Meals-to-go businesses prepare and deliver home-cooked meals to busy customers who prefer to save time on cooking and grocery shopping. They can afford to bring home or have delivered great meals for their family. What they do not have is the time it takes to find and select quality ingredients, spend the time cooking the meal, and then prepare a meal that is hot and fresh for their families.
The most successful meals-to-go organizations provide delicious and nutritious food according to diet planning that moderates the unhealthy choices and leans towards healthier choices. This is where the big successes in this business are now coming from. Companies that provide these great meals are making records profits.
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Start a meals to go business by following these 10 steps:
- Plan your Meals To Go Business
- Form your Meals To Go Business into a Legal Entity
- Register your Meals To Go Business for Taxes
- Open a Business Bank Account & Credit Card
- Set up Accounting for your Meals To Go Business
- Get the Necessary Permits & Licenses for your Meals To Go Business
- Get Meals To Go Business Insurance
- Define your Meals To Go Business Brand
- Create your Meals To Go Business Website
- Set up your Business Phone System
We have put together this simple guide to starting your meals to go business. These steps will ensure that your new business is well planned out, registered properly and legally compliant.
Exploring your options? Check out other small business ideas.
STEP 1: Plan your business
A clear plan is essential for success as an entrepreneur. It will help you map out the specifics of your business and discover some unknowns. A few important topics to consider are:
- What will you name your business?
- What are the startup and ongoing costs?
- Who is your target market?
- How much can you charge customers?
Luckily we have done a lot of this research for you.
What will you name your business?
Choosing the right name is important and challenging. If you don’t already have a name in mind, visit our How to Name a Business guide or get help brainstorming a name with our Meals To Go Business Name Generator
If you operate a sole proprietorship, you might want to operate under a business name other than your own name. Visit our DBA guide to learn more.
When registering a business name, we recommend researching your business name by checking:
- Your state’s business records
- Federal and state trademark records
- Social media platforms
- Web domain availability
It’s very important to secure your domain name before someone else does.
What are the costs involved in opening a meals to go business?
It is possible to start a business like this from home as long as you can get the health department to approve the kitchen for operations. However; most businesses in this sector start as a commercial operation. This requires leasing an appropriate space and having the equipment necessary to cook the food. You will also need delivery vehicles if you offer home delivery services.
A typical startup will incur these costs:
- Formation of the Limited Liability Company and Getting a Business Permit – About $1,000 depending on the jurisdiction. You will need to have an inspection by the health department to approve your operations as well.
- Lease Payment and Security Deposit. This amount will depend on the square footage of the facility, with typical rates being $3 to $5 per square foot.
- Equipment Leasing – You will need ovens, stoves, refrigerators, food preparation stands, dishwashers, dishes for serving and utensils. This equipment can easily cost over $100,000 but it can be leased as part of a master equipment lease if you have a decent credit history.
The total budget (some of which can be financed) for opening a new food-to-go place is about $125,000.
What are the ongoing expenses for a meals to go business?
The ongoing expenses include marketing costs, rent, utilities, staff costs, materials, and insurance.
Who is the target market?
The preferred customers are those with disposable income who like good food and do not have the time required to prepare it for their families. They do not want to go to the trouble to visit a restaurant and they find fast-food less than satisfying. They are willing to pay more for the quality of food that is made using better types of ingredients.
How does a meals to go business make money?
Meals-to-go businesses prepare home-cooked food for customers, and sell these meals (often with a delivery service). In any food preparation business, there is a markup on ingredient costs and labor costs with some allowance for waste. For example, if the ingredients for a meal cost $10 and the labor to prepare it costs $4, and then we add in a contribution to overhead and allowance for waste the meal should sell for about $24 to include some profit for the business owner. This is a great price for a quality gourmet meal for two people. Delivery charges are usually factored into the price of the meal. Selling wine to make extra revenues and deserts as an up-sell item, makes the profits go up.
How much can you charge customers?
The successful businesses in this sector spend 32% for the materials, 33% for the labor and about 5% for overhead. Typical prices for two people are in the range of $24 to $28 dollars, depending on the area. Naturally, an operation in New York City will charge more because the cost of overhead is higher than in other parts of the country.
How much profit can a meals to go business make?
Investopedia says the average profit margin for a food and beverage business is 5.5%. If the business is selling about $50,000 per month, the owner can expect to take home profits of 5.5% of that amount or $2,750 per month. You have to sell a lot of food per month to make good profits. This business is low margin/high volume in order to be successful.
How can you make your business more profitable?
This business model lends itself well to offering catering services. Providing food for large groups such as office parties, convention attendees, events, or large private dinner parties is an added revenue stream for these businesses.
Want a more guided approach? Access TRUiC’s free Small Business Startup Guide – a step-by-step course for turning your business idea into reality. Get started today!
STEP 2: Form a legal entity
One crucial aspect that cannot be overlooked when starting your meals to go business is the importance of establishing a solid business foundation. While sole proprietorships and partnerships are the most common entity types for small businesses, they’re a far less stable and advantageous option than LLCs.
