Food Photography 101: Showing Off Your Product On a Startup Budget

Last month we drafted in food photographer Zoe to help us take some foodie shots for our new website. Over the past couple of months we’d collected lots of yummy samples from some of the amazing artisans we’ve met with, and wanted some photos to show off their delicious products in all their glory. Having discovered Zoe on Twitter and seen her online portfolio, we liked her natural, bright pictures - a perfect fit with the Kitchen Table Projects brand.

Hiring a food photographer can be a great way to ensure you get some enticing shots of your product, but this can be tricky for time-precious, money-conscious artisans. However, with visual social platforms such as Instagram, Flickr and Pinterest on the rise, there are plenty of quick ways to snap some pictures that pack a punch without busting your startup budget. Before Zoe headed off to edit our pictures, we had a chat with her about her experience as a food photographer and asked her to share some of her top tips for artisans looking to create their own foodie snaps.

“My passion for food photography started whilst I was studying at university. I loved the amount of control and freedom I had over the food compared with taking images of people or landscapes. It's great to be able to tell a story with my images, and foods such as cakes and biscuits are my favourite to work with. They don't deflate as quickly as cooked foods do, so you can take your time with them and be as creative as you like to achieve that perfect shot.”

“My process for a shoot is three stages. Pre-production involves researching; the client, what look they want and what sorts of foods they have for me. The day of the shoot involves preparing the set and making sure I have taken all the images I possibly can (I find a shot list helps). Post-production is kept to a minimum as I like to keep my shots looking natural.”

“Food photography is all around us, but food photographers are not always easy to find. Getting experience in food photography can be difficult, so here are my top tips:

• Find a style that you like, and use it to inspire your own images. In a similar way to how an artist practises drawing using other artists' images, you could use images from recipe books and food magazines. You should find that your own ideas and style begin to develop.

• Borrow props from friends and family or look in local DIY stores for wall paper samples, tiles and lino. Scrap yards or furniture stores are also good for wooden backgrounds.

• It's all about those subtle details. Add icing sugar to a pie/cake to make it look homemade. Read the recipe of the dish you’re photographing and have some of the ingredients in the frame. Add fresh herbs to a dish to add colour.

• Practise using ready meals and shop bought foods. After all, you don’t want to spend ages cooking and baking to then not feel up to photographing it!

• Remember, focus on the photographing and practise lots! It's all about the effort you put into an image.

You can find out more about Zoe’s work and take a look at her portfolio, here. For now, keep your ear to the ground for news of our new website, featuring lots more artisan stories and delicious products...coming very soon!

A big thank you to all the artisans and producers who sent us their products to sample and photograph. We look forward to featuring you all on our website and hope you like the snaps as much as we do!

From Exams to Intern to Employee - Why Students Should Consider Starting Out in Startups

June 2014; After what seems like months of late-night essay writing and pre-exam cramming, I finally finish my university exams. Two days later, I had moved back home with my mum, ready for my first day of my first proper post-grad job.

Applying for the internship at KTP made perfect sense. Working in food? Check. Putting to use my OCD grammar skills honed from three years of essay writing at university? Check. Opportunity to be creative and write? Double check. I loved the idea of working for a new company and seeing the business develop right from its very beginning.

In the student world, the word ‘intern’ is bandied around in a negative way far too often. Despite the fact that students are told that ‘having a degree is not enough’, thousands of students every year leave University without the right kind of skills and experience that make them attractive to employers. Internships are a great way of gaining some of these skills. I can’t speak for all interns, but gone are the days of making the tea and filling; instead, I was offered a chance to gain practical experience in a professional environment and have a real input into the company.

Working in startups and SMEs is an opportunity passed up by far too many graduates. At university, it was never suggested to me that I should consider working for a smaller company; instead, I spent three years attending career fairs dedicated to big name brands and corporate companies, feeling pressured into applying for top grad schemes that offer a handful of places and yet receive thousands of applicants. Whilst I’m not going to deny that these offer fantastic opportunities for the right person, students should know that this isn’t the only route. After all, big doesn’t always means best.

