Today is the start of Phase 2 (heightened alert). I was rushing to clear all jobs that require meeting more than 2 people yesterday, had the last gathering with a group of 5 friends and went to the nearest supermarket to grab essentials for cooking? Did you do any of these things that I did on that last day prior to tighter restrictions?
We have been through a circuit breaker that lasted close to 2 months back in April 2020.
While I assumed that by now people would have trusted the Singapore government in the management of food supply and that there is not a need to rush to the supermarket to stock up food for 2 weeks and hoard items which we do not need, most of the major supermarket chains, NTUC FairPrice and Sheng Siong have seen surprising floods of customers since the announcement of tightening measures on 14th May 2021.
There were higher traffic and bigger purchases within the stores and online platforms since the announcement.
In addition to supermarkets, people also rushed to wet markets in the wee hours and long queues were seen as early as 4 am in the morning. People are buying food and groceries like there is no tomorrow.
The “fear of missing out” echoes strongly within the instincts of many people. Since dining in restaurants is not an option now, many have decided to cook at home and order food delivery online.
The circuit breaker has sparked off an accelerated growth in online food delivery which has since remained at a historically high level despite the cooling-off phase 2 and phase 3. With the government announcement of Phase 2 (heightened alert) families will again be cooking more at home and renewing the catalyst for food delivery.
It is time to ride on this wave and develop skills in this growing industry. Being a home chef requires culinary and business skills and it is one much sought after in this lockdown period amid COVID 19. Seize this opportunity to garner this skill and create an additional income for yourself and your family.
Here are the 4 reasons why you should start your home-based business as a home chef today.
1) Essential Services: Food and Beverages
Covid-19 has impacted our economy severely due to the disruptions across various industries. Some industries that were hit the hardest are travel, cinemas, karaoke, amusement parks etc.
You will probably be worried about your employment if you are an employee working in a non-essential business. Retrenchments were rampant last year (in 2020) and there was a salary cut as the company tried to stay afloat conserving cash flow. As an employee, have you created another source of income that can keep you afloat in case one day you get called into your manager's office and you are given the last letter you will ever receive from that company you work in? The importance of the second source of income or the ability to create one quickly can not be overstated.
Here is the good news. It is not difficult to get into an essential services industry such as the food industry to earn an extra income.
Before you jump to a conclusion thinking that I am asking you to set up a stall or a café, I am not encouraging you to do that now.
Many known food establishments such as Modesto’s at Orchard Rendezvous and MOF @ My Izakaya were forced to shut their shop as the revenue were not able to support their rental and expenses. Again because of COVID, as work from home becomes a norm, there were lesser crowds in CBD and people working in offices who used to patronize pubs during happy hour were no longer able to do so due to the restrictions. Opening these big restaurants requires high investments and careful planning.
Thus, I am encouraging you to get into the online platform of selling food and beverages as the cost is much lower and so is the associated risk.
2) Rising Trend: Home Cooked Food
Food and beverages have turned to technology and social media to keep their businesses afloat.
This digitalization of the F&B industry trend has been accelerated by this unprecedented crisis.
On top of that, many people have been working hard to keep healthy not only by exercising more regularly but also to eat healthier and balanced diets.
With more time at home, did you experience cooking many of your favourite dishes in the kitchen?
For me, I have been roasting chicken, baking my kid’s style pizza and even baking cookies to distribute to my colleague to stay connected.
If you have been cooking for friends and families and they have been giving you positive feedback, it is a good indicator that you can take the first step to explore selling home cook food online.
Hommyliciouz is a platform for the home chef to sell their food and it requires $0 to start up.
Selling your home-cooked food through this platform provide you with complete flexibility of time. You can plan when you want to cook, how much you want to sell and how long is the preparation time you need.
Complete Flexibility, sell your food when you are available
Even if you have an existing job, you can choose the date that your food is available such as over the weekend or only during public holidays.
3) Low Start Up Cost
If you are planning to be a hawker or open a restaurant, have you wonder how much is the time and monetary investments?
Here's a breakdown of cost involved in setting up a hawker.
If you are still thinking about whether to jump in and invest all your hard-earned money and time into starting a hawker or restaurant, why not start off by being a home chef. There is low investment and it requires $0 to start up, running cost is also much lower and provides you with an opportunity for the public to validate your food.
4) Marketing
As internet and social media users continue to grow worldwide, more people are spending a vast amount of time looking at their phones, looking for the latest news, friends and family updates or simply past time.
By utilizing targeted social media marketing, the advertisement for your food is only shown to potential customers living within your delivery area and have interest in food delivery therefore highly increasing the conversion. If you have been using social media like Facebook, you were probably astonished by how relevant the advertisements that were shown to you were. It is probably something you have searched over the internet or discussed with your friends over tea break.
Compared to traditional marketing with flyers, the impression may be wasted on people who have no interest in ordering food online.
You can setup a facebook page and do the advertisement by yourself or if you do not want the hassle, you can join platforms that provides marketing for your food. Hommyliciouz provides targeted marketing to the customers around you. This will help boost your sales.
5) Strong Passion in Cooking or Baking
If you eat, sleep, work thinking about recipes and how you can make perfect the cake that you made yesterday or a dish you cooked for your family, you have strong passion in this field. And if you enjoy seeing the smiles on the faces of people who enjoyed your food and you belief that food is what brings your family together then home chef could be a career for you.
If you love what you do, you will never have to work for another day in your life.
Convert your strong passion into income by starting off or making home chef a career.
If you love what you do, you will never have to work for another day in your life.
Conclusion
I hope this article provides you with some insight into why you should be a home chef.
Given this upcoming trend, you should ride on this opportunity to start your own business at a minimal cost.
Moreover, selling food online provides you with complete flexibility of time.
If you happened to have any questions after reading my article, feel free to contact me.
Click Whatapp to get in contact with me today.
About Author
I grew up with his grandma and one of my favourite times when I was young was in the early morning. I could get out of the house with my grandma patronizing the wet market. She would buy fresh ingredients which she would cook for the day. Her love for her family is poured into the food she prepared daily and can be felt by every generation she cooked for. Now with my own kids, I hope they can grow up being able to enjoy healthy home cook food too. As much as I enjoy cooking for my family, I find it a difficult juggle between my 9 to 5 job and preparing meals for my family. At the same time, at the weekend, I could spend more time cooking and I wish I can share my speciality for other people to enjoy.
I knew that in this digital world that we lived in, there has to be a better way and that’s the motivation for me to start Hommyliciouz.
The objective behind Hommyliciouz is to create a connection among people within communities where the passionate chef could provide fresh, home cook meals that are healthy and affordable.
We truly hope that you can enjoy this platform sharing love through cooking.
CEO of Hommyliciouz
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