This is because unincorporated business structures (i.e., sole proprietorships and partnerships) expose you as an owner to personal liability for your business’s debts and legal actions, while LLCs protect you by keeping your personal assets separate from your business’s liabilities.
In practice, this means that if your meals to go business were to face a lawsuit or incur any debts, your savings, home, and other personal assets could not be used to cover these costs. On top of this, forming your business as an LLC also helps it to appear more legitimate and trustworthy.
Ready to Turn Your Business Idea Into a Reality?
Tailor Brands is our top recommendation because it guides you through every step of the formation process with hands-on support — from paperwork and compliance to devising a detailed plan to help you achieve your business goals.
Note: If you’re interested in more information before getting started, we recommend having a look at our How to Start a Business guide (DIY) or our in-depth Best Business Formation Services review (for those opting for a professional service).
STEP 3: Register for taxes
You will need to register for a variety of state and federal taxes before you can open for business.
In order to register for taxes you will need to apply for an EIN. It’s really easy and free!
You can acquire your EIN through the IRS website. If you would like to learn more about EINs, read our article, What is an EIN?
There are specific state taxes that might apply to your business. Learn more about state sales tax and franchise taxes in our state sales tax guides.
STEP 4: Open a business bank account & credit card
Using dedicated business banking and credit accounts is essential for personal asset protection.
When your personal and business accounts are mixed, your personal assets (your home, car, and other valuables) are at risk in the event your business is sued. In business law, this is referred to as piercing your corporate veil.
Open a business bank account
Besides being a requirement when applying for business loans, opening a business bank account:
- Separates your personal assets from your company’s assets, which is necessary for personal asset protection.
- Makes accounting and tax filing easier.
Recommended: Read our Best Banks for Small Business review to find the best national bank or credit union.
Get a business credit card
Getting a business credit card helps you:
- Separate personal and business expenses by putting your business’ expenses all in one place.
- Build your company’s credit history, which can be useful to raise money later on.
Recommended: Apply for an easy approval business credit card from BILL and build your business credit quickly.
STEP 5: Set up business accounting
Recording your various expenses and sources of income is critical to understanding the financial performance of your business. Keeping accurate and detailed accounts also greatly simplifies your annual tax filing.
Make LLC accounting easy with our LLC Expenses Cheat Sheet.
STEP 6: Obtain necessary permits and licenses
Failure to acquire necessary permits and licenses can result in hefty fines, or even cause your business to be shut down.
Federal Business Licensing Requirements
There are federal regulations regarding what can and cannot be added to, sold as, and processed with food. Attached is a resource from the Food and Drug Administration detailing the process of starting a food business: FDA – How to Start a Food Business
State & Local Business Licensing Requirements
State permits and licenses are typically needed to operate a meals to go business. Learn more about licensing requirements in your state by visiting SBA’s reference to state licenses and permits. In particular, most states require restaurant and meals businesses to obtain a seller’s permit. A seller’s permit allows states to record and collect taxes from goods (and sometimes service) sales.
Most businesses are required to collect sales tax on the goods or services they provide. To learn more about how sales tax will affect your business, read our article, Sales Tax for Small Businesses.
Certificate of Occupancy
Businesses operating out of a physical location typically require a Certificate of Occupancy (CO). A CO confirms that all building codes, zoning laws and government regulations have been met.
- If you plan to lease a location:
- It is generally the landlord’s responsibility to obtain a CO.
- Before leasing, confirm that your landlord has or can obtain a valid CO that is applicable to a business involved in food preparation.
- After a major renovation, a new CO often needs to be issued. If your place of business will be renovated before opening, it is recommended to include language in your lease agreement stating that lease payments will not commence until a valid CO is issued .
- If you plan to purchase or build a location:
- You will be responsible for obtaining a valid CO from a local government authority.
- Review all building codes and zoning requirements for your business’ location to ensure your meals-to-go business will be in compliance and able to obtain a CO.
STEP 7: Get business insurance
Just as with licenses and permits, your business needs insurance in order to operate safely and lawfully. Business Insurance protects your company’s financial wellbeing in the event of a covered loss.
There are several types of insurance policies created for different types of businesses with different risks. If you’re unsure of the types of risks that your business may face, begin with General Liability Insurance. This is the most common coverage that small businesses need, so it’s a great place to start for your business.
Another notable insurance policy that many businesses need is Workers’ Compensation Insurance. If your business will have employees, it’s a good chance that your state will require you to carry Workers’ Compensation Coverage.
Find out what types of insurance your Meals To Go Business needs and how much it will cost you by reading our guide Business Insurance for Meals To Go Business.
STEP 8: Define your brand
Your brand is what your company stands for, as well as how your business is perceived by the public. A strong brand will help your business stand out from competitors.
If you already have a logo, you can also add it to a QR code with our Free QR Code Generator. Choose from 13 QR code types to create a code for your business cards and publications, or to help spread awareness for your new website.
How to promote & market a meals to go business
Advertising on Internet directories such as Yelp is critical. Getting good placement on Google’s localization tracking is also important. Most people choose the food-to-go services for convenience, so you want to make sure they can easily find you.
