Online Food Business

23 Tips For Starting A Successful Online Food Business (2024)

Pat Walls

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Updated: January 19th, 2023

Want to start your own online food business? Here are some tips you should know:

Learn more about starting an online food business:

Where to start?

-> How much does it cost to start an online food business?
-> Pros and cons of an online food business

Need inspiration?

-> Other online food business success stories
-> Marketing ideas for an online food business
-> Online food business slogans
-> Online food business names

Other resources

-> Profitability of an online food business

We've interviewed thousands of successful founders at Starter Story and asked what advice they would give to entrepreneurs who are just getting started.

Here's the best advice we discovered for starting an online food business:

#1: Scott Unkefer, founder of Just Panela LLC:

We chatted with with Scott, founder of Just Panela LLC ($175K/month). In our interview, Scott says:

Don’t sell something you don’t have. Either the product doesn’t exist or you are behind on your supply chain, assembly, manufacturing of it.

Read the full interview ➜

#2: Heather Saffer, founder of Dollop Gourmet:

We chatted with with Heather, founder of Dollop Gourmet ($30K/month). In our interview, Heather says:

Over the next two weeks, my parents (who are divorced) and I spent 6-8 hours a day in the back of a dark warehouse packaging thousands of orders that had come in from Shark Tank.

Additionally:

I’ve also learned, which I think is important to keep in mind, that there is always another way. There’s a certain way of how things are usually done, but if you have a great product, a great story, and you’re a great person, there’s always another way.

Further:

This is for the solopreneurs: You can absolutely succeed as a solopreneur. Don’t take a partner just because you don’t want to do it solo.

Read the full interview ➜

#3: Andrew Buehler, founder of Urban Smokehouse:

We chatted with with Andrew, founder of Urban Smokehouse ($125K/month). In our interview, Andrew says:

I ultimately held a campaign on Kickstarter, which was a smash hit. We set a 30-day goal of raising $25,000 and surpassed our goal within 24 hours of going live.

Additionally:

The business has been profitable since day one, and we designed it with that in mind.

Further:

Only spend a little once you have proven a concept, don't chase 10 strategies or markets at once, do one, win at it and then move to the next.

Read the full interview ➜

#4: Marcia Wiggins, founder of Cape Whoopies, Maine's Gourmet Whoopie Pie LLC:

We chatted with with Marcia, founder of Cape Whoopies, Maine's Gourmet Whoopie Pie LLC ($80K/month). In our interview, Marcia says:

Just remember, today, you only need to take one step, solve one problem, and do that over and over and over again. Before you know it you will be way down the road and on your way to your goals.

Read the full interview ➜

#5: Kyra Bussanich, founder of Kyra's Bake Shop, LLC:

We chatted with with Kyra, founder of Kyra's Bake Shop, LLC ($64K/month). In our interview, Kyra says:

Know your run rate (how much money your company needs in a month to operate), where you can trim, and what expenses are constant and fixed, and be able to project gross revenue.

Read the full interview ➜

#6: Jen Hansard, founder of Simple Green Smoothies:

We chatted with with Jen, founder of Simple Green Smoothies ($30K/month). In our interview, Jen says:

Being an entrepreneur was never my dream. I wanted to get married, raise a family, decorate a cute house, travel a lot as a family. I started my own business out of necessity— it was my way to help feed our family and pay our rent when things got real tough.

Read the full interview ➜

#7: Alex Moore, founder of Rosa's Thai Cafe:

We chatted with with Alex, founder of Rosa's Thai Cafe ($2M/month). In our interview, Alex says:

We were nice to people, we included all the key staff in a very generous stock option when we sold and looked after the amazing people who have helped make Rosa’s what it is today.

Additionally:

Recipes are a great way to capture the audience, especially if it’s a dish they’ve eaten with us before that can be recreated at home.

Read the full interview ➜

#8: Katie Young, founder of Klondike Kettle Corn:

We chatted with with Katie, founder of Klondike Kettle Corn ($4.5K/month). In our interview, Katie says:

Be open to new ideas and always be searching for creative ways to keep your product interesting.

Read the full interview ➜

#9: Kyra Bussanich, founder of Kyra's Bake Shop, LLC:

We chatted with with Kyra, founder of Kyra's Bake Shop, LLC ($64K/month). In our interview, Kyra says:

If you want to grow beyond your own personal capabilities, you need to take a global view of your business, and focus where you are most effective, and hire people who are better than you to do the tasks where you don’t excel.

Additionally:

It took me years to learn how to look at the big picture as more representative of the financial health of the business; while our gross revenue has decreased slightly from our year 7 high, our net revenue has quadrupled.

Read the full interview ➜

#10: Scott Unkefer, founder of Just Panela LLC:

We chatted with with Scott, founder of Just Panela LLC ($175K/month). In our interview, Scott says:

“Don’t look for a void in the market and then go try and fill that void. Find something that when people experience it they say to themselves “Well this is what I wanted all along.”.

Additionally:

It was a ‘couple of gringos trying to ship pallets of powdery substance out of Colombia to the U.S. It couldn’t have looked more suspicious. I was laughed out of meetings with a couple logistics companies in the first year or two. They wouldn’t touch us.

Read the full interview ➜

#11: Christine Moore, founder of Lil Buff Protein:

We chatted with with Christine, founder of Lil Buff Protein ($80K/month). In our interview, Christine says:

There is no perfect timing. Strike while the iron is hot and figure the rest out later. We started selling our cakes before we even knew how much the cost to produce was. I’m not implying that this is a good business strategy, but there is something to be said for jumping in with both feet and taking risks.

Additionally:

My suggestion is to attend some local entrepreneur networking events. Also, reach out to companies with similar audiences through social media and set up a phone call to discuss goals and roadblocks. I was incredibly shocked at how friendly and helpful the entrepreneur space is.

Further:

Mistakes are where growth happens. When things are going well it is easy to get complacent. Snags create innovation and there is strength in the struggle.

Read the full interview ➜

#12: Heather Saffer, founder of Dollop Gourmet:

We chatted with with Heather, founder of Dollop Gourmet ($30K/month). In our interview, Heather says:

A great way to build your network is to genuinely help others when you can.

Read the full interview ➜

#13: Helen Hall, founder of Hushup X Hustle:

We chatted with with Helen, founder of Hushup X Hustle ($0/month). In our interview, Helen says:

Always go with your gut!! There will be SO many tough decisions throughout owning your own business so the faster you can learn to trust your gut the better off you will be.

Additionally:

Do everything you can on your own first before hiring someone! This will help save on costs in the early stages and it also lets you learn how to do it all yourself so if you ever need to take something over you can.