A new flavor: startup food businesses follow unique recipes for success.

• Author: Biton, Adva
• Position: A New Flavor

There's no more expensive gamble than opening a restaurant. Around 60 percent of new restaurant ventures fail within the first year, and 80 percent fail within five years, according to Business Insider. The costs, too, for opening a restaurant are astronomical. Indeed, many restaurants fail because their owners do not take into account the amount of capital they'll need--often around $500,000 to $1 million for a fine dining establishment, according to Forbes.

For the past 10 years--five or six since they've gained true popularity in Utah--the "cost effective" alternative for would-be restaurateurs has been the food truck. But a food truck can still cost between $50,000 and $200,000, says Forbes. What can a person do if they're passionate about food but don't have that kind of capital?

Many who have a dream, recipes, an entrepreneurial spirit--and no cash--turn to another option: food stands. Food stands, or booths, can appear for relatively little cost in local farmers markets and festivals, and turn a once-unknown business into a recognized local brand. For some, that's enough--but for others, it's a stepping stone into getting their own restaurant.

Going to market

Ana Valdemoros had no formal training in cooking when she began Argentina's Best Empanadas. Coming out of college, all she had was a desire to make empanadas, a classic stuffed bread or pastry from many Latin Europe and Latin American countries. Valdemoros' empanadas are all made from scratch and by hand, using as many local, seasonal products as possible.

"I'm not professionally trained in the food business, but I thought there was an opportunity to show empanadas in Salt Lake City at the farmers market. For those who are new to it, we wanted to show them a product from a different country," says Valdemoros. "And for the Argentines, we wanted to show a piece of Argentina, where it's a staple, to give them happiness or a good memory."

Valdemoros borrowed a mere $1,000 from her mother for pots, pans, supplies--her entire setup. She says that when she opened in 2006, costs to buy a canopy and register to show at the farmers market were much cheaper than they are today. And while her first foray into the market saw her selling only six empanadas per day, she now sells 400-600 empanadas any given Saturday. That doesn't even take into account the catering orders she gets, which she now has to stipulate a 48hour turnaround time on.

"We've catered a wedding, and we made 1,200 empanadas for it. That's all they wanted. We catered church conferences, funerals, mission reunions, tango parties, Argentinean style parties--a lot of our customers order large quantities," she says. "We need 48-hours notice. We don't keep anything frozen. We prepare them to order."

The success of her food stand has given Valdemoros the desire to help other small food entrepreneurs through the...