Many people who love food often dream of starting their own restaurant. But, that can be a hugely expensive, odds-are-against-success kind of business for most folks. So, why not take your love of food in a different, more fun and profitable direction?

Here are five food business ideas you can start much more cheaply and with a much better chance of success:

1—Be a Personal Chef. You get to run a business preparing delicious meals! It’s just like a restaurant only without all the overhead and employee issues. Be sure to check out the Personal Chef site here at BellaOnline.com, written by personal chef Karen Tempel. You’ll find a site loaded with valuable, practical information on running a personal chef business.

2—Cooking and Recipe Contests: I used to think this was something one did as a hobby but it is possible to have loads of fun, make tons of money and win some great prizes by entering contests. Visit Cooking Contests Central for up-to-date information on cooking contests. They include tips on how to win, and details on upcoming challenges.

3—Be a food writer. If you can write, you can combine that skill with your love of food and build a great small business. Food writers can create and publish their own recipes, critique restaurants and cookbooks, and share food news with their readers. Most likely your local paper has a food writer, and there are some quite famous (and wealthy) food critics out there. BellaOnline has quite a few food sites, and you could even become an editor of a food-related site here.

4—Become a food supplier. A food supplier is one who sells food to others who then sell it to consumers. There are many possibilities here, but the simplest to start is making home-cooked items that you can then supply to a restaurant or other food vendor. You can rent commercial kitchen space from a church or even a restaurant (during off hours). Some examples would be baked goods, specialty appetizers, or even a soup of the day you could make for a specific restaurant. You could also make and package items for resale and sell them to retail stores.

5—Design and write menus. Great menus are treasured and collected by foodies. Many restaurants have menus that require too much inventory (lessening food quality and increasing expense) or are not well-designed or well-written. Your clients could include catering companies, personal chefs, banquet halls and hotels as well as restaurants.

These are just five of the potential food-related businesses you could own that would enable you to bring your passion to your work. And, that is truly a key component of success—finding a way to make money doing something you love!

Ready for more information? Check out these resources:

Click Here to Discover How to Become a Caterer or Personal Chef

Click Here to Discover How to Become a Food Critic