Everyone knows the job market sucks. Unemployment’s been stuck at around 9%, and it doesn’t look it’s going anywhere.

The rate of improvement in the median income has been declining in developing nations for three decades. Slowdowns in technological growth, productivity gains, and large amounts of debt as far as the eye can see have squelched the job prospects of any worker aspiring for 9-5 tranquility.

Okay….so now what?

Simple.

Big companies and governments can’t afford to dole you out opportunity. You have to create it for yourself. 

This idea might sound harrowing, but it’s a lot better than it seems. Entrepreneurial commerce can bring out the best in people, and its difficulties have a very different rhythm than those that occur in stable jobs.  You get so used to overcoming weird problems that over time it all starts to seem small. You worry a lot less.

In the 9-5 world the exact opposite happens. The dearth of stress and movement causes the petty and small to seem big and important….but it’s not. Obsessions, jealousy, your raise in 5 years and the season finale of American Idol all start to occupy unusually large parts of your psyche.

And starting a food business is a good idea for a lot of people.

A common obstacle for people starting their own business is getting that first idea, and in my own experience practically no one considers going into food or supplements, even though it’s a good business to get into these days.

Here are 7 reasons why.

1). America is Rediscovering Its Taste For Creative Cousine

The days when our meals were created by bacteriologists are coming to an end. One-size-fits-all frozen meals are leaving the American pantheon as more and more people are appreciating that food (and the health that it brings) needs to be an integral part of life, not simply a lifestyle ornament that gets shoved inbetween cigarette breaks and stops at the gas station.

Centralized conglomerates are slowly being chipped away by legions of passionate amateurs.

2). It Doesn’t Take A Lot Of Money to Get Started

I own a health supplement company. I started it for $3,000. And I didn’t cut corners or do anything shady to get from point A to point B.  Advances in manufacturing have brought order minimums down, and just about every other business process can either be automated or outsourced.

Most people are probably ignorant to the details of starting your own food company, but nothing about it is especially complicated. You just have to put the effort in to search for the answers you need. I would reckon most people could get started with just about any project for less than $5,000, and possibly less than $1,000 if you’re resourceful and willing to start very small.

3). It’s A Stable Business Model

Food and supplement businesses are nice for the things you don’t have to worry about. Tech is sexier, but to be profitable you usually have to re-invent the wheel in some way. Every six months. But not with food. Demand is as stable as it gets, and every element of the supply chain is well greased.

As long as we’re human, food is never going to go out of style.

Warren Buffett described it best when explaining why he likes to buy stock in food companies:

With Wrigley chewing gum, it’s the lack of change that appeals to me. I don’t think it is going to be hurt by the Internet. That’s the kind of business I like.

4). It Doesn’t Require Technical Expertise

If you want to dabble in entrepreneurship, all roads lead to tech. ….Except for food.  I’m non-technical, and my inability to punch away at code has not hurt me in the slightest. Besides changing the html and CSS on my website, I have never had the need to learn programming, and I don’t suspect that I will either.

5). You Don’t Have To Re-Invent The Wheel

A perceived obstacle to starting a food company is that product development is really hard. People imagine that you have to be all-knowing about how every part of the product is made, and that this expertise takes years or decades to acquire. Not true.

I didn’t know anything about making a food product when I decided I wanted to start Health Kismet. My first product Incredible Greens was released in 8 months.  And believe it or not, my manufacturing reps tell me that I’m more meticulous about the process than many other companies that are much larger.

Developing a product is much more about standing on the shoulders of giants than it is about tapping into some sort of inner brilliance. There’s no consumable product you can think of that hasn’t already been thought of by somebody else. Anything you do will be a variation of a bunch of stuff people have already made. So this means there’s a factory somewhere that makes your type of food product all day long, millions of times every single year.

You have to find one of these manufacturers, share your idea with them, get their input, and have them make it for you. That’s it.

6). It’s Fun!

If you want to start a food company you probably have access to the world’s best product development laboratory with state of the art equipment tailor made to your specifications. It’s your kitchen.

What I love about the food business is it’s one of the last areas of commerce where the curious tinkerer can do something great and disrupt the industry. Larabar was started by a girl in her kitchen. Jameth Sheridan started Healthforce by tinkering in his kitchen.

I frequently buy different herbs and grasses in bulk to experiment with future products in my kitchen.

There are probably millions of hobbyist cooks who have had ideas rattling around in their heads about some unique food idea that they wish someone would make without ever giving it a thought that they could do it themselves.

Many of those same people are probably laboring away at a boring job that they hate, but are too ignorant of manufacturing and marketing to even think of picking up the phone and getting a product quote.

7).  It’s Boring

This point might seem to contradict the last, but it actually re-inforces it. Many parts of owning a supplement company are boring…..but boring in all the right ways.

People know what they’re getting, your business model is very simple, and it lends itself very well to automation. You have something people like, and you give it to them. Simple as that.

So if you’re a foodie with an adventurous spirit ask yourself……why don’t you look into starting your own food company?