Ready to learn more? Let’s dive right in.

How to Sell Food Online: The Basics

While you might be tempted to just jump right into selling homemade food online, the truth is that there are several steps you’ll need to go through first. While it varies depending on where in the country you live, the general ones are still mostly the same and include guidelines related to the following.

Get a State-Issued Business License

The first step in selling prepackaged food online is to get a state-issued business license. Usually, each jurisdiction offers a guide on their tax website with information on how to do this for that specific area. The good news is that it usually just requires filling out a form and paying a small fee. If you’re still confused, you can always reach out to your local Small Business Administration (SBA) or startup incubator for further details.

Find Out About Annual Inspections

Every state requires that the kitchen you use to make your product must be inspected annually. Thus, it is important to research the process for having this done before opening your virtual doors. Generally, there is a published list of criteria that you’ll want to follow prior to the inspector’s visit, too.

Know Other Rules for Your Area

In addition, you’ll want to know other specific rules for the area in which you live. For example, most have a ruling that does not permit animals in the kitchen at any time—meaning you’ll have to have a plan to keep your furry friends out, even when you aren’t actively making items for your online store.

You might also ask, do I need a license to sell baked goods online? Most likely, yes. Some areas require a food handler’s card or other similar license, too. Which is why it is important to know whether your state requires a permit to sell food from home.

Research Online Food Business Ideas

Once you have a clear understanding of what it takes to learn how to sell food from home, you need to narrow down to a particular niche.

Are you planning on baking cakes for local birthdays, anniversaries, and weddings? Or are your items something like a jam, jelly, or hot sauce that can be shipped nationwide?

Deciding on what you actually want to make is an integral part of understanding how to start an online food business from home. Remember, this is the key theme that your entire online business is going to be about, making it vital that you choose wisely.

How to Start an Online Food Business from Home with Castiron

Once you’ve gotten the appropriate licenses or permits, researched your local laws regarding home kitchens, and decided on a niche, you can move on to actually opening your online store.

Which is where Castiron comes in. This unique eCommerce platform for food brands makes it easier to open your shop, manage inventory, accept orders, and truly build your culinary brand.

Best of all, our whole platform is specifically designed for those with a passion for food. We genuinely want to help make the world a better place by helping entrepreneurs grow their brands, which is why we’ve created a dedicated solution for home-based chefs.

And, it is important to note that our basic platform is forever free. As you grow and take more orders, we charge a small transaction fee directly to your customer to help cover our costs. For many new food brands, this is an effective way to increase sales and jumpstart growth.

Wrap Up: How to Sell Food Online from Home

Now that we’ve covered the basics of how to sell homemade food online, you should have a good idea of where to start. To test out Castiron for your culinary eCommerce store, check out our product features page.

Of course, there’s far more that you’ll want to learn about learning how to sell homemade snacks online. Keep browsing through our Castiron blog for more tips, ideas, and guidelines to ensure your new business is a total success!

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