Using flyers is important and it is a good idea to sponsor the catering of food for local business organizations when they hold a charity event.
Encouraging customers to recommend your meals-to-go business to their friends is a great way to promote the business.
How to keep customers coming back
The best way to get and keep customers is to serve really great food. This is the most powerful way to get new customers and keep them coming back. Offering an enrollment program for customers who wish to receive meals regularly is a great way to retain customers.
STEP 9: Create your business website
After defining your brand and creating your logo the next step is to create a website for your business.
While creating a website is an essential step, some may fear that it’s out of their reach because they don’t have any website-building experience. While this may have been a reasonable fear back in 2015, web technology has seen huge advancements in the past few years that makes the lives of small business owners much simpler.
Here are the main reasons why you shouldn’t delay building your website:
- All legitimate businesses have websites – full stop. The size or industry of your business does not matter when it comes to getting your business online.
- Social media accounts like Facebook pages or LinkedIn business profiles are not a replacement for a business website that you own.
- Website builder tools like the GoDaddy Website Builder have made creating a basic website extremely simple. You don’t need to hire a web developer or designer to create a website that you can be proud of.
Recommended: Get started today using our recommended website builder or check out our review of the Best Website Builders.
Other popular website builders are: WordPress, WIX, Weebly, Squarespace, and Shopify.
STEP 10: Set up your business phone system
Getting a phone set up for your business is one of the best ways to help keep your personal life and business life separate and private. That’s not the only benefit; it also helps you make your business more automated, gives your business legitimacy, and makes it easier for potential customers to find and contact you.
There are many services available to entrepreneurs who want to set up a business phone system. We’ve reviewed the top companies and rated them based on price, features, and ease of use. Check out our review of the Best Business Phone Systems 2024 to find the best phone service for your small business.
Recommended Business Phone Service: Phone.com
Phone.com is our top choice for small business phone numbers because of all the features it offers for small businesses and it’s fair pricing.
Is this Business Right For You?
You should really like to cook. You should like to explore the ingredients that go into making a great meal and especially enjoy serving such a meal to others. The state of the art in this business is not based on the fast food model. Instead, in order to be more profitable, it is based on a quality food model that is prepared in advance and is delicious and nutritious.
Want to know if you are cut out to be an entrepreneur?
Take our Entrepreneurship Quiz to find out!
What happens during a typical day at a meals to go business?
The most successful business owners in this sector take to time to hand-select the best ingredients. They get up early to go to the wholesale markets and pick out the very best things that they can find in order to prepare delicious meals.
One of the greatest challenges in this business is to buy enough materials to make the food that is ordered and at the same time control waste. Since many items are perishable the balancing act is to get enough supplies and sell out the food, without having to throw much of it away. Controlling waste is a big issue because it can be as much as 20% of the raw materials cost.
Another big part of your day is to make sure there is sufficient staff given that your business employs multiple people, and if that is the case, owners must make sure that employees show up on time. Food preparation is very time dependent and being late is not acceptable. There is a tremendous rush to prepare orders at certain times of day and being short-staffed during those periods of heavy daily activity can cause a disaster.
What are some skills and experiences that will help you build a successful meals to go business?
The most critical skill is the ability to make food that is very tasty and to keep materials and labor costs under control. Great tasting food that is prepared in such a way that costs too much to make it will drive a food-to-go operation out of business. Being a good chef, understanding cost controls, and knowing how to promote your business effectively are the main things that will make you successful.
What is the growth potential for a meals to go business?
Each meals-to-go operation will serve a local area that has a limit of its geography because the food cannot be taken further away and still remain hot and fresh. Because of this need for localization, it is possible to expand the operations to other nearby areas to grow the business. There are plenty of national franchise chains that started out with a single location and expanded in this way to serve other communities.
Take the Next Step
Find a business mentor
One of the greatest resources an entrepreneur can have is quality mentorship. As you start planning your business, connect with a free business resource near you to get the help you need.
Having a support network in place to turn to during tough times is a major factor of success for new business owners.
Learn from other business owners
Want to learn more about starting a business from entrepreneurs themselves? Visit Startup Savant’s startup founder series to gain entrepreneurial insights, lessons, and advice from founders themselves.
Resources to Help Women in Business
There are many resources out there specifically for women entrepreneurs. We’ve gathered necessary and useful information to help you succeed both professionally and personally:
- Funding
- Events
- Guides
- Support
If you’re a woman looking for some guidance in entrepreneurship, check out this great new series Women in Business created by the women of our partner Startup Savant.
How and when to build a team
Once the number of clients that your business serves becomes too large for you to handle on your own, it is time to start building a team of employees. Since you will be bringing food to your customers, your team will mostly consist of chefs and delivery drivers. Your delivery drivers can deliver food, accept payment on your company’s behalf, and take down future orders from your client. It is important that you hire chefs that create a quality products and delivery drivers that are trustworthy and practice great customer service.
Useful Links
Industry Opportunities
Real World Examples
- Business profile on Kimmers in the Kitchen, a Pennsylvania-based meals to go business
- Ann Arbor-based meals to go business, What’s Cooking Ann Arbor