23 BBQ Business Ideas You Can Start Today [2024]

Updated: July 24th, 2023

Interested in starting a bbq business in 2024?

We put together 23 of the best bbq businesses you can start in today.

For each business idea, we’ll show you real-world examples of other bbq businesses to help you see what it really takes.

Here's the full list:

1. Start a food delivery business

In today’s busy lifestyles and schedules, cooking is no longer a priority to many. People like to order-in food from their nearest restaurants or food joints and enjoy a meal in the comfort of their homes.

The food delivery business is like a courier service through which restaurants deliver food to their customers.

You can offer retail food delivery services to restaurants within your locality if you have a truck. Customers order through a restaurant or grocer’s website, and the owners contact you to deliver.

How much you can make: $4,000 — $83,333,333/month

How much does it cost to start: $2,750 (?)

How long does it take to build: 90 days (?)

How I Took Food Trucks Corporate And Built A $18M Business

Food Fleet grew over 160% in just one year and managed over 20 million in sales for its clients, securing multiple contracts with the likes of Sodexo, Levy Restaurants and more, due to its understanding of catering client needs and its advanced turnkey and design services.

About
Jeffrey started Food Fleet about 12 years ago
Revenue
Jeffrey grew the business to $1.5M/month
Read by 14,560 founders

2. Start a cooking class

Online cooking classes can be a great side hustle for seasoned chefs or cooking enthusiasts looking for a way to earn some extra cash. You can create content and teach your audience how to prepare meals.

Consider creating members-only content to earn more from your cooking class side hustle. Alternatively, you can sell recipes for a small fee as well. To grow your reach, consider offering some free content on your social media pages as a way to build curiosity among potential audiences. You can charge your audiences a subscription fee so they can have exclusive access to your content.

To start cooking classes , choose a niche and follow your passion. Create a website and maintain an active social media presence. Apart from online cooking classes or live sessions you can also offer exclusive offline weekend classes to give your audience a hands-on personal experience.

How much you can make: $7,500 — $100,000/month

Time commitment per week: Min. 5 hours/week

How I Started A Cooking Classes Business With 7 Locations

Hipcooks is a 7-location cooking school business that has grown organically to reach $100k/month in revenue, and attracts and retains customers through their communal approach, vibrant online presence, and updated Google and Yelp business pages.

About
Monika started Hipcooks over 10 years ago
Revenue
Monika grew the business to $100K/month
Read by 9,223 founders

3. Start a BBQ tools business

Demand for barbecue tools and accessories has increased over the past years, and there are no signs of slowing anytime soon.

The increase in the number of hotels and restaurants and the adoption of homemade barbeque are some reasons for the growing demand for barbeque tools.

Production of BBQ tools and accessories can be a profitable business venture.

If you have artisan skills and understand the BBQ industry, you can start mass production of the BBQ tools.

How much you can make: $40,000 — $500,000/month

How much does it cost to start: $600 (?)

How long does it take to build: 275 days (?)

From $600 left to $2M in sales in its first year of Business Selling BBQ And Outdoor Kitchen Equipment

BBQGrills.com is an online retailer of outdoor kitchen equipment, BBQ grills, and patio heaters that earned $2 million in sales within its first year of business through a focus on quality, performance, and customer service.

About
Ryan started BBQGrills.com over 4 years ago
Revenue
Ryan grew the business to $500K/month
Costs
It cost Ryan $600 to start the business
Read by 8,744 founders

4. Start a catering business

A catering business is responsible for providing food & beverage-related services for vast types of events.

Catering businesses are known to be more flexible than other businesses because they don’t have to worry about location or pricing and can even work 24/7. They can cater anywhere and offer any price point that they want.

However, starting a catering business requires a lot of planning.

To start a successful catering business , you'll need to plan and prepare menus, manage budgets, handle clients, and more.

In addition, catering allows you to meet more people and show off your cooking skills.

How much you can make: $3,750 — $48,333/month

How much does it cost to start: $500 (?)

How long does it take to build: 90 days (?)

How I Found Success With A $20K/Month Catering Company After Starting Many Businesses

Elegante Catering founder, Nestor Nidome, details his journey from failed DJ business to a $20k/month catering company, emphasizing the importance of online marketing and customer feedback as key contributors to his success.

Revenue
Nestor grew the business to $20K/month
Costs
It cost Nestor $500 to start the business
Read by 8,161 founders

5. Start a youtube channel

For anyone looking to start a successful YouTube channel, there are plenty of YouTube channel success stories that can be used as inspiration and encouragement. In addition, YouTube has an established monetization system and boasts incredible popularity, making it a potential platform for revenue generation.

In this article, we'll look at different approaches you can use to help promote your channel and grow your viewers. While there's no quick and easy way to success, you can take these tips to build your own YouTube Channel Success story. If you love content creation, you can capitalize on YouTube's popularity to earn extra income.

If you want to join the Youtube partner program to monetize your channel, you will need to reach a minimum of 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours in the previous 12 months.

How much you can make: $800 — $4,500,000/month

How much does it cost to start: $750 (?)

How long does it take to build: 90 days (?)

Time commitment per week: Min. 5 hours/week

How This Couple Makes $5K/Month Generating Content About Ways To Make Money Online

Learn how this entrepreneurial couple made $5-7k a month by helping others find legitimate work from home jobs and creative ways to make money online through their blog and YouTube channel, as well as offering two flagship products designed to help beginner freelancers and new bloggers accelerate growth.

About
Chhavi started Mrs Daaku Studio almost 6 years ago
Revenue
Chhavi grew the business to $5K/month
Costs
It cost Chhavi $500 to start the business
Read by 13,575 founders

6. Start a restaurant

If you love cooking and are passionate about entrepreneurship, starting a restaurant can be a fun and lucrative business.

