How To Start Online Food Business From Home (Step by Step Guide)
Running an online food business from home has its advantages, but it also comes with its own set of difficulties. The reality is that launching a business of any sort takes a significant amount of effort and to help you with this, we have brought you the step-by-step guide on how to start an online business from home and popular business ideas.
In essence, the "internet" is only a means of linking businesses and customers. This is a powerful tool that allows you to contact people from all around the world. It is still about pairing the appropriate clients with the right items when it comes to starting a business with it.
According to Statisa;=.com, The Indian internet food delivery business was estimated to be valued at 2.9 billion dollars in 2020. The COVID-19 epidemic caused a 32% drop in the stock market. Nonetheless, by 2025, it was predicted to reclaim 35% of its lost ground, reaching roughly 13 billion dollars.
Here are some eye-opening statistics for you if you are still unsure about starting an online business - By the end of 2020, the online business market is forecast to reach $4.2 trillion (Statista)
By 2024, online sales are expected to reach $6.5 trillion (Statista)By 2020, there will be 2.05 billion online buyers (Oberlo) At Least Once a Month, 75% of People Buy Online (Statista)
63% of shopping begins on the internet (Google) A lot of people have already decided to establish their food delivery businesses. If you have the right ideas and put in the work, you can do the same.
This is not about learning a single easy method that will transform your life. That is not how it works when it comes to starting an internet business. Instead, we have compiled a list of basic online food business tips that will help you out in your journey!
Why Should You Opt For An Online Food Business?
With the rapid advancement of the internet and technology in general, there is an online business concept for everyone, regardless of past expertise or job background. Launching a food business online is one of the fastest, simplest, and most cost-effective ways to start a business generally, since all you need is a laptop and access to the internet.
Entrepreneurs need to grab the opportunities with their hands and start their food businesses as working from home has grown increasingly prevalent throughout the world. Plus, if you are not ready to go all-in on your online company right now, many of these projects can be started part-time and scaled up as your side hustle grows. We have listed the benefits of starting an online food business as follows -
Online Food Start-Up Costs Are Lower
Overall expenses may be burdensome for new business owners, and they can have a damaging influence on your financial health. High start-up and overall expenses, on the other hand, are only incurred if you want to create a physical location.
On the other hand, online food companies merely require the purchase of a domain name and hosting services. Hiring a professional web designer to create a beautiful and professional-looking website for your company may come at an additional expense.
"It also saves us money on taxes and rent that we would have to pay for a shop," said Alexander Reichmann of iTestCash. Thus, in terms of start-up costs and overhead expenditures, internet firms are less expensive than brick-and-mortar enterprises.
Low-cost Marketing
The internet is a low-cost resource. You may sell your goods through a variety of internet venues, including online advertising and social media. Online advertising is quite inexpensive, and it allows you to track the effectiveness of your communications. This allows you to determine which advertising messages are effective and which are not.
Social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are one way to market your goods online. Customers tend to spend a large amount of time on social media, making it a particularly effective tool for increasing product awareness.
It Offers A Lot Of Flexibility
Unlike traditional brick-and-mortar businesses, which require someone to be present in the store at all times, internet businesses allow you to manage your business from any location, at any time. As a result, internet enterprises allow you to maintain a work-life balance.
International Business Market
Globalization is one of the major effects of the internet. Online enterprises may help meet global customer demand by allowing entrepreneurs like you to sell your product abroad without having to build up a physical store in that location.
"It widens your reach from local to national and worldwide no matter how tiny a firm you are," Interloper Inc.'s Najeeullah Babar said.
Financial Transactions Are Easier And Faster
You may receive a transaction from a consumer directly to your bank using online payment systems like PayPal and Stripe. This will save you a significant amount of time during the transaction procedure.
Your international consumers can make payments in their currencies since online payment systems will convert their currency to the currency you will receive automatically.
Some Statistics and Figures on Online Food Business
We have listed out statistics on online businesses, as seen on thrivemyway.com -
- At least once a week, 16 per cent of internet consumers make a food purchase.
