A Leawood man plans to revolutionize the ketchup industry. A Lee’s Summit couple has taken a backyard passion for barbecue to a new level with a gourmet nut business. And a Liberty woman has turned her mother’s coffee cake recipe into a must-have treat at upscale bakery counters.

These “foodpreneurs” are part of a growing specialty food market in Kansas City and across the country. Specialty foods account for about 13 percent of all food sales at retail, according to the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade.

But it takes more than a “to-die-for” recipe to land on store shelves and make an upstart food business work. Ingredient prices can fluctuate wildly. Strict regulations govern where food can be processed, how it’s packaged and more.

“The worst reason to go into a food business is because you think you make something great,” said Bruce Steinberg, who created Fine Vines Artisanal Ketchup, a gourmet ketchup brand. “Because food is a business, and there has to be a market for it.”

But there’s a bright side for food entrepreneurs: There are plenty of local resources—many free—available to help small food business owners. Expert consultants can’t guarantee success, but they can help entrepreneurs overcome and avoid many obstacles.

Know Your Resources

If there is one piece of advice that Steinberg has for aspiring business owners, it’s this: “I would find every resource there is and use it rather than spend money if I didn’t have to.”

And that’s what he did to help his company, Fine Foods of America Inc., launch Fine Vines Artisanal Ketchup.

Steinberg, who first began working on ketchup recipes as a way to improve his baked beans, wants to see Americans pair different flavors of ketchup with food, just as they have with mustard. The trend has already caught on at some restaurants where chefs have conceived their own ketchup flavors to complement their food.

Steinberg hopes to expand on that idea and offer it to the public. His company offers 12 flavors of ketchup, including Black Truffle, Thai Ginger, Apple Wood, Habanero Heat and more.

“I’m looking to change the ketchup market,” he said. “I want this to evolve like the mustard market has.”

Steinberg has gone through multiple iterations of packaging and has expanded the product line through years of research. The most recent version hit the shelves earlier this year. But he didn’t go about it lightly. He took it slow. He researched the market and realized there were little to no flavor differences in the ketchup industry.

Steinberg also sought advice from the local Small Business Development Centers, Kauffman FastTrac and the UMKC E-Scholars program. Each provided unique guidance, he said.

Eventually, his research led him to the Ennovation Center kitchen incubator in Independence.

Entrepreneurs across the city often take advantage of the center’s 8,000-square-foot, fully licensed commercial kitchen. Business owners can work in the kitchen around the clock cooking, packaging, brainstorming and more. The center, which has a blend of fee-based and free consulting services, helps small businesses test the market before they ever apply for a small business loan. The center also offers guidance and workshops where speakers such as Boulevard Brewery founder John McDonald and Roasterie founder Danny O’Neill provide friendly tips.

“Business is hard enough,” said Stephanie Zamora, director of entrepreneurship and small business at the Ennovation Center. “No one should have to go at it alone.”

Does the Math Work?

Before aspiring foodpreneurs step foot inside, the Ennovation Center forces them to pull out a calculator and start creating a business plan. The center’s thorough application process lets an aspiring cupcake entrepreneur, for example, know exactly how many cakes he or she will have to bake and decorate before turning a profit. The application provides a healthy dose of reality. Hundreds of people have rethought their original business concept after filling out the application form, Zamora said.

That reality can be harsh at times, but the point is to avoid jumping into a business and losing money set aside for college or taking out a second mortgage, she said.

The philosophy is similar at the local Small Business Development Centers, another vital tool used by local entrepreneurs. The centers, which have locations at Johnson County Community College and the University of Missouri-Kansas City, offer one-on-one business counseling and technical assistance for established and aspiring businesses.

“The consulting is free of charge, and it’s confidential,” said Elisa Waldman, a consultant with the Kansas Small Business Development Center at Johnson County Community College. “I joke that it’s not free of charge—it’s prepaid because these are your tax dollars at work.”

Waldman spends about 70 percent of her time in personal business consultations. She also can point clients to several classes, such as Business Basic in a Day and other fee-based training programs offered on the JCCC campus.

“We like to talk with (clients) about what they’re envisioning for the long term, because that will determine how much money they’re going to invest,” she said.

Consultants such as Waldman also will help clients determine if they can get a return on their investment. The development center can review business plans and help project financial returns. It’s not unusual for a client to come to the conclusion that their business isn’t ready based on that information.

Waldman said a lot of people will realize that there is a lot more to starting a business than they thought, and they aren’t sure if they have time in their life for it.

Out of the Kitchen, Into the Marketplace

One of the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs can make is not having a long-term goal, Waldman said.

