Food plays a significant role in contributing towards Singapore’s economy. It gives an insight into the country’s cultural diversity. Singaporean cuisine is rich with all kinds of flavors and dishes from various countries. This paves way for F&B businesses to start their businesses in the country.
Singapore is a big ground for F&B companies even though the pandemic is doing its rounds. If you are an F&B entrepreneur and plan to start your F&B company in Singapore, reading this article is a must. Let us dive deeper.
Guide to start a F&B business in Singapore:
There are various key factors at play when you plan to start a company in Singapore. We have covered all the things in this article that you need to know.
1. Company incorporation:
Your company identity is necessary and this can be done by the company incorporation process. In this step, you have to select the company name, provide Singapore local address, application for business license, etc.
Define the right structure of your company. It could be SP or other variants. Declare your Standard Industrial Classification (SSIC) so that people know what your company does and which sector it belongs to.
2. Appointing a company secretary:
A company secretary is responsible for F&B company establishment. He will also track legal administration and annual filings. A company secretary is an essential role in Singapore.
Hence, you can hire an in-house company secretary, or you can outsource the services. In the latter situation, you don’t have to take care of whether your company is compliant with the laws.
3. Define your business plan and its structure:
Once the company incorporation process is successfully completed, you need to define the business plan. This business plan will offer an understanding of objectives, strategies, and implementation timelines. A great business plan defines the risk factors and strategies to address them.
A business plan helps you examine the strength and weakness, it also helps with the fundraising process. A great plan ensures you get the right investors for your company. This is because this plan can help the investors visualize revenues, risk, and rewards.
You have to define the kind of establishment you want within your business. Your business can have cart noodles, or a café at the costliest of the areas in Singapore. We have outlined a few structures you can select from:
- Restaurant
- Bakery
- Café
- Food court
- Snacks and drinks counter
- Food catering businesses
- Bars
- Food trucks/wagons
- Cloud kitchen
4. Acquire all the important licenses:
Singapore is a great country to start a F&B company. But to do that, it is necessary to meet basic food regulatory requirements. The ministry of health offers licenses to produce and manufacture various food-related operations.
Every kind of permit is available for the kind of product you sell under the F & B industry.
5. Appoint a bookkeeper:
Kick starting a business is difficult. But it can become tumultuous if you don’t have any kind of experience with finances. It is important that you seek financial guidance from experts so that you can avoid serious mistakes.
Accountants and bookkeepers are the people who can help you keep your company’s finances in a healthy condition. Also, the taxes will be filed on time with the correct details. If you cannot have an inhouse accountant, you can always outsource these services.
6. Hire the right professionals:
Hiring the people who understand the vision and story behind your business will help you grow significantly. The restaurant industry is generally customer facing. Hence you need people who have a great attitude towards your customers.
Find the right job board and look up the candidates that fit your company requirements perfectly. Having the right team can accelerate your business towards becoming a successful venture.
7. Marketing:
Setting up a business is pointless if no one knows about its existence. Hence marketing it correctly with the right strategies is vital. Have a great communication plan and strategy to ensure the right kind of traction. Plan strategies ahead of time because just the word to mouth marketing alone may not work.
To make a F&B company successful, you need to have great marketing strategies in place. Advertise your products and services on social media strategically so that people take notice of your business.
Contact influencers and get them to talk about your business. Show up at local events and pop up shows to allow people to notice your brand.
8. Take one step at a time:
Develop conditions where your business can grow slowly yet steadily. Set small goals to achieve a big one. Study the strategies that the competitors use. To gain profit, create and develop a perfect guideline.
Conclusion:
Determination and perseverance along with the right direction can do wonders for your F&B company