- At least once a month, 80 per cent of global customers purchase food online.
- Women (72%) are more likely than males to purchase online regularly (68 per cent). Millennials will utilise social media as part of their shopping process in 63% of cases.
- In 2024, 56% of Indian shoppers will use their Smartphones to make a purchase.
- Conversions may be increased by 35.26 per cent by improving the checkout experience for customers.
- If free delivery is given, 53% of customers are more inclined to buy.
Scope of Growth For Online Food Businesses
When you manage a brick-and-mortar business, you have to cope with the limitations of the "real world." Renting in prominent locations is costly, there may not be enough foot traffic on some days, and the local community does not always want anything.
What is more, guess what? None of these restrictions applies when you establish an internet business. According to Grandview Research, From 2019 to 2025, the worldwide online food services market is estimated to develop at a compound annual rate (CAGR) of 15.4 percent. Smartphone use and increasing internet are both contributing to market expansion.
The expansion of the broader meal delivery sector, which allows customers to purchase food from a variety of eateries, is fueling market growth. Over the last several years, food companies such as Zomato and Swiggy have expanded their presence in the Indian market, contributing to the sector's development.
And as more individuals become familiar with the notion of online purchasing, your pool of prospective clients grows with each passing year. According to Bigcommerce.com, online businesses will account for 22% of global revenues by 2024.
In Asia, the number of Internet users grew from 764.4 million to 2.5 billion, suggesting that 1.76 billion people signed up for the service. With more and more people coming online, your online food business gets a greater chance of being popular. Especially if you do not mind crossing the boundary with your web company.
In 10 Easy Steps, You Can Begin Your Online Food Business
Let us look at the operational components of beginning an internet business now that you have agreed on a food business strategy. The following is a step-by-step guide:
- Determine your unique selling proposition (USP)
- Determine Who You Want to Reach
- Learn About The Laws And Get The Licenses
- Conduct a Market Analysis
- Concentrate On the Locations Where You Will Be Reaching Out To
- Work Out the Logistics
- Define Your Image And Brand
- Open Your Online Shop
- Expand Your Company
- Promotion and Marketing
1. Determine Your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)
The desire for your food is determined by the services you want to provide to your clients. What you would have on the menu will influence your clientele, whether this is home-cooked dishes or a certain cuisine.
So, consider your assets and determine your unique selling proposition. It might be serving Maharashtrian, North Indian, Mughlai, or South Indian specialities, or it could be serving home-cooked, pre-packaged snacks. Always try to play to your strengths.
Sticking to a specific cuisine or sort of food that you are knowledgeable about can only benefit your business. It will be easy to target buyers after you have found that niche.
Once you've decided on your USP, you have cleared the first obstacle to getting your business online. Take an example from Domino's Pizza - "We GUARANTEE - Fresh hot pizza delivered in 30 minutes or less or it's FREE!" says Domino's Pizza. Domino's Pizza has a unique selling proposition (USP) that customers remember.
Customers might establish definite expectations about their service based on their unique promise, which they define as a guarantee. It's also not something you'd expect from a delivery company. As a result, it's one-of-a-kind.
Finally, buyers will remember their USP since it rhymes ("guarantee" and "free"). Rhyming sentences are significantly easier to recall than non-rhyming ones.
2. Determine Who You Want to Reach
Whenever it comes to meal delivery, it is usually a good idea to have a general concept of whoever you want to attract. If you are delivering meals to businesses, individuals, or young families, you may tailor your service to meet their unique requirements.
If you cater to workplaces, for example, you may include designs for food boxes. Alternatively, you could offer geographic meals based on basic research into the types of people who live in the area – for example, if you operate in an area with Rajasthani residents or bachelors or students, you might consider offering pure veg or Marwari food to accommodate their requirements and suit their needs and way of life.
To obtain sales and subsequently expand your business, you need to know exactly who your target market is. To learn more about their needs and preferences, look at both demographic and psychographic data.
1. Statistics on the population -
Demographic data includes basic socioeconomic characteristics such as age, sex, nationality, salary, job description, and so on.
