How to Start an Online Food Business at Home

If you have a great idea on how to sell food from home that is just too good to pass up, and you are ready to move past online food business ideas to the hard work of actually selling homemade food online, we are here to tell you how. You won't find absolutely all the answers to your questions about how to start your online food business from home, but by the end of this short article, you will have your starting a food business checklist.

1. Identify your best food ideas to sell online.

Famous Amos didn't try to sell pickles. Panda Express never sold bagels. Lay's Potato Chips never had a line of smoked tofu.

The first secret you need to know about how to sell food from home is that you must choose one thing you do better than anyone else on the market. Even if there are two or twenty-two or two hundred and two food items you make that people rave about, choose just one to make your brand and gain a reputation for making it best.

2. Get to know the rules on selling food from home.

Home food businesses operate within federal, state, county, and city rules and regulations. Some states don't permit anyone to make food at home for sale to the public. Some states permit everyone to make food at home for sale to the public without a license, an inspection, or filing any plans with the state.

Most local rules fall somewhere between the two extremes. You may need to get a food handlers permit (usually just by taking a $10 course online). You may need to have your kitchen inspected, file a business plan, file copies of your recipes, have samples of your food analyzed in a lab, keep records of where and when you buy your ingredients, or open your home to show a health department inspector that Fido and Fluffy won't get into the cookie batter. You may also need to get set up for collecting sales taxes and sending them to your state before you get a permit to sell food from home.

It's almost always a good idea to have liability insurance before you sell your first dollar of product, too. On this site, you can find everything you need to know about the rules and regulations on selling food from home in your state, county, and city. But know the rules before you start your business!

3. Learn how to sell food online.

With SEO (search engine optimization), PPC (pay per click), or organic advertising (people find you when they are searching for something else on the Internet), online food sales are a great way to get lots of customers, and lots of enthusiastic customers, fast and from the comfort of your own home.

But nearly every state in the United States insists that even online food sales of food made at home come with a personal touch.

You may be permitted to sell your homemade food online, but be required to deliver it in person. Or you may be permitted to ship your homemade food products to your customer, but only if they meet with you in person to buy it first.

As you can see, there is a lot to know about how to start a small food business at home before you get started! Things like...

• The specific items your state permits to be made at home for sale to the public, and make sure your product or products are on that list.
• Whether your state has requirements for acidity level or water content in the foods that can be made at home and sold to the public. Usually, state rules require low water content in baked goods (with the exception of whole pies), snacks, and candies, and high acidity levels in canned food, jellies, and jams for safety reasons.
• Make sure your food item does not require refrigeration. If it does, you may need inspections and permits to sell it at all.
• Don't plan on a food empire at the very beginning. Federal laws don't permit sales and shipping of homemade food across state lines. State laws don't, either. But be assured that you can still make Internet food sales from home a very profitable sideline. If you couldn't, so many states wouldn't have rules about what you do when your sales pass $50,000 a year.

We are here to help you find everything you need to start an online food business that makes you money with a minimum of hassles. We are here to help you do what you do best, making great homemade food for sale!