To get started, choose a great location, and hire an excellent support team. You will need a chef to inspect the food and line cooks, waiters, and waitresses to serve the customers. No matter the restaurant type, you need great culinary and business skills to make your dream come true.

If you plan to open a restaurant , gain insight from consumer preferences and focus on serving modern consumers what they need.

How much you can make: $48,333 — $61,650,000/month

How long does it take to build: 120 days (?)

Starting A $1.5M Healthy Meals Delivery Business

One Life Meals is a Toronto-based healthy meal delivery service that made 14,500 meals per month and generated $130k in monthly sales in 2018 through their one-on-one consultation, lean protein and seasonal veggies-based meals, and their focus on the client experience.

About
Andrei started One Life Meals over 11 years ago
Revenue
Andrei grew the business to $130K/month
Read by 20,311 founders

7. Start a charcoal supplying business

8. Start a BBQ talk shows business

9. Start a mini trade fair business

Starting a mini trade fair business can be a great way to tap into the lucrative world of trade shows and exhibitions. This type of business involves organizing and hosting small-scale events that allow businesses to showcase and sell their products or services to a targeted audience.

To get started, you’ll need a few key things. Firstly, you’ll need to identify a location for your mini-trade fair. This could be a convention center, hotel, or large warehouse. You’ll also need to secure the necessary permits and licenses to host your event, which will vary depending on your location.

Next, you’ll need to start recruiting businesses to participate in your event. This can be done through online and offline marketing, such as social media advertising, email marketing, and networking events. You’ll need to establish your target audience and choose businesses that appeal to them.

Once you have a solid roster of participants, you’ll need to start organizing the logistics of your event. This will involve everything from setting up the layout and design of your event space to coordinating catering and entertainment. You’ll also need to consider additional services you might offer, such as on-site childcare or shuttle services for attendees.

Running a mini trade fair can be a lot of work, but it can also be extremely rewarding. With the right planning and execution, you can create a successful event that provides value for businesses and attendees.

10. Start a BBQ equipment consignment shop business

11. Start a BBQ cookbook business

How much you can make: $62,000 — $600,000/month

How long does it take to build: 365 days (?)

How We Started A $600K/Month Business Selling Keto Cookbooks And Mealplans

Nourishing Brands is a direct-to-consumer media company that generates more than $600k per month and sold over 300,000 cookbooks in 2020 through their popular health websites like KetoSummit.com by transitioning from digital events to cookbooks, evergreen courses, and paid media.

Revenue
Jeremy grew the business to $600K/month
Costs
It cost Jeremy $500 to start the business
Read by 8,642 founders

12. Start a BBQ consulting business

How much you can make: $5,400/month

How I Started A Profitable Food Entrepreneurship Blog

How Brett Lindenberg built a profitable food entrepreneurship blog, FoodTruckEmpire.com, from his apartment in Minnesota that now gets over 300,000 monthly page views and has an email subscriber list of over 35,000, grossing $5,400 monthly in 2018, by conducting over 100 interviews with food entrepreneurs and offering an online Food Truck Academy class to prepare aspiring entrepreneurs for the real challenges of starting a successful food business.

About
Brett started Food Truck Empire over 10 years ago
Revenue
Brett grew the business to $5.4K/month
Read by 15,413 founders

13. Start a BBQ TV shows business

14. Start a BBQ stand and accessories suplies business

15. Start a BBQ stand production business

16. Start a BBQ contests business

17. Start a BBQ awards organization business

18. Start a specialty sauces business

How much you can make: $16,000 — $12,500,000/month

How long does it take to build: 200 days (?)

How Huy Fong’s Sriracha Hit $150 Million A Year In Sales — With Zero Marketing

Huy Fong Foods' Sriracha sauce, also known as rooster sauce, generates $150 million in revenue annually, accounting for 10% of the US market for hot sauce, despite founder David Tran starting out selling his sauces out of a blue Chevy van.

About
They started Huy Fong Foods about 44 years ago
Revenue
They grew the business to $12.5M/month
Read by 1,676 founders

19. Start a BBQ supplies business

How much you can make: $75,000 — $333,333/month

How long does it take to build: 88 days (?)

How We Built A $2M/Year Business Selling Barbecue Tools

Learn how Michael "Medium Rare" O'Donnell built Cave Tools into a $2 million per year brand selling high-quality barbecue tools and accessories, and expanded his business by launching Grill Master University, an online barbecue masterclass platform, all while traveling to and living in almost 40 different countries in just the last 3 years.

About
Michael started Cave Tools almost 11 years ago
Revenue
Michael grew the business to $333K/month
Read by 12,872 founders

20. Start a herb and spice superstore business

21. Start an outdoor cooking store business

22. Start a barbecue stand business

A recent market report showed that the global barbeque grill market size is approximately $5 Billion. The report is a testament that barbeque has a wide appeal across the globe. Therefore, starting a BBQ stand can be a great business venture.

Luckily, you do not have to pay rent to start a BBQ stand. You can venture into the street food business by putting up a BBQ stand on busy streets.

23. Start a BBQ reality shows business

How much you can make: $75,000 — $1,000,000/month

How long does it take to build: 90 days (?)

How I Started A $75K/Month BBQ Cleaning Service And Grew It To 240 Locations

Grew BBQ cleaning service to 240 US locations with multi-unit businesses making six figures and boasting 99%+ customer satisfaction rate.

About
Jeffrey started The BBQ Cleaner about 15 years ago
Revenue
Jeffrey grew the business to $75K/month
Costs
It cost Jeffrey $44995 to start the business
Read by 5,951 founders

meet the author
Pat Walls

I'm Pat Walls and I created Starter Story - a website dedicated to helping people start businesses. We interview entrepreneurs from around the world about how they started and grew their businesses.