“You can just invest a couple thousand dollars and a couple thousand dollars, and suddenly, you put $10,000 in this, and there’s no road map,” Waldman said. “A business model needs to be in place.”

For Craig and Gay Jones, the endgame has always been a part of their business plan.

The couple launched Savory Addictions Gourmet Nuts in October 2011. They season and smoke small batches of artisan nuts over real wood to create a savory, sweet snack. They also use the Ennovation Center to cook their product.

The Joneses started by selling nuts at holiday and church shows. It’s something they might continue, but their grand vision is different.

“My endgame was I want this product sold in stores,” Craig Jones said.

The couple has created nut blends to pair with white and red wine, so, not surprisingly, the blends found a retail home in upscale liquor stores, such as Cellar Rat Wine Merchants and Rimann Liquors. They’ve also found a niche at the Olive Tree, Pryde’s Old Westport and similar stores.

Before they started Savory Addictions, the couple did their homework. They secured a website and thought about a marketing plan. But there was still plenty to learn along the way. And, besides the sleepless nights spent working, they’ve enjoyed much of the journey.

With the help of the Ennovation Center and FastTrac, the couple has charted a plan for their company’s future. They now know precisely how many bags of Savory Addictions nuts they must sell before buying another smoker, hiring an employee or quitting their day jobs. They even have a plan for when to sell to the highest bidder—should they be so lucky.

“I like to look at it from that kind of perspective and think backward,” Craig Jones said.

Beyond the typical concerns that accompany any new business—insurance, legal liabilities and profit margins—the specialty food industry has a unique set of concerns.

As companies grow, so do the safety regulations. Small distributors aren’t required to post nutritional data, but expectations increase as a business market expands.

Depending on the size and scope of a business, Waldman and Zamora typically point out the services offered at institutions such as Kansas State University. Inside a university food sciences laboratory, researchers and students can determine a product’s shelf life, assist with proper canning procedures and ensure safety procedures are being followed.

Students and professors also can analyze the food chemistry side of a business. Kansas State researchers have helped several companies fine-tune existing products to create low-sodium or gluten-free versions. Kansas State also will have students taste-test products.

At the laboratory in Manhattan, Kan., researchers can help with “batching”—developing processes so companies can produce food in large quantities.

“If you’re baking and you want to make 3,000 products, you can’t just multiply the recipe,” Zamora said.

Killer Recipe

The business side is essential, but in the end, it all comes back to a stellar product. Consumers must love it. Jill McEnroe, owner of Frannie Franks Coffee Cakes, knew she had the killer coffee cake recipe. It won rave reviews from co-workers and family.

But that’s not enough. Feedback from strangers is essential when it comes to your livelihood, Zamora cautions. She recommends newcomers get their feet wet at farmer’s markets.

“You don’t know who they are, and they don’t know who you are,” she said. “They will tell you if it’s not as good as you think it is.”

It’s not the right fit for every business, but Waldman has another great reason to start at a farmer’s market. The instant cash can pump some much-needed revenue back into a young business.

“Food retail is a very hard thing to bootstrap because there is so much cost that goes into it,” Waldman said. “So much of the investment on the part of the owner must come before any sale occurs.”

McEnroe has spent many weekends selling her coffee cakes at a farmer’s market to earn her way.

She started the coffee cake business in the fall of 2011, not long after happening on her late mother’s handwritten recipe for coffee cake. She shared it with friends and co-workers, who immediately began asking to buy it. McEnroe decided to sell the cakes on the side.

It didn’t take long before she realized that the coffee cakes needed to be prepared inside a fully licensed commercial kitchen. A quick Google search led her to the Ennovation Center, where she prepared her cakes and learned from others.

“You think, oh, I’m going to be baking immediately and making all this money,” she said, laughing at how far her business has come. “It doesn’t happen like that.”

McEnroe and her son spent weeks driving from coffee shop to coffee shop, marketing her product. Everyone devoured the buttery cakes laced with cinnamon, yet she couldn’t find a steady retailer to sell her cakes. She’s endured rainstorms and heat waves at a farmer’s market, trying to gain a following and earn startup cash. It was a fundraiser she worked for free that convinced Dean & DeLuca to start selling her cakes.

Her advice to newcomers? Follow your dream. After that, start talking about your product and just don’t stop.

“The biggest thing you can ever do for yourself is talk to people,” she said. “Network like your life depends on it.”

She’s quadrupled sales, added a gluten-free coffee cake and managed to earn a place at the Roasterie Cafes and the Hy-Vees in Liberty and Blue Springs. There have been several obstacles, but she’s starting small and not letting go of her dreams.

“What you have in your heart and in your mind is what’s going to keep you going,” she said.