2. Psychographic information -
Psychographic data includes values, opinions, interests, viewpoints, and other psychological characteristics. These insights, when combined, aid in the development of a comprehensive understanding of your prospective buyer's needs, preferences, and purchasing triggers.
One thing to remember is to establish a balance between what you're delivering based on your previously identified USP and what people are looking for. There is a market for every sort of food. You must locate those that are appropriate for your company and services.
3. Learn About The Laws And Get The Licenses
Since they run an internet business, online food business owners may assume that traditional business laws do not apply to them. That is not the case.
While an online business requires fewer licences and permissions than a brick-and-mortar firm, you must still address several legal issues. Specifically:
- What type of business licence (if any) are you going to need to get started?
- Which legal structure (private limited, corporate body, or corporation) is most appropriate?
- Is there anything you need to get permission for?
- Are you need to pass any inspections?
- Is a sales tax licence required?
- Are there any limitations that are just applicable to online businesses?
- What are the rules for recruiting contractors vs employees?
Obtaining the necessary permits is a key step in beginning an internet meal delivery service. The necessary licences should be secured to prevent future legal difficulties. To establish a food delivery business in India, you will need FSSAI (for quality and safety), GST registration, a health trade licence, and trademark registration.
These licences are available for purchase locally. You may get all the information you need regarding this procedure from your regional Municipal Corporation. It may appear to be an unnecessary expense at first, but it will pay off in the long run and you save a lot of headaches as your company grows.
There may be more information available about beginning a food delivery service, these are just some of the basic requirements to know before you start your food delivery service. Keep in mind - Every state and nation has its unique set of laws. Always double-check the facts. You also should seek good legal help if you really can afford it.
4. Conduct a Market Analysis
Conduct online market research to find out what your target audience wants, needs, or lacks. You must undertake market research to start your own online business. It assists in assessing the depth, strength, and profitability of a company's vertical. Because the last thing you want to do is launch a deal that no one wants to take advantage of.
Market research also aids in the validation of your product concept, price, and demand. Here is how to begin conducting market research:
1. Use search engine results pages (SERPs)
Examine the search engine result pages (SERPs) for several versions of your product or service keywords. What kind of results appears now on the first page of Google? What do businesses spend to have their ads appear on the very first page of organic results?
This will allow you to analyse your rivals ahead of time. In addition, gather data for a preliminary SEO and digital marketing plan based on the kind of content your target audience prefers.
2. Do some research on the competition
You should also examine your primary competitors more closely (beyond SERPs). Which are the most profitable businesses currently in this industry? What kind of money do they make? What are their advantages and disadvantages?
3. Keep track of your top-performing keywords
Monitor niche-relevant keywords to see how demand for different items is changing in your niche and what content ranks well.
The following are some helpful resources:
- Google Trends (free)
- Google Keyword Planner (free)
- Ahrefs (paid)
- Semrush (paid)
5. Concentrate On the Locations Where You Will Be Reaching Out To
Put your limits when it gets to the service areas unless you already have the financial means to set up extra kitchens to expand your service region. Naturally, you want your cuisine to be renowned for its flavour and quality.
Ensuring the freshness and quality of the meals in the meal delivery industry can be difficult. You must designate a certain area or locale in which you will operate or distribute.
The quality of your meals may be jeopardised if the locations are too far apart. Setting certain areas to focus on as a newbie in the food-service industry is a fantastic idea.
If you serve home-cooked meals, for example, you may choose a neighbourhood near you that is populated by students or young professionals — whatever your target customer is. This will assure a steady stream of customers.
Establishing such characteristics can steadily boost your company's growth rate. It will assist in increasing the number of clients in that region who favour your service due to its flavour and quality.
In such cases, giving you word-of-mouth exposure is also a superior option. If you like, you may gradually start increasing your business. Starting small and establishing a stable client base while maintaining a strong reputation is a better strategy for a new firm.
6. Work Out the Logistics
Having dependable delivery workers is just as vital as having good cuisine for an online meal delivery service. You can use one of the known delivery networks or set up your little system, depending on the size of your company.
