Meal Prep Business

23 Tips For Starting A Successful Meal Prep Business (2024)

Pat Walls

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Updated: January 19th, 2023

Want to start your own meal prep business? Here are some tips you should know:

Learn more about starting a meal prep business:

Where to start?

-> How much does it cost to start a meal prep business?
-> Pros and cons of a meal prep business

Need inspiration?

-> Other meal prep business success stories
-> Marketing ideas for a meal prep business
-> Meal prep business slogans
-> Meal prep business names

Other resources

-> Profitability of a meal prep business

We've interviewed thousands of successful founders at Starter Story and asked what advice they would give to entrepreneurs who are just getting started.

Here's the best advice we discovered for starting a meal prep business:

#1: Andy Sartori, founder of MealPro:

We chatted with with Andy, founder of MealPro ($50K/month). In our interview, Andy says:

When you identify an area for improvement or you spot a niche not yet well-served, jump in it with both feet, and do not look back.

Read the full interview ➜

#2: TJ Clark, founder of Healthy Chew:

We chatted with with TJ, founder of Healthy Chew ($60K/month). In our interview, TJ says:

Focus on providing the single best service you can. Then expand it slowly, while keeping the quality as high as possible.

Read the full interview ➜

#3: Michael Rapoport, founder of Sprwt:

We chatted with with Michael, founder of Sprwt ($100K/month). In our interview, Michael says:

In truth, we are an old-school business; we googled every company and called 30+ businesses a day. Almost two years after our launch did we start implementing a digital marketing component to our lead generation and sales.

Additionally:

Opportunities exist everywhere, you just need to realize that it takes work to make them happen.

Read the full interview ➜

#4: Mary Drennen, founder of Nourish Foods Co.:

We chatted with with Mary, founder of Nourish Foods Co. ($180K/month). In our interview, Mary says:

One of my mentors told me early on, “If you can run and grow this business without taking on investors and giving up the equity, do it.” And I took that to heart.

Additionally:

Being an entrepreneur is like waking up and going to war every day. If you aren’t really committed to being in the trenches, it won’t work.

Read the full interview ➜

#5: TJ Clark, founder of Healthy Chew:

We chatted with with TJ, founder of Healthy Chew ($60K/month). In our interview, TJ says:

Ask for help. You’d be surprised how many people like myself will take 10 minutes out of their week to pay it forward, because I know what it’s like to be stumped. And 10 minutes of my day can make someone else's entire week/month/year better.

Read the full interview ➜

#6: Michael Rapoport, founder of Sprwt:

We chatted with with Michael, founder of Sprwt ($100K/month). In our interview, Michael says:

There’s no such thing as an unsolved problem, just a problem where you don’t know what the real issue is.

Read the full interview ➜

#7: Joey van Koningsbruggen, founder of Jimmy Joy:

We chatted with with Joey, founder of Jimmy Joy ($600K/month). In our interview, Joey says:

Create something you’ll love

Additionally:

Work hard, fail fast.

Further:

We remodeled our house into production space. The kitchen, the living room, we used everything for production. I removed my bed and slept on a mattress under a large table

Read the full interview ➜

#8: Andy Sartori, founder of MealPro:

We chatted with with Andy, founder of MealPro ($50K/month). In our interview, Andy says:

Since I started the company three years ago we have doubled in size every year, we have served about 5,000 customers across the US, hitting an annualized revenue run rate of one million dollars.

Additionally:

Business-as-usual tasks are like a gas, which fills all the space you give it. Set yourself a limit! Do not allow urgent matters to take control of you.

Further:

Be driven but not stubborn. If what you are working on does not work, dump it and cut your losses.

Read the full interview ➜

#9: Andrei Calinescu, founder of One Life Meals:

We chatted with with Andrei, founder of One Life Meals ($130K/month). In our interview, Andrei says:

Be very honest and real with yourself and the reason you want to be an entrepreneur. Being interested is not enough, you need to commit.

Additionally:

I think that the main things that kept us in the game are our stubbornness and our ability to prioritize. By stubbornness, I mean the refusal to quit. We had plenty of opportunities where it did not make sense on paper to continue, but we kept going.

Further:

We got into a project that seemed relatively easy at the start. I was already making my own meals. How hard could it be to cook for a few more people? Definitely much harder than I thought!

Also:

Don’t be afraid to remain a student as long as you can. Read, listen and ask questions. In today’s world we have so many sources of information, you have to take advantage.

Additionally:

Be very honest and real with yourself and the reason you want to be an entrepreneur. Being interested is not enough, you need to commit. There is a lot of glory in being your own boss and making your own rules but the struggles are very real as well!

Read the full interview ➜

#10: Andy Sartori, founder of MealPro:

We chatted with with Andy, founder of MealPro ($50K/month). In our interview, Andy says:

Having a great product your customers love enables you to thrive in a crowded space even during a bear market.

Read the full interview ➜

#11: Michael Martinez, founder of Eat Clean LLC:

We chatted with with Michael, founder of Eat Clean LLC ($300K/month). In our interview, Michael says:

Do whatever is necessary to be able to grow your business and usually, it takes a lot of sacrifices that are not fun at the time but when you look back on it your proud that you actually did go the extra mile.