I bet you hadn’t considered that had you? I know, me neither.

This is a cautionary tale. Sometimes you follow the rules in business and still mess up.

When I started Dolce Butter, I was sure I’d done everything I was supposed to when starting a food business. I’ll do a more definitive list another time, but the key things as I understood at the time was to:

• Register the company with HMRC;

• Register with my local council;

• Complete a Level 2 Food Safety & Hygiene course;

• Get business insurance; and

• Create a HACCP plan and risk assessments.

With the above done, I cracked on spinning multiple plates – churning my butter, keeping records of products made, doing customer service, creating content etc.

How It Began

I started the business in Nov/Dec 2020, at the time, the UK was just about to enter another lockdown, and therefore EHO visits were not happening. The wait was an anxiety inducing process. I was seeking clarification from the powers that be that I was doing things right. I wanted to be sure that my procedures were safe and up to scratch. On the surface, I believed that they were because I’d followed the guidance supplied by the Food Standards Agency, but getting a good rating would have sealed the deal in my mind.

EHO = Environmental Health Officer. You’ll get a visit from your EHO when you register your food business with your local council. Your EHO will come to assess where your products are made, they will look at your procedures, how you are keeping records, how you label your products, the cleanliness of your workspace (As well as personal hygiene), your food safety management procedures, etc. (see further reading section for further information).

It wasn’t until Oct 2021 that my local EHO got in touch to put the wheels in motion. One of her first questions was whether I owned the house, rented from a private owner, or whether it was social housing. The question was prefaced with the notion that while the main concern of food safety officers is to ensure food law requirements are understood and followed, they also advise on whether there are any obstacles to running food businesses from residential dwellings. I live in social housing, but at no point had I considered I wouldn’t be able to run the business from my home.

Social Housing is where the property is provided by housing associations (not-for-profit organisations that own, let, and manage rented housing) or a local council.

The EHO Has Spoken

Eventually, she confirmed that our tenancy agreement does not permit us to run a commercial business from our home. To be specific, the agreement says:

“Your council home must be your only or principal home. You must not use or allow the property to be used other than as your own private dwelling. In particular you must not use your home for any purpose which might cause a nuisance or annoy your neighbours. We do not intend to stop you working from home, but we do want to prevent homes being used for any commercial use which adversely affects your neighbours”.

In this situation, I had 2 options:

1. Fight back and state my case. I’d been running the business for near enough a year, including allowing customers to collect from our door. In that time, we’d had zero complaints either directly to us, or to/through the council.
2. Use it as an opportunity to reimagine what the ideal solution looks like.

For me, option 2 was the only solution to my problem. The timing was actually perfect. By then, I already knew I wanted to re-strategise and stop operating out of my small domestic kitchen. The space was not conducive to scaling up the way I wanted to, it just sped up the process. (Read my post on things I want to change about Dolce Butter over the next few months here).

So what’s next I hear you ask?

Still figuring it out to be honest. Questions I’m asking myself:

1. Do I think I could get enough stockists to justify working with a co-packer who would both manufacture and package our products?
2. If not, could I have them manufacture the product and deliver it to me to then package in-house?
3. If not, then could I hire a local kitchen space (think church kitchens or community centres for example) on a regular weekly cadence until we are ready to move to the next stage?
4. What level of capital is required for each of the above?

I’ll be sure to bring you along for the ride as I explore the above!

The point I’m trying to make here is that sometimes, you think you’ve followed the rules and are doing things as you should be, and every once in a while, the universe throws a spanner in the works. When/if it does, remember it doesn’t have to be the end, it could very well be the kick up the arse you needed to do the deep work that’ll determine how you step into (or maybe tumble into) the next phase of your journey.

One more time for the people in the back, don’t forget to check if there are any restrictions or conditions of your lease or tenancy agreement with the council, your landlord or mortgage provider.

Further Reading

• How to Prepare for an EHO Visit – https://www.highspeedtraining.co.uk/hub/prepare-for-an-eho-visit/
• Food Standards Agency – Safer Food, Better Business – https://www.food.gov.uk/business-guidance/safer-food-better-business-sfbb
• MyHACCP – https://myhaccp.food.gov.uk/
• Level 2 Food Safety and Hygiene Course – https://food-safety.org.uk/