From the outside, it’s easy to think that running a food business is all about food. And when it’s just in the idea phase, it probably is. But somewhere between the first farmers’ market and the first retail listing, you realise the job has completely changed. You’re no longer just a maker anymore. You’re now a salesperson, strategist, operations manager and negotiator – sometimes all in the same day!
The founders who build the most successful businesses aren’t always the most talented, or the ones with the most funding. They’re often the ones who’ve figured out which hat they need to wear at any given moment, in order to help their business thrive.
Inspired by Edward de Bono’s concept of ‘thinking hats’, here are the seven hats that I think food business founders need to be able to wear. Most of us are naturally comfortable in one or two, bringing our past experiences and personal talents to the role. However, as a business owner, the challenge is to identify your strengths, develop your weaknesses, and surround yourself with the right team to allow you, and subsequently your business, to flourish.
The Maker
This is where almost every food business starts. You have a product you believe in, you know how to make it, and the quality shows. The Maker hat is essential. Without it, nothing else holds together. But it can become a trap. When production fills every available hour, everything else gets crowded out: the follow-up call that doesn’t happen, the retail opportunity that goes cold, the marketing campaign that never quite gets done. The kitchen can become a comfort zone, but as we all know, real growth happens when we step outside it. Knowing when to step out – even briefly – is one of the hardest skills a food founder develops.
The Seller
I find that the sales hat is the one most food founders – and indeed business owners across all sectors – are least comfortable wearing. But it’s the one the business needs most.
The Seller is more than just someone who can talk enthusiastically about their product. They can think from the buyer’s perspective, follow up consistently and, crucially, treat a sales conversation as a process rather than a one-off event. When a major retail opportunity finally materialises, the Seller hat is what turns it into a listing, and hence, your idea into a viable business. The energy required is different from making – it’s outward-facing, relationship-driven, and relentless.
The Networker
Food is a relationship business. It has the classic supply chain of distributors, buyers and stockists, but is also a space full of collaborators, fellow entrepreneurs, food editors, event organisers and journalists. It’s hard to understate the importance of how the people you know, and the people who know you, can influence your journey as a food founder. The Networker hat is about understanding this and acting on it deliberately.
Whilst an extroverted personality can certainly help, it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that networking is solely about being outgoing, or good at small talk. In reality, consistent, conscious effort will build stronger relationships than one-time conversations, no matter how pleasant. Networking is about showing up in the right places – such as trade shows, food events, industry groups, online communities – and approaching those spaces with genuine curiosity rather than non-stop pitching. The best networkers in food are the ones who remember what someone told them three months ago, who make introductions without being asked, who think about what they can give before what they can get. And most importantly, it’s ones who follow up with (polite) persistence that prevail.
The Brand
This comes naturally to some founders. They personify what the business stands for and they create energy around the product just by being themselves. Your brand is critical to your business’s success and extends far beyond aesthetics. It’s about having a point of view, being recognisable, and giving people a reason to choose you over what’s on the shelf next to you.
The risk with this hat is wearing it to the detriment of everything else – and becoming all style, no substance. However, the founder story is often the most compelling marketing asset you have, and key to your branding. Learning to wear this hat well will almost always pay off. However, turning it into visuals and communications will set you apart.
The Operator
Logistics, production planning, cash flow, compliance, supplier relationships – the list can seem endless sometimes! Nobody starts a food business because they dream of spreadsheets, but the Operator hat is what keeps the whole thing from falling apart as it grows.
This is the hat that thinks about scale before scale arrives. They wonder what will happen when an order – or an opportunity – comes in three times larger than expected? What do you do when a supplier lets you down, or the delivery van needs fixing? The methodical, process-oriented founder often wears this one naturally and has a plan. For everyone else, it has to be learned, delegated, or both.
The Bean Counter
Most food founders know their product costs, but fewer know their margins. Even fewer know, in real time, whether the business is actually making money.
The Bean Counter hat isn’t about being an accountant; but being comfortable with the numbers is necessary to make good business decisions. What does your product actually cost to make, sell and deliver? What’s left when everyone’s been paid? Which customers or channels are profitable, and which are quietly draining you? Supermarket listings can feel like a win right up until the moment the invoice terms and retailer margin hit your cash flow. The numbers tell a story. This hat is about understanding it and acting.
The Strategist
In my opinion, this is the hat that almost nobody puts on often enough. The Strategist steps back from the day-to-day and asks the harder questions: Is this working? Is the product right for this market? Are we growing, and is the right type of growth? What do we need to change?
You don’t necessarily need a five-year plan pinned to the wall – it’s about starting to look at the details and the bigger picture. You should be reading what customers are actually telling you, noticing what’s changing in the market, and willing to pivot rather than just push harder. The founder who trusts the process but never questions it can miss the moment when the process stops serving them.
Putting it all together
No founder wears all seven hats equally well – and that’s fine! What matters is knowing your natural hat – the one you reach for instinctively – and building enough awareness of the others to know when the business needs you to switch.
Sometimes that means bringing in people who wear the hats you don’t. Sometimes it means sitting with the discomfort of doing something that doesn’t come naturally. Just because you’re a natural in one hat, doesn’t mean you can’t apply yourself to the others.
In my experience, the founders who succeed make sure they understand the skillsets required for each hat. However, they also know that bringing in people who wear them more comfortably can help their business grow more quickly.
If you want to talk about growing your food or drink business, book a discovery call.