Far from ‘making the tea’, my internship was interesting, varied and, most importantly, enjoyable. Trusted with the mammoth task of building up KTP’s artisan community, I found it rewarding to see tangible results of my work and learn some new practical skills away from the ‘classroom’. What’s more, I got to attend industry events, learn about the food industry and countless opportunities to network and build contacts with a variety of people. In just three months, I got a unique insight into the food industry and the fast paced world of startups.

The opportunity to work for Kitchen Table Projects full-time was a bit of a no-brainer. You’ll still find me tweeting about our foodie musings or blogging about all the new goings on in the food world, but being full time has given me the opportunity (and confidence) to make some of the ideas I developed during my three month internship a reality. Being an employee let me directly implement my ideas on our strategy and share my ideas on our plans for the future.  

I think this is what I like the most about working for a small company; I’m able to carry out tasks that I wouldn’t ever think of being assigned to in a larger company with dedicated employees for that particular job. That’s the other great thing about working for a small company - you know everyone in your team personally and your fingers are in every pie. Unlike working for a big name brand with thousands of employees, you build relationships with your co-workers, make an impact and get noticed by the people who matter.

Working in our office at Impact Hub Brixton has been another highlight. Working in the Hub has given me exposure to a vibrant and exciting slice of startup culture, meeting and discovering new, innovative enterprises on a weekly, if not daily basis. It’s such an inspirational environment to work in, and the sense of community that the Hub fosters really fits in with everything we do at KTP. Plus we have tea and cake spread on Wednesdays (yup, that sold us too.) Working in an awesome office doing a job I genuinely enjoy - I’m pretty sure those aren’t the kind of words that a graduate utters very often.

For now, I’m looking forward to working on some really exciting projects leading up to our launch (keep your eyes peeled!), as well as meeting some more exciting people, expanding our team and, of course, our launch!

I would urge any students thinking about working in startups to give it a go - and don’t be put off by the ‘i’ word, either. Internships are a great career springboard: a chance to open those all important doors, make a difference within a company and focus your mind on what you really want to do with your life. Remember, everyone has to start somewhere and starting small doesn’t mean insignificant. Don’t forget the little guy!

Photo by Flickr User Brunel University.

Making the Most of Markets

With new markets popping up here, there and everywhere, it's important to stand out. You know how it's important to smile, have plenty of stock (no running out before 12!) and arrive to set up on time, but what makes some stalls more special than others? Here are a couple of tricks and tips I've picked up along the way...

1. Have Your Wholesale Pack To Hand

Last Saturday, I walked around a popular local market and I came across a fantastic looking gluten free stall selling an incredible array of baked treats. They looked great, were priced well and I couldn't wait to talk shop. My opening line is pretty straight to the point. 'Do you have a card for trade enquiries?' 

Before I'd even got to the 't' in 'trade', I was sharply interrupted. 'We don't do cards.' she scowled, before turning away to rustle at something under the table. I mean, geez. All I wanted was to distribute her products for her.

Competition is fierce in the food product industry and be it trade show, market stall or bus stop, you never know who you might get chatting to. Always have your wholesale pack ready to go, complete with photos of your product range and crucial info such as delivery rates, pack sizes and contact details - you can never be too small or too new to get one ready and just planning it helps you focus on how you want to grow.

2. Pick The Right Staff And Then Teach Them

I can't begin to tell you how many confused, apathetic and dopey stall workers I've met. No matter how wonderful the product is, the whole experience becomes muddied by this one bad exchange and leaves me reluctant to return, while someone who's passionate and bubbly makes me want to tell the world about them. Working at a market stall might seem like easy and unskilled work, but getting it right could make all the difference and getting it wrong could run your business to the ground. In a market environment, people expect higher levels of passion, enthusiasm and warmth from stallholders than they would from their local supermarket - your stall needs to reflect that.

Start by writing down the answers to questions customers often ask and the things that make them go 'ooh!'. What's in your stuff? How is it made? What's different? What's the most popular flavour? And then ask your staff - even if at this point they're just your sister, your wife or your best mate lending a hand - to role play with you while you behave like the most difficult customer you've ever had. It might seem like light-hearted fun at first, but you will be able to quickly spot things that you deem to be unprofessional. Are they quick with packing? Is the float organised, or a mass of jumbled coins? Are they gracious and warm, or disinterested and cold? You'd be surprised to see how someone else might not do what you take for granted.

