At Massive Startup Ltd we understand that starting a takeaway business can be a daunting task, especially in today’s competitive market. However, with the right strategies and approach, you can establish a successful and profitable takeaway business that caters to the needs of your target market. In this guide, we will take you through the essential steps that you need to follow to start your takeaway business and ensure its long-term success.
Step 1: Conduct Market Research
Before starting any business, it is crucial to conduct market research to understand your target market’s needs, preferences, and behaviours. You can do this by analysing your competitors, surveying potential customers, and understanding the local market’s trends and demands. By doing so, you will be able to identify gaps in the market and tailor your business to meet the needs of your customers.
For example, you can use apps as Deliveroo, Just Eat or Uber Eats to find local take away businesses. See which ones have the highest number of reviews. What type of food are they selling?
Spend one hour reading reviews about these businesses. Make notes of what they are doing wright to satisfy the clients and what they are doing wrong to make their clients write bad reviews about their services. These should be the core rules of your business.
Step 2: Define Your Menu
The menu is the heart of any takeaway business, and it is crucial to ensure that it is diverse, appealing, and meets your customers’ tastes and preferences. When designing your menu, consider factors such as your target market, your competitors’ menu, and the cost of ingredients. You can also consider offering daily specials and discounts to attract and retain customers.
What are you good at? Italian? English? Asian? Can you cook traditional deserts?
In regards with the menu design itself please hire a digital designer. A good designer can make the menu look professional, and a poor designer can make your business look cheap.
Step 3: Choose Your Location
The location of your takeaway business is critical to its success. You need to choose a location that is easily accessible, visible, and in a high-traffic area. You should also consider factors such as rent, lease terms, and waste management when choosing your location.
Step 4: Secure Funding
Starting a takeaway business requires capital, and you need to secure funding to cover your startup costs and initial operating expenses. You can fund your business through personal savings, loans from family and friends, or business loans from financial institutions.
You can visit one of our blogs to find out where you can borrow money from: 10 UK small business grants 2023 – Massive Startup
Step 5: Obtain Necessary Licenses and Permits
Starting a takeaway business requires various licenses and permits, depending on your location and the type of food you are selling. Some of the licenses and permits you may need include food hygiene certificates, business registration, and health and safety permits.
Considering the health inspections is crucial. Your staff should be trained to adhere to the proper food hygiene regulations to ensure a smooth passage through government health inspections. Once your establishment is operational, it will be inspected by the Food Standards Agency (FSA), which will award a hygiene certificate to the restaurant.
Useful websites:
Food business registration – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Homepage | Food Standards Agency
Step 6: Build Your Brand
Building a strong brand is essential for the success of your takeaway business. Your brand should communicate your business’s values, mission, and unique selling proposition. You can build your brand through effective marketing strategies such as social media marketing, email marketing, and content marketing. A strong marketing agency can teach how to achieve these or do the work for you. At Massive Startup Ltd we offer free business consultation so we can teach you how to grow your business.
Step 7: Hire and Train Your Staff
Your staff is the backbone of your takeaway business, and you need to ensure that they are skilled, knowledgeable, and customer-centric. You can hire and train your staff through various strategies such as job fairs, online job postings, and on-the-job training. For training consider Food hygiene and COSHH.
Step 8: Launch and Monitor Your Business
Once you have completed all the above steps, you are ready to launch your takeaway business. However, launching is just the beginning, and you need to continually monitor and improve your business to ensure its long-term success. You can do this by tracking your sales, website visitors, monitoring customer feedback, and analysing your competitors’ strategies.
Conclusion
Starting a takeaway business is a challenging yet rewarding venture. By following the steps outlined in this guide, you can establish a successful and profitable takeaway business that meets the needs of your target market. Remember to conduct market research, define your menu, choose your location, secure funding, obtain necessary licenses and permits, build your brand, hire and train your staff, and launch and monitor your business to ensure its long-term success.
It doesn’t matter if in the area there are already 100 take aways. You just have to do it better than at least 50% of them. 😊
At Massive Startup Ltd we can help you start your business, from finding a good name, registering the business, create all the marketing elements (website, flyers, menus) and give you all the documents that you need to function. Get in touch for more details.