Depending on business needs, you may hire a single individual or a team of employees to work in-house. Just be sure to conduct a comprehensive background check before hiring them, since they will play a crucial part in your company.
Because it has a direct influence on your business, establishing a robust delivery procedure mechanism is just as crucial as preserving food quality. To make your company succeed, choose individuals you may trust and depend on.
7. Define Your Image And Brand
The "vibe" of your firm is determined by its brand. You may recognize Swiggy by its iconic orange colour, or Pizza Hut by the famous red hue!
You want to portray a uniform visual image and messaging from your website address to your internet design and text. The same is true of your off-site presence – through emails, the packaging, or even social media, for example.
While working on your brand identity, keep the following in mind -
- Logo.
- The scheme of colours.
- Layouts for pages.
- Typography.
- Photographs and graphics
To develop your brand image, all of these elements should function together.
8. Open Your Online Shop
Preparing for the launch of your online food store is the next phase in your strategy. This comprises configuring and launching your online store.
1. Decide on an e-commerce platform
Going online may appear to be a challenging chore, although it's not as hard as you may believe. The meal delivery industry is flourishing, and this trend is likely to continue for many years. This is the greatest moment to get started if you enjoy cooking and want to operate a food-related business.
While there are several variables to consider when beginning an internet business, the great news would be that technology makes it all possible, and does it easily. Lack of technological know-how, putting up online properties such as a website, payment gateway, and so on are some of the obstacles that prevent small company owners from getting online.
An eCommerce platform serves as the technical foundation for selling online. From a product catalogue to payment processing, this type of software has everything you need.
Setting up an internet business, on the other hand, is a must because it expands your client base. An online shop aggregator may be preferred since the functionality provided by an e-commerce platform could never be matched by your social media platforms or even your website.
Listed below are a few popular choices:
Fynd Platform - Fynd is a SaaS platform with many integrated apps and a wide variety of native functionality (nominal separate subscription fees apply). It also comes with plenty of professional and responsive themes for you to choose from while creating your website.
You can take your business online in just a few simple steps that we have shared below. Don't worry if you don't have the technical know-how to build a website or integrate payment methods. Fynd has always got your back.
WooCommerce - An open-source platform that you may customise to create any kind of store you want. Dozens of WooCommerce extensions are available to assist with shipping, accounting, marketing, and other tasks. However, you will need to pay for hosting as well as a developer to set up and design your store.
2. Add your items to the mix
Add goods to your catalogue once you have decided on a platform and a store theme. Pay great attention to the following:
Images of the Food items - Provide high-definition images of the food items that you offer from various viewpoints. The food descriptions Instead of stacking up features focus on the advantages that will be received by the customer. Product images and descriptions have a significant impact on the conversion rates of your retail sites. So bide your time and double-check everything!
Decide on how you will ship - Fast and free shipping is the most important factor in completing an online purchase, and it has been for the last six years!). Make sure that all of your food items are delivered on time to your consumers. You may achieve this using a variety of delivery options, including -
- Pick up in-store
- LTL trucking companies
- Same-day or next-day delivery.
- Shipping is free.
3. Double-check that everything is in working order
Finally, triple-test all aspects of your eCommerce store after it is up and running. Make certain that:
- On every device, all pages appear fantastic (desktop, tablet, mobile).
- The website works in all kinds of browsers (Chrome, Brave, Firefox, etc.).
- All of the buttons are clickable and linked to the appropriate programmes.
- Employ a QA professional to conduct the test and comment on the findings if you have the finances.
9. Expand Your Company
It is time to start attracting traffic to your eCommerce site once everything is in place. Make the channels listed below your main priority:
Pay-per-click (PPC) ads on social media and also in search results - Put money aside for PPC ads on social media as well as in search engine results. That's the easiest approach to boost a new store's brand recognition.
Influencer marketing - This is a term that refers to the use of celebrities. To advertise your items, collaborate with social media influencers. Another easy approach to get them in front of your target audience is to use social media.