And never, ever let them eat on the job. Ask a fellow stallholder to watch your stock while they sneak off for a quick sandwich. Nobody wants to buy anything from someone with their mouth full of cheese and pickle.

3. Shoeboxes

As well as providing handy storage for when you're packing away, small boxes are great for propping things up under your tablecloth so that your stall looks enticing and full, without the need for stacks and stacks of product. Rymans do a great selection of plastic boxes that flat pack for transporting as well as 'russian doll' style boxes that pack one into the other, so you don't need a fleet of vans to set up shop. If you're on a shoestring budget, drop in on your local corner shop, who always have a stack of (often pristine) boxes that would otherwise go straight into the recycling. Varying heights is a great way to catch the eye as well as upsell your range, clearly communicating which products are more premium than others. Don't forget to make sure your tablecloth is big enough to cover it all!

4. Never Forget You're On Display

Make sure that you have an idea of what your stall is going to look like at the beginning of the day, in the middle of the day (when you'll be at your busiest) and at the end of the day when (hopefully!) you'll have less than half your stock left. Everyone dreams about the beginning, when everything looks perfect, but it's important to think about the other times too. During the middle of the day, your focus should be on convenience and efficiency. For example, your packing materials e.g. brown paper, bags, cards should be laid out in order and the entire payment, packing and handover process should last no longer than a minute. It hurts too much to watch people walk away because you're taking too long! Towards the end of the day, make sure you know how to arrange your stall quickly so that it is as appealing as it was earlier, just smaller. There's nothing worse than a jumbled, untidy, patchy stall after the lunch rush. A bit like the last bruised banana on a supermarket shelf, nobody wants to pick up what feels like nobody else really wanted.

5. Know Your Goals

This is probably the most important point but one that often falls by the wayside. Why are you at the market? To sell stuff? Duh? Come on... To grow your business, you need to think harder than that! Markets are often the starting point for many food businesses. Make sure that you know what you want to get out of it, which might not always be to turn a profit on that day. Perhaps you want to try out a new range, so your focus will be on leaving out samples of those and asking what people think. Or perhaps you want to experiment with your pricing, so your focus will be on observing people's reactions when they read your prices. Of course, the immediate goal will almost always be to push sales, but bear the bigger picture in mind. Where do you want to be and how is this market stall going to take you there?

By Tara, Kitchen Table Projects Founder

Working From Home: The Survival Guide

You've decided to take the plunge. Hooray! But it's been a few months of working at home now and you're feeling a little blue. There's nobody to talk to, you've eaten everything in your fridge, emptied your laundry basket and organised your DVDs. And there's still a bunch of things you really, really ought to do but the days roll by and somehow they're not getting done. How do you kickstart your working from home motivation?

1. Don't work in your pyjamas.

Start your day like anyone else - jump in the shower, get dressed, grab some breakfast and then get going. In the time you spend getting ready, you'll be structuring your day in your head (showers make the best thinking spots!) so when you get to your computer, you'll be ready to make the most of it. Think of it like your morning commute. Jumping ahead can be overwhelming and by the time you've gone through your emails and figured out what you've got to do, it's already halfway through the morning and you haven't even washed your face yet. Another good way to get round this is to organise all your meetings for first thing in the morning, which also negates the temptation to lie in.

2. Join a club.

Especially if you like a lot of chocolate on your biscuit. Without the office buzz around you, the silence of your living room can soon get pretty deafening. Your motivation dies a slow, agonising death and suddenly, the washing up has never been more enticing. So, how do you keep on chugging, when you're on your own?

Joining a local entrepreneurs group can be really helpful for a motivation boost, building a network and just getting out of the house. One of the friendliest and most constructive meetups I've ever been to is run monthly by Enterprise Nation. If you're a social enterprise, Step and Stone run amazing (and unique!) sessions that give you the chance to talk about what's on your mind and there's plenty more on Meetup.com if you're after something more specific, such as Food Tech Wednesdays where techie food businesses gather once a month.

