It’s been exciting to watch the growth of entrepreneurship and its product, small businesses, over the past couple of decades. Business models have been developed and perfected that previously were either unheard of or no more than a fringe opportunity. One case in point is specialty foods.

As one of the growing sectors of the small business landscape, specialty foods - sauces, desserts, salsas, etc. – has become more than just a viable alternative; more and more it’s being leveraged beyond the lifestyle business, or artisan/shopkeeper form. There are even trade opportunities for specialty foods. My friends at the Department of Commerce have told me about a Tennessee small business that makes salsa, whose biggest customer is a grocery store chain in – I’m not making this up – Mexico.

There’s more good news: Food business incubators are proliferating around the country, where entrepreneurs can find efficiencies by sharing commercial kitchen time. These centers also provide marketing and organizational assistance to help these specialty food entrepreneurs get their businesses out of the blocks without having to use precious capital to acquire expensive equipment and single-use real estate.

On my radio program, The Small Business Advocate Show, specialty food expert who authored “Sell Your Specialty Food” and Brain Trust member, Stephen Hall, talked with me about this growing small business sector and provided a number of tips and best practices. Check it out.