𝗦𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁-𝘂𝗽𝘀 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗲 𝘂𝗽

Some food start-ups are founded by passionate people who love their products, may have developed them on their own, and / or are motivated by the purpose to bring them to the world, because they’re healthier or more sustainable as the market offerings so far. Many of these more passionate founders are new to e-commerce, retail sales and / or the scaling up of organizations and internal operations, though.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 𝗼𝗳 𝟰 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗮 𝘀𝗺𝗼𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗲-𝘂𝗽 𝗼𝗳 𝗳𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁-𝘂𝗽𝘀:
1) A clear pricing system
2) A running ERP system
3) Sufficient stocks, automatizations and processes
4) A clear strategy and objectives

These structures are not required from the start of most start-ups; especially not while the product is still being developed and tested.

𝗜𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗮 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘀𝗲𝘁𝘂𝗽 𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲 the product has reached product-market-fit (PMF), and you’re ready to invest in the first larger production batch for a larger retail launch. There are some more indications, too, as shown on the last slide.
(PMF has been achieved for example when the majority of target customers buys a product again or recommends it without additional marketing after the first purchase.)

❓𝗪𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝘂𝗽 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗼𝗻 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴-𝘂𝗽?

For those who would like to learn more about how I would build up a food start-ups based on my experiences, you can check out my operations playbook for food start-up on my “build” website.