Want to start a food business? Prep work begins long before you get in the kitchen: Jasmine Mangalaseril

This year, some people will hand in their notice to work to realize a dream of owning a bakery, bottling grandpa's secret recipe barbecue sauce, or introducing their culture's cuisine to the area.

But getting a food-based business off the ground can feel like a spaghetti tangle of regulations and licensing. However, with the help of advisors and experts at start-up incubators, small business centres, and some community kitchens, that dream can become reality.

There are requirements that can take time to sort out before you crack your first egg or chop your first tomato.

"More than half the time, people come to us without anything, and I have to give them the bad news that they need a city-issued business licence, business insurance, the safe food handling certificate," explained Nathan Lawr, operations lead at 10C Shared Space in Guelph. 

Contacting your local public health department is also a must, according to Naudia Banton, manager of the Waterloo Region Small Business Centre.

"If you're running a food-based business, to be able to keep the public safe, [products need to] be prepared in a commercial kitchen," Banton said.

"There are a lot of rules and regulations around working with food, so you want to make sure that you know everything's on the up and up with public health."

Finding a space to chop, mince and slice

You'll need to find a production space. Locally, you can rent commercial kitchens such as those at the Kitchener Market, Kitchener's Wooden Boat, or Wellesley's Bakin' Me Crazy or shared kitchens like Kitchener's Community Kitchen Co-operative or Guelph's 10C Nourish Kitchen.

Nourish hosts 27 businesses. Some rent by the hour; others purchase blocks of time through memberships. At 10C, kitchen memberships include benefits such as promotional support, advisor services, and access to Nourish's stall at the Guelph Market.

But working in a shared space also has the bonus of knowledge sharing that happens between members.

Making a plan

A fleshed-out business plan is often key to whether potential lenders or partners will support you. Writing one isn't necessarily easy or fast, but it can be eye-opening.

"Some people will continuously go back to it and refine it," said Banton. "And some people will go through the effort and say, 'You know, this was way more work than I wanted.' It's better to find out in the beginning than later." 

Programming at small business centres and start-up incubators are good ways to create a network you can tap for advice and moral support from those who know the entrepreneurial life.

The innovation and entrepreneurship programs at University of Guelph's John F. Wood Centre helps guide current students and recent graduates from idea generation to launch. As cohorts work through the process, those in-built networks help hone ideas and maintain motivation, as one participant told Jessie Kennedy, the centre's manager:

"She had these ideas, and she would have loved to do a survey, work on a pitch deck, branding. But she said if she didn't have that accountability of her fellow classmates doing the same thing, she wouldn't have felt as motivated," Kennedy said.

'It's not a one-man show'

During first lock down, Vanessa Simon's Guyanese home cooking went viral locally. With orders and catering requests pouring in, she went from nurse and home cook to owner of Vanessa Cuisine within a year.

"I didn't really know about going to the bank and doing all these things. I was doing it [cooking] for the fun of it," Simon recalled. "But when [the Waterloo Region Business Centre] took me seriously, I couldn't believe it when they said, Vanessa we are actually going to give you a grant because we see that you have potential."

Simon now employs eight people and has launched retail lines of bakes (Caribbean breads) and bake mixes (available at some local independent grocers and at No Frills (Kitchener) and FreshCo (Westmount and Ottawa, Kitchener) to her portfolio.

While her success and growth are the result of determination and long hours, she also recognises those who helped her flourish.

"You know, it's not easy. I think I make it sound like it's easy because they don't see the late nights. They don't see the early mornings," said Simon, "It is not a one-man show. It can never be."