How do I get started with offering cooking classes?
I want start cooking training in Khartoum Sudan to enhance Sudanese food and introduce an international food level to Sudanese taste. However, I don't have any financing and am not sure where to start. What is the first step I should take now that I have thought through my idea?
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Aug 14, 2015
Mudsaraasim,
I absolutely love helping entrepreneurs find a way to pursue their passions!
Here is a a very quick overview of the process to monetize your passion and build a following:
1) Create a YouTube channel and begin posting helpful and informative cooking lessons and tips -- especially as they relate to Sudanese food.
2) Create a landing page for folks to enter their email addresses to subscribe or learn more (I recommend LeadPages http://www.shaunnestor.com/leadpages (Affiliate Link) or www.leadpages.com (non-affiliate link))
3) Mention your webpage in all of your YouTube videos to drive more people to it
4) Host a free 20-30 minute webinar to discuss your Sudanese cooking techniques in more detail (I recommend GoTo Webinar http://www.shaunnestor.com/gotowebinar (Affiliate Link) or www.gotowebinar.com (non-affiliate link))
5) Promote this webinar to the folks who have signed up on your landing page
6) At this point, you can make the recording of the webinar available for a fee OR,
7) Invite those on the free webinar to attend a paid webinar where you go into greater detail and cover information not available on your YouTube or free webinar
8) Make recipes available for download or purchase, and collect email addresses for future marketing
9) repeat
This will get your started and you start to build your audience and brand.
I'm happy to help further!
-Shaun
Aug 14, 2015
You could look at few similar initiatives on Youtube Channel and Facebook...Those multi-media are free and will help you to build a network and make yourself known...Local expats network, TV show, international competition, ...
Aug 15, 2015
Hi Siddiqui,
I think the first step you need to cook a couple of dishes, and taste it. You need a little knowledge, what taste is the best for the international food market, and if you have a taste, you have a product or a product line as well. For example Italy is well known about pizza. (Pizza= product line – 4 season pizza = product) I think, this is a good starting point. If you have the taste, after you have the product line- product you are in the half way in your success. You must put together in your business plan the cooking training opportunity + product line – product and it’s done. Test your business model at home, after that you can multiply your model in other country. This is my first meaning about your question. You have an interesting question; believe me. If you have a good answer for this question, you can develop many end product based food system in your country.
Aug 14, 2015
Start locally by asking commercial kitchens how much money they would need to let you use their kitchen for a few hours a week. Some places to consider trying might be Salvation Army, or a restaurant that closes early. Then run an ad offering to teach about preparing specific dishes which you specialize in, and set a deadline for the number of students to apply by. After you work out the logistics of how much the kitchen will need you can probably double or triple the amount to afford supplies and some profit for yourself.
Aug 24, 2015
Hi,
I think you first need to decide who to target. If you are looking for a wide audience and ultimately want to create your own "brand" then YouTube is good start, but it can be a lot of work for no income. With no financing, you don't want to spend hours selling to people who are in no position to buy from you.
If you can only physically serve a small area, decide how much of your time you want to spend teaching, and how much managing others who do the teaching. Know your costs and make sure you get paid for your time as well, it's at least as valuable as your knowledge!
Once you know who you want your customers to be, find out where they "hang out", either online or physically. Don't focus solely on the internet, with something like cooking, more traditional methods might work better. Leaflets, business partnerships, clubs, religious groups, word of mouth etc.
Perhaps you could start with local one-to-one cooking lessons to judge demand. By delivering a personal service, it's then easier to work off personal recommendations.
Without knowing where you'd like to take your business (international brand or just enough to live comfortably!) it's hard to recommend a single course of action.
Best of luck!
Aug 14, 2015
i like your idea .the main thing to make a idea successful is to have proper marketing plan the
1 things which you have unique in your business
2. source of income from business
3.marketing channels with available resource
4. you targeted media