A Start-Up Guide for the TippyMart Foodie
New to the world of food business? Is this your first time managing a store in TippyMart? Well, you don’t need to worry about that anymore! In this article you will be guided on the different steps to take when handling a start-up business!
Starting a food business is a thought that probably crossed everyone’s mind at least once in their lives. Ingredients are cheap, customers are plenty, and you get to make delicious food and make money at the same time.
And there really is something for everyone—from building your fortune like Tony Tan Caktiong and his Jollibee Foods Corporation to being a cornerstone of Filipino cooking like The Aristocrat Restaurant’s Lola Asiang. Even when times are a bit hard, opportunities in the food industry are aplenty.
But unlike the other kinds of businesses, food enterprises carry their own unique sets of risks. Things like food safety, product presentation, service quality, and even spoilage, take front seats in your entrepreneurial drive. Stepping into any new world will be challenging, but spirit, passion, and hard work will turn your food business dreams into a reality.
Now, before you actually get on to running the day-to-day of your business, you need to get a few things in order. Let’s hop on to it, shall we?
Step One: Research
You’ll need to know what the people want. Do they like what you’re offering? Great! Not so much? Maybe tweak your idea a little.
The main goal is to find a sweet spot where your passion hits close (or right at) what people want. This gives you the best opportunity to make good profits on your business venture.
This also includes your brand—think of good names that customers can easily remember and makes you stand out from the competition.
You can also look up popular food trends that could give the first momentum for your business. A lot of new startups emerged, for example, when ube cheese pandesal became a hit.
It’s also a nice idea to tap into existing niches, or small markets that mainstream brands are usually not interested to look into. These are products that are usually tagged as custom, artisanal, gourmet, allergy-free, gluten-free, natural, fair-trade, ethical, etc.
You may want to put down all your ideas in a business plan. The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has an easy format to help you get started.
Step Two: Deciding How to Sell; Packaging
There are many great ways to sell your food. But when faced with limited options like in our situation today, you can always opt to sell your food online, like on TippyMart.
Selling your food online gives you virtually unlimited possibilities for selling. You can sell to people farther away from your home, if you are operating a home business. You don’t have to rely on people walking past your business area for you to make sales.
But if you decide to sell online, you should also think about how you will do your packaging. Buyers still prefer presentable food when it reaches their doors.
Ensure that your packaging is sturdy and can hold up the food inside it without spilling while it is being delivered. Your packaging should also bear your brand—a sticker with your brand logo is good enough for a first step. Later on, you can make more exquisite designs for your packaging, or even hire a designer to help you!
Disposable containers are often the most basic and useful type of packaging. Strong enough to contain food and cheap enough to buy again and again. Opting for recyclable or biodegradable containers, meanwhile, is a good way to help nature, albeit a bit more pricey.
Step Four: Register Your Online Business
Once you have your business plan, brand, and other minor things figured out, it’s time register your business. You might ask, ‘Isn’t that just for big companies? I’m only a home-based online business, am I required to register?’ The answer is yes!
For a small business owned by only one person (maybe you, the reader), also known as a sole proprietorship, you usually need three things:
Firstly, register with the DTI for the business name of your business. Click this link to access the printable form at DTI’s website. You may also access the online form here.
Second, you need to secure a Mayor’s permit from your city, or a municipal permit if you live in a municipality. The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) recently announced, however, that they won’t require Mayor’s permits or municipal permits yet to lessen the burden on entrepreneurs.
Lastly, you need to register at the BIR. The agency will issue you a Tax Identification Number and you will be able to print your official receipt and invoices! But don’t worry about taxes yet, because only online businesses that make over Php 250,000 a year will be taxed.
Now if you have employees working under you, make sure that they are enrolled under Pag-IBIG, PhilHealth, and SSS.
Regularly check the websites of the agencies mentioned above to check for the complete requirements step to do a regular or online application. You may also try to call their hotlines for more information.
As for fees, some of these agencies now also allow payment over Gcash or Paymaya to remove the hassle of going to the physical offices.
Step Three: Buy What You Need; Financing
Once you already put up the foundations of the business, it’s time to invest. Invest in the things you need—equipment and ingredients or raw materials to name a few. If you’re just setting up a small operation, these shouldn’t be too hard for you.
As for pricing, remember that customers are very sensitive to prices. Calculate how much it takes to make one product—that includes the cost of everything you bought plus the water and electricity you use up—and then add a little bit more to come up with your price. Let’s say it takes you Php 140 to make a little cake, you can price it at Php 150 to make a Php 10 profit.
Keep track of your finances by recording your day-to-day, weekly, and monthly expenses on a logbook, or better yet, a spreadsheet program. To learn more about working with spreadsheets, stay tuned on TippyMart’s Knowledge Hub.
You might want to set up a business credit card or a corporate bank account later on as your business grows.
Step Five: Maintain Health Standards
Now that disease is a very real risk for many people, we need to take extra caution when it comes to health. To keep your kitchen clean and regularly sanitized, it’s best to spend a little extra on precautions. Disinfectants, face masks, or even personal protective equipment should be common tools in your work kitchen. It will keep you and your customers safe!
