What can help you build a food business that has higher chances to be successful in the long-term?

Whenever I meet a new food start-up and get data about their current performance and business plan, 𝗜 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮 𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗳𝘂𝗿𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 and think in scenarios how the company might develop. 𝗠𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗽𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀 that it will be struggling with sooner or later based on what I have seen happening so far and how the market, planet and society are evolving.

I have thus been gathering a list of some helpful operations factors to consider in order to build a food business that has better chances for long-term success:

• 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿 𝗮 𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘅𝗶𝘁𝘆, e.g., only one central warehouse for all products or one co-manufacturer that offers a variety of high-potential products
• 𝗨𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 “𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺” 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝘃𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝗲𝘅𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 with limited additional complexity by using mostly the same ingredients, production machines
• 𝗙𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝗳𝗹𝗲𝘅𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗿𝗮𝘄 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗰𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀, which can be “sold” or allocated to other projects in case of a plummeting demand (for whatever reason)
• 𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗹𝘆 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗲𝘅𝗶𝘀𝘁𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗰𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘂𝗻𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗶𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗲𝘀, e.g., adequate back-up-plans for major issues with a key producer or the supply of the USP raw material (e.g., fair cocoa)
• 𝗦𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗿𝘂𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗴𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻’𝘀 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝘂𝗿𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲-𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 – They need to be adjusted regularly to continue showing the best way towards the purpose
• 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗵𝘆𝗽𝗲𝘀 before pressing the buttons that should „activate“ them
• 𝗔𝗱𝗱𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗶𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝘀 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 – before they can turn into bigger ones that are much more difficult to fix
• 𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 is „half the work for a successful execution“

❓Which other operations factor can make a difference to enable the long-term success of a food business based on your experience?

These factors and many more learnings from my personal experiences are also in my “operations playbook for food start-ups”, which you can download on my “build” website.