Does Ina have any advice on starting a store like Barefoot Contessa?
It’s really impossible for me to advise people on how to start a business without knowing your area and who the customers would be. I can only recommend two things: start very small and start with as much education as you can. I recommend that you find a professional culinary school which will teach you both large scale cooking techniques and how to run the business of a specialty food store or bakery. It’s hard work but it’s also very rewarding. I also suggest you take a job in the field, even if it’s only weekends while you’re working in your current field. You would not only learn a lot about customers and how to run a food store, but you would see things that you would do differently if the business were yours. I would see it as getting paid to get an education.