Marketing on social media - Build audiences on social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook to support the organic traffic. While having a social media presence is important for starting and growing an online business, it shouldn't be the only one. Many entrepreneurs make the error of launching their businesses on social media platforms, including WhatsApp.
While starting a company on social networking sites may appear to be simple and painless, it may not result in actual clients. It takes away your reputation, and ramping up will be impossible.
You must have a presence online, whether on a website or through an eCommerce platform. This ensures that you reach a larger and more relevant audience, resulting in more meaningful business.
SEO - It stands for search engine optimization (SEO). Ensure that all of your website's pages are optimised for search engines. Then, for your blog, devise a content marketing plan.
Email marketing - It is a type of marketing that involves sending emails to Capture the email addresses of visitors to your eCommerce business to create an email list. You may then use your ask your email subscribers to buy your food items.
10. Promotion and Marketing
Remember the old days when your company's success was determined solely by its quality? Those days are no more. Today, advertising and promotion are extremely important in today's world of cutthroat competition. For people to approach you, they must be familiar with a brand and offerings.
To some extent, cost-effective approaches include social media advertising, SMS services, and WhatsApp marketing. There's always the option of using flyers or modest adverts to market your business locally.
You may always invest a bit more in sponsored marketing as your company expands. In any case, you must begin spreading the word about your company in any manner you can. That's how you can explain your unique selling proposition and set yourself out from your competition.
What Are The Benefits Of Selling On The Fynd Platform?
Let's take a closer look at some of the advantages and disadvantages of running a digital campaign on Fynd.
1. Maintaining a high level of awareness
It's tough to go undetected online with over 13 million monthly visits! Display advertising that is specifically targeted puts you at the top of people's minds. Their team can help you raise brand awareness, stand out from the competition, increase sales, and expand your business.
2. It is cost-effective
One of the major advantages of internet advertising is its low cost. Unlike traditional advertising methods, you do not need to invest a lot of money to sell your products and services. Online advertising is less costly, more effective, and quantitative than traditional advertising.
3. Assists you in locating your target audience
They can assist you in locating the right audience on the internet. They concentrate their efforts on those who are most likely to be interested in what you have to offer. They collect data on their online users and categorise them into significant user groups based on their online involvement and behaviour. They may also interact with your audience by contextually targeting them depending on the category or sub-category in which they are interested.
This will also assist you in generating more leads while increasing the effectiveness and revenue of your operations. Fynd has approximately 70 subcategories and 13 primary categories.
4. Contact consumers at the start of their purchasing journey
The ability to reach people who are just starting their search is maybe the most significant advantage of classifieds.
5. Ad Types Flexibility
Advertising on the internet is adaptive! It does not restrict you to a particular type of advertisement. You have the freedom to change and adjust your plans as you go. You may alter your spending at any moment, renew your photos, and change your target demographic as required with the optimization tools you receive.
6. Availability of data
Traditional (non-digital) advertising can be expensive and reach a large number of people, but the return on investment is never known. Your campaign is always being monitored by online advertising professionals to measure everything using quantitative indicators to assess its performance.
The following are some of the metrics that might help you make an educated decision on the next step to take:
- The number of impressions, or how many times your ad was seen on OLX, indicates how many times your ad was seen.
- The term "cost per click" refers to the price paid for each click. How much did a single ad campaign click cost you?
- How many different people have viewed your ad?
- The click-through rate is abbreviated as CTR. What is the average number of clicks per ad impression?
- The conversion rate is the percentage of visits that result in the desired action.
7. Budgeting and campaign management
The vast array of audience targeting options available online may help you reach your objectives, whether they be for brand awareness or performance. It will help you with your adverts, set you up, check your reports for any gaps that need to be filled, and create your digital campaigns around your brand strategy and positioning. However, how do you sell on OLX? Continue reading to learn more.
What Is The Best Way To Sell On The Fynd Platform?
The procedure of selling on the Fynd platform has been made as simple as possible for your convenience, so you may start selling right away, even if you have no prior experience with website development! You may entrust us with the task of developing a user-friendly and SEO-optimized online store for you!