Meetups make me feel more energetic and give me that 'can't-wait-to-get-going' feeling again. People are super helpful and you don't have to be a networking pro to get involved, as everyone's in the same boat - working on their own and looking to make new friends.

3. Have a break.

As any teenager with looming GCSEs will tell you, it's really important to take regular breaks (KitKat optional). But how do you make sure that a break doesn't turn into the rest of the afternoon?

Getting into a routine really helps, so you know when you'll be taking your next break and when it's got to end. This gives you something to work towards so you can set small, achievable goals and make progress, instead of working halfheartedly throughout the day towards a huge goal that keeps slipping further and further away.

Take a walk, so you know that as soon as you get in again, you'll be going back to work. Don't take breaks at your computer. To stop you heading over to Facebook every ten minutes, try using keepmeout.com, which gives you a slap on the wrist if you're checking in too often or the ominous selfcontrolapp.com which cuts you off your chosen websites for a set time, even if you restart your computer or delete the application. Erk.

4. Love your workspace.

Create a space for you to work in that suits you. Get a chair that you like and a keyboard that clicky-claks the way you prefer it to. Have a jug of water and a glass on the table, as well as all the stationery you need, so you aren't tempted to get up every ten seconds. Keep your space neat and tidy - invest in one of those dorky in/out trays so your paperwork isn't all over the place, distracting you away from what you're supposed to be doing, and a big box to put everything away in when you're done for the day.

Something that really helped me was buying a big screen, so I could see what I was doing. Peering into a laptop doesn't do much for your neck, back or eyes and screens are relatively cheap, coming in at about £100 if you're not after an Apple Thunderbolt Display, and being flat, are pretty easy to slot behind a bookshelf when not in use.

5. Don't start thinking you haven't got a 'real job'.

Because you do! When you start working from home, suddenly everyone thinks you're unemployed, watching daytime telly in your pants and eating Crunchy Nut straight out of the box. While that might have been true once or twice, (we get it, you're human) most of the time you've got loads to do. Set clear boundaries between work and play and stick to them - firmly decline spousal requests to collect things from the post office or do the weekly shop and resist the temptation to joke about how everyday is a weekend, which in the long run can make you start believing it for real. Don't forget: you had the cojones to quit your job for some pretty serious stuff - doing what you love!

By Tara, Kitchen Table Projects Founder

Pictures by Flickr user Dana Robinson

Finding an Intern

Having a young person join your team can be an amazing thing, both for the person just starting out in their career and for your business. As interns are often the first recruit, many small businesses find the process pretty daunting, but it doesn't have to be. Here are a few things I've learnt along the way:

Find someone interested in your industry, who gets what you want to achieve.

As a small business, you're probably short on time. It's really important to hire believers in your company mission and brand values. As founders, we meet people all the time - some who 'get it' and some who really don't. It's important that your intern 'gets it', so you don't have to spend time selling your vision. An interest in your industry is not a bonus, it's a non-negotiable. Armed with that passion, everything your intern achieves should contribute to the overall goal, without constant reminders from you.

Make it sound enticing

The internet makes it really easy to peruse job descriptions and after a while, they all start looking the same. Make sure that yours stands out. It's a bit like online dating - your specification needs to reflect what you're passionate about, so you attract the right people to join your team. Less is also more and it's important to hone in on exactly the kind of skills you need from the start. Everyone needs great communication skills and a sense of humour. Everyone needs to be organised, punctual and polite. What makes your job special? What makes your job special to someone just starting out?

Filter your applications prior to interview. Ask them to think!

There are lots of ways to filter applications, but the technique I've found to be most effective is inviting applications to complete a small task. For example, a marketing intern might be asked to write a short blog post (less than 500 words) and list ten things they would do in the role. You get an insight into their work ethic (Do they send you a beautiful, formatted, typo-less pdf? Are their emails courteous, outside of 'cover letter mode'?) and their enthusiasm (Do they really understand what you want to do?), and you weed out the people who think it's 'too much effort', which aren’t always easy to spot an interview. Do you really want someone who baulks at the idea of a bit of thinking? The task shouldn't take more than an hour and often, star candidates are more than happy to get stuck in.

