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Lots of people dream of working from home, and these days many work from home out of necessity! But if you're in business as a home-based cottage food chef, or want to be, we have good news and serious news. The good news is that working from home as a cottage food chef is easier than ever. The serious news is that the Internet is what makes this possible and that means you need a top-notch create food website based on your talents and your business model.
Of course, if creative home cooking is your thing, chances are that's what you've focused on — not on computer programming or web development. Hey, nobody knows everything. So what you need is an easy and affordable way to get your hands on a top-quality website builder for home cooks.
Lottery players often say if you don't play, you can't win. While they are technically right, this truism better describes why every small business needs an online presence. If they can't find you, you can't sell. The Castiron website builder has been designed to change that, simply.
Location, Location, Location
You are probably aware that restaurants live and die by their locations. No matter where they are, the proximity of eyeballs and traffic is everything in the food business, no matter what culinary niche or business model you are running. Online food merchants are similar, but you need an online presence just to have a chance at success, an incredible product, and a potent branding and marketing campaign to do the rest.
Branding Made Easy
If you have a brick and mortar store, you will probably have to spend at least a few thousand dollars to build the storefront and interior look and feel you need to match your branding look and feel. Branding is all about the experience the customer has when they think about your business, shop with your business, and buy your wares. With a free online ordering system for business by Castiron, curating your online look and feel is simple.
Global Potential
The main reason doing business online is so attractive is the potential to have a customer base limited only by the number of humans alive on Earth. Any home cottage food business, or any local-level merchant, is limited to the number of people willing to drive to the location and shop. But the Internet changes all that. With Castiron's online store-building software, you could make and sell to anyone who finds your website. Of course, you'll need to consult your local cottage food laws before shipping nationwide (or worldwide!).
Your Best Customers are Who Knows Where
Every group of potential buyers, every geographical location, and every street on your block has the potential to bring you loyal customers. But the more markets you have access to, the better your chance of expanding your loyal customers. Chances are that you'll be able to build a baseline of customers in your hometown who will find and fall in love with your business. But the chances that more potential buyers live in the continental U.S. is large. You can even forget about return marketing to lukewarm buyers. Just focus on your loyal fans. They will respond.
Expand Your Physical Assets
If you grow your business to the point that you need extra storage space, additional cooking appliances, more counter-space, and so on, you will need real estate to build them on. With a free online ordering system for small businesses, your additional brick-and-mortar assets need not be tricked out with the decor and signage needed for a customer-facing structure. They only need to do the job of helping you store, prep, package and ship your products. You might even be able to sell items made elsewhere, which can be even easier.
There are a lot of great services out there that let you build an online shop and sales portal for your business. But only a Cast Iron website is custom made, not only for online chefs like you but for you and your business in particular.
It's Built With YOU In Mind
A generic online portal can technically accommodate any type of service or inventory. But a Castiron food ordering website template is built with cottage food sellers and buyers in mind. Your customers want to get as complete an impression of your products as possible. For that, you need to appeal to their senses as well as their reason. Castiron makes it easy.
Take the Stress Out of Selling Online
You could spend hours, days, or even weeks setting up even the simplest free website. But with Castiron software, you don't need a Ph.D. in web development to learn how to make a food ordering website. You only need a vision and a few minutes — and you can modify it for free, any time.
Scale Your Business Upward
Having skipped the days it takes to learn how to make a food ordering website on WordPress, you'll be able to get tight to promoting your business, reaching out to customers on social media, and start selling your creations right away.
The Cake Whisperer
My business would not be the same without my Castiron website! It is an easy setup with lots of customization and tons of support! I am so glad I set up my shop last year before the holidays — it really helped increase my sales!
The Whimsical Cookie
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Castiron provides me a professional site to my customers increasing my credibility and value while giving me the tools to effectively market and manage my business in an easy, user-friendly manner.
Wesley's Treats Hallie's Sweets
Castiron has made my cottage bakery shine, and my business easy to manage. As a platform they care about my business as much as I do.
Explore our tools for free during a 14-day free trial. Start building your website, create your custom order forms, even start taking orders and payments... then decide if it’s for you.
Easy to start, created specifically for local, handmade food: Castiron’s website builder was created to help you grow. Create a website in minutes with our templates, sell where and how your customers want to buy, and look professional without being technical. Keep customers coming back with email marketing tools, customer records, and more.
Food entrepreneurs, this is your moment. Your community is more and more conscious about what they buy and where it is from. They want food made with love. With ingredients they can pronounce. And they want to support their community while doing it.
Castiron is the best fit for your food business because we're not a one-size-fits-all tool. Selling local food is different from pre-packaged warehouse products. Whether you sell cooking classes, need local pick up, utilize pre-sales to plan inventory, or need a fully custom order form — we got you.
No code required. Add pages, sell your products, build order forms, and show off your beautiful work. We'll handle the tech so you can focus on growing your food business.
Never track down a payment or oversell products again. Real-time inventory tracking and secure payment processing make life easier for you and your customers, and our order form builder makes managing custom requests a breeze.
With our marketing tools, your email marketing can go on autopilot. We make it easy to promote your latest products, announce custom order availability, and stay connected with customers.
