Foodpreneur

Fusing the words Food Business with Entrepreneur, the Foodpreneur is an individual who has the potential to make a personal connection with their customers. They are industrious, optimistic, competitive, risk-tolerant and create opportunities in their wake. As with the array of business types, the Foodpreneur manifest in various formats (not exhaustive/exclusive); investor or partner, dedicated full-time, portfolio minded, part-time involvement or lifestyle preferences. Moreover, a Foodpreneur is rationally minded, logical, enjoys planning, has a calculated and methodical approach to work and oozes common sense. The category is much broader than restaurants, it’s complex and diverse.

Often described as having a warrior mentality, these creative people are great visionaries. They are distinctive individuals who tell great stories and understand how to form and nurture relationships. They study subjects such as culture and community. They have ideas to bring to the table and are innovative. They are without question the greatest bearer of responsibility and the parriarch of the business. It’s their job to manage the health of the company and people that work there. Interestingly, the foodpreneur who goes alone is much less effective – they rely on new perspectives, talent and collaboration to succeed.

We hear a great deal about high rates of failure but reportedly, there are 1M successful business in the South of England. We also know that the private sector makes up circa 40% of the UK economy. Business is an opportunity to translate strong personal values into a business format. A healthy culture, a clear purpose, long term mission and an attractive brand – what could be more interesting? Those who are successful tend to have lots of ideas, are good at what they do, enjoy serving others and are highly persistent.

Qualifications are not a requirement to form a company, although they do help justify competence to a bank, an investor, or yourself. Many successful entrepreneurs left school without any qualifications at all. Rather than qualifications, an insight into the mechanisms of an industry can be found in a skills training course. This insight can not only help you run but also to manage production from afar. Being commercially well informed is important/critical. Depending on the type of business there will likely be some legislative requirements such as; safety, hygiene, insurances, taxation etc.

Contrary to perceptions, the successful foodpreneur is as much a marketer as they are a product developer (doer). Actually, in pretty much equal quantities. Certainly, in the early days, it’s eye watering just how multifaceted the owner’s role may be! In the analogy of rolling hills the entrepreneur is mindful of the mirage of any status-quo, however at the top of each climb, they may be opportunity to simply roles and improve infrastructure, making improvements all-around. They are an inquisitive researcher looking past, present and future and constantly evolving any replicable values to make products/services unique. They happily absorb mistakes as important lessons. Remain frugal but also speculative. They are the ultimate ambassador for good culture.

Glassdoor reported (Jan ’23), that UK Restaurant Owners take salaries between £19,000 on the lowest end and £103,000 on the highest end of the scale. They go on to say the average current salary for a restaurant owner in the UK is circa £44,000. According to SAGE (accounts and business finance experts), who take a global outlook, the category Restaurant Owners report the lowest profit margins, ranging from 0% to 15%, compared to the category Cafés, who see profit margins as high as 20%. High-end catering companies can see margins of around 15% too. In translation, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer, primarily because revenue and expenses can vary so significantly between countries and, for example, between fast food restaurants and Michelin star venues. Any effects from the economic cycle is also somewhat location and industry dependent. Entrepreneurs are also unlikely to be aiming for average profits/salaries. It’s within their autonomy to tailor-down expenses, increase productivity or diversify to engineer better profit margins.  According to the Office for National Statistics, the UK saw 40,000 restaurants and food service enterprises operate in 2020, with a turnover of £100,000 to £249,999 that year alone. Take-aways and mobile food trucks representing the largest category of operators. A total of 2,010 businesses generated between £1m and £2m in revenue, and 60 enterprises accounted for more than £50m in revenue. That’s an impressive set of figures considering the unique challenges faced by the sector as a result of Brexit and the Pandemic. The whole sector is on a come-back with unique and significant opportunities available to entrepreneurs.

If you’re interested in becoming a foodpreneur, we recommend booking a place on our Food Business Workshop.