Know what you want them to do

Often an internship is a young person's first foray into a professional environment. Clear, tangible targets where performance can be easily measured are essential, both for your business and for your intern. This also means that interns can get on with achieving these while you get on with your own stuff. It's really easy to fall into the trap of micromanaging someone full time and while it's important to set aside at least a few hours a week to making sure your intern is being supported, interns should always be making a positive contribution to your business and be easing your workload, not adding to it. Apps such as Trello come in handy for checking progress, as well as shared folders in Google Docs that let you review their work at any time.

Know where and when to look.

One of the major problems with trying to find an intern is knowing where to find them. Every intern I've ever interviewed says they've been looking for forever and every small business seems to feel that way too. So, where's everyone hanging out? Enternships, Inspiring Interns, The Careers Group and Milkround are a great place to start as well as Internwise, IdeasTap and WorkinStartups if you're on a shoestring budget. Social media can also be effective, e.g. tweeting to local universities, depending on your industry and it's always handy to have the job spec up on your website.Timing is also really important, something small businesses often don't consider as it's been far too long since we've enjoyed our half terms and summer holidays! Young people usually start looking for internships for the summer after their January exams and then those who have decided to go travelling for the summer start looking around September.

Interns can be a huge help to small businesses and we can be a huge help to them too. They're enthusiastic and keep you going when you're down, they're full of great ideas and with the right coaching, you can unleash amazing skills and talent they didn't even know they had, which all go towards making your business grow. So many people have asked me about what it's like to have young people on my team and where to find them - hopefully this blog has been helpful! If you'd like to find out more, you can drop me an email too: tara@kitchentableprojects.com

by Tara, Founder of Kitchen Table Projects

Website Building on a Budget

Now let’s be honest, most of us would rather spend our time getting creative in the kitchen rather than dealing with our website. Whilst the daunting tasks are (unfortunately) necessary for any business, they don’t need to take over.  We've discovered that creating a website can actually be cheap, fast and quite a lot of fun.

With absolutely no budget and no coding knowledge, a small start-up like us needed to get creative. First impressions are everything, so here’s a little post about how you can easily build your own website in no time at all – it’s so easy we think you could even get your granny to have a go!

First things first, we needed to purchase our domain name.  This is actually a really simple process - we went to 123 - Reg to check that kitchentableprojects.com was available and it was! So we smashed open the piggy bank and purchased our name for a really good price (less than a tenner). 

The next step was to start planning our site. We tried a load of website builders: Weebly, Wordpress and SquareSpace, which, with our rookie knowledge of HTML coding (computer stuff) meant that our ideas didn’t always come out quite how we wanted them on the page.

Eventually, we came across WIX. They had hundreds of templates to choose from and personalise which made turning our ideas into a reality quick and easy. After just a few hours of exploring, we had developed the site in accordance with our brand - we knew we wanted it to be personal, so we used our own illustrations to supplement the pages. All we did was draw, colour, take a photo of our drawings and upload it to WIX! This was cheap, the options were infinite (because Tara could draw anything) and a lot of fun! We all got involved with the illustrations; why not take a look at our attempts here.

If you’re now thinking “that’s great… But I can’t draw” never fear, Canva is here! It’s an amazing site on a mission to make designing easy. It’s time to boot your designer through the door and wheel out granny again. Canva makes designing so simple that even if you don’t have great computer skills, you’ll definitely be able to create something special here.

Once we were happy with our final design, we linked it up to our domain and optimised our keywords and content for the best results with SEO (Search Engine Optimisation). There are loads of guides out there that make this really easy too - have a Google! Just a few days later we were up and running on the world wide web with a website that we love.

WIX provide really useful video tutorials for practically every aspect of building a site with them, so if you ever get stuck just fix up a cuppa, sit back, and watch someone take you through the process step-by-step. If you'd like any further information about how we made our site, or have an idea of what you'd like to see in the future, just drop us an email- we'd love to hear from you!