How Much to Charge for Homemade BBQ Sauce?
Homemade sauces have been a must lately. Whenever I want to eat a sauce, I ask myself if I can prepare a better version than what I find in supermarkets. Most of the time, I succeed, and that is why I know that selling homemade sauces can be turned into success. So, how much should you charge for homemade BBQ sauce?
A reasonable price for homemade BBQ sauce would be $12, considering the production, packaging, and delivery costs and the profit. This price can be considered a little higher than industrial sauces, but you are producing a homemade sauce, your superpower. If you market it well, you may make your business succeed.
Let’s see together all the steps of starting the business, from calculations of the cost of production, how much to charge for homemade BBQ sauce, to the marketing plan, delivery, and paperwork to create the business.
How Much Does It Cost to Make Homemade BBQ Sauce?
BBQ sauce recipe contains around eight ingredients, but in small quantities, so the overall production cost is not that high. In fact, with some easy calculations on the price of every product divided by the amount needed, to prepare 24 oz, it will be around $3.
How Much Should You Charge for BBQ Sauce?
The calculations for the price of selling will start with the production costs. As mentioned above, an approximate cost of production might be $3 for 24 oz.
The delivery cost may vary from $2 to $4 according to the distance and other factors such as the agreement with the delivery person or the market prices.
And the third cost will be the packaging, which may vary from $2 to $4 according to the type you choose. So in total, producing bbq sauce at home will have a minimum cost of $7 per bottle.
From here we can start thinking about the profit. The standard method calculates the selling price three times more than the production costs. In this case, considering the market price for one bottle of BBQ sauce, charging three times more will end up in an unrealistic price, and the chances of people buying will be meager.
In this case, you will have to agree to a lower price. Try not to sell it for more than $12. Although it is homemade and clients know that it will be almost four times more expensive than the industrial version.
How Much Does It Cost to Bottle BBQ Sauce?
When talking about the packing of BBQ sauce, you have to decide. Will you use bottles or jars? Both those containers will properly work to keep the sauce thick, fresh, and in good condition.
The glass is recyclable, and you can use it after finishing the sauce for a long time. Those products are not that cheap. But to create a good appearance and offer the best quality, you need to put the sauce in glass bottles or jars.
Glass bottles bought online may cost up to $4,75. For a similar price can also be found airtight glass jars. I prefer the jars as it is easier to make the sauce with a spoon if it’s thicker. After that, you can use the jar to store other sauces or soups.
How Do You Market Your BBQ Sauce?
When you start a new small business, it is important to market it in the right way from the beginning. Start by choosing a good name, not cliche but somehow related with bbq sauce, then people hear the word they can tell.
Although BBQ sauce is not the most organic product ever, you can still be careful where you buy your products. Choose a local vinegar, spices, and lemon. Emphasize that you will earn more respect and consideration in your communications with your customers.
It would be great if you would personalize your recipe. Don’t go for the most common and classic recipe. That may be delicious but won’t sparkle any curiosity in the consumers. Instead, do deep research for the ingredients and make your adjustments to make them unique.
Make your first consumers your alleys. Give them small discounts in exchange for spreading the word and tagging your brand online. In the beginning, you need good brand recognition.
How to Ship Homemade BBQ Sauce?
After being prepared, you need to store your homemade BBQ sauce in the refrigerator. This makes the shipping a little trickier than the industrial version, which you can keep at room temperature before opening.
In this case, you need to be careful with the delivery. You cannot deliver this product very far away from your home. Consumers who will buy it need to be conscious about these details, so they put it in the fridge as soon as they take it.
To minimize the risk of delivering the sauce late, I recommend hiring the delivery person directly. Not with companies or drivers who provide a large number of products. You need your product to be delivered in time, and this step is crucial for you.
How to Start a Sauce Business From Home?
Do market research for the area where you will operate. Is this sauce known and highly appreciated in that region? For example, the BBQ sauce is originated in the USA and consumed more there. On the other hand, it’s not the first choice in other regions like Europe when talking about meat sauces.
Decide on the range of products you will sell; if you will deal only BBQ sauce, more varieties of red sauces, or a mixing of other spices like white, green, or yellow. Each selection has other essential ingredients and another way of production.
A wide range of sauces will be more challenging to manage in-home but will increase your niche as you can get more target groups than BBQ lovers.
On the other hand, you can target only consumers who like it and are willing to buy the homemade version by producing only one type of sauce, although it will be more expensive. In this case, you can dedicate all your effort to improving your sauce every day more and more.
I prefer to start with 1 or 2 types of sauces and, step by step, increase the variety of my products. This will help you settle little by little and manage the business efficiently.
Another critical step is registering your business officially, even from home. There are several steps you need to follow before starting your business legally. You will need to invest initially, so having some money saved for this purpose would make things move quicker.