Fynd Platform helps small businesses become digital and sell their products using existing channels like Whatsapp. The Fynd platform can be beneficial, particularly if you are not very tech-savvy.
Following the instructions below, you may easily build an internet website:
Step 1: Log in to your Fynd Platform account. You may easily make an account if you don't already have one. Simply go to https://platform.fynd.com/ and register in less than a minute.
Step 2: Next to the Sales Channel selection, look for a "+" icon. Then choose New Application from the Online Store.
Step 3: A window will open, asking you to fill out your details, choose what you want to post on your website, and then click Next.
Step 4: Now look for your website's domain name. From the list of choices, pick your domain name. That will be your store's internet address.
Step 5: Next, go to the Products category and choose "Digital" as the Type. Then choose the relevant Department before entering the Course Name. Insert the course's Item Name afterwards.
Step 6: Add some photographs or media to make it more appealing, and then write a brief explanation of your product. After that, hit the Save button. Make sure you've included enough images and written a simple explanation.
Repeat Steps 5 and 6 if you have a range of things to sell. After the operation is completed, just share the URL of the online store with consumers using WhatsApp.
You Can Learn From Successful Online Food Businesses
Understanding what other online food organisations have done to get to where they are now is one of the finest methods to "learn" eCommerce. You may reverse-engineer the "success stories" by following the stories below.
Zomato
Zomato is an online food delivery app that began as Foodiebay in July 2008, during the height of India's startup boom, and was rebranded by Zomato in 2010. Deepinder Goyal and Pankaj Chaddah, both IIT Delhi alumni, founded Zomato. Deepinder Goyal is from a working-class household. He had majored in mathematics and computer science. Both work for the consulting company Bain & Company as analysts.
With a staff of six people, Foodiebay began as an internet directory for restaurant meals. It became the largest inline eatery directory in Delhi NCR in 2008. Foodiebay was rebranded Zomato in 2010 after 2 years.
After establishing a monopoly in Delhi NCR, the corporation expanded to places like Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune, Bangalore, and Ahmadabad by 2011. Meal delivery services from partner restaurants are available in various cities through Zomato, an online food delivery platform. It also includes information, customer reviews, and restaurant menus.
Between 2010 and 2013, Zomato received nearly an Amount of rs 167, 000, 00 (USD 16.7 million) from "Info Edge India." For such Online Food Ordering and Delivery App, Sequoia Capital, Info Edge, and a big investor, Vy Capital, raised USD 60 million.
Swiggy
Swiggy was launched in 2014. Nandan Reddy, Rahul Jaimini, and Sriharsha Majety are the founders. $3.3 billion in current estimated value. The viral meal delivery firm has established itself as one of the inspiring success stories, having started in a Bengaluru neighbourhood with only 25 partner eateries and six delivery executives.
The meal delivery company now employs over 2.1 lakh delivery personnel in over 300 locations throughout India. The firm currently processes over 1.4 million food orders every day across the United States.
Swiggy has recently acquired $1 billion in investment from Naspers and Tencent Holdings.
Fasoos
The Faasos firm is an Indian internet meal delivery service that was founded in 2011. Faasos debuted its mobile phone app in 2014, and the firm has been serving Indian consumers as a food-on-demand service since then.
Faasos is based in Mumbai, Maharashtra, and has 160+ kitchens that serve dishes from four distinct brands. Faasos India is the only firm in the online food ordering market in India that works on all three stages of the food on-demand business: buying, delivery, and order fulfilment.
Final Words
It does not have to be difficult to start an online food business. Take each step one at a time. First, do some research into a food speciality and popular items. Determine your company concept and fulfilment approach next.
Then after, you may start building your online food business. Select an eCommerce platform, customise its appearance, and begin adding goods to your catalogue. Focus your energy on expanding the number of people who visit your website.
Once your company is up and going, make a point of gathering as much data as possible. Then examine the information to learn more about what works and what does not. Make the necessary changes to your business plan. Do not be concerned if you do not know everything there is to know about the online food business. No one can accomplish it on their first day. We are all still learning!