Tips for Starting a Catering Business
If you have a passion for food and enjoy being around large groups of people, a catering business may be the perfect vocation for you. While a catering business does involve an extensive amount of physical labor and endless hours over a hot stove, the rewards can far outweigh the challenges.
Although it’s not necessary to have a culinary degree, you must be familiar with food safety and handling procedures, food preparation techniques, and food presentation. As you may be aware, eating food begins with the eyes, therefore it is crucial for you to possess the ability to present your food in a pleasing-to-the-eye manner. Not only must your food look good, it must taste even better!
If you are seriously contemplating catering as a career, you can start by collecting information. You can read stuff related to catering and nothing beats all the resources that the internet provides. Important information to look for is regarding licensing and approvals, as per the law in your region.
Once you’ve completed your research, you need to construct a business and marketing plan. This is not a difficult process even if you have no prior knowledge about creating such documents. Just do a web search for “business plan” and “marketing plan” and you’ll find plenty of samples and helpful material. The libraries and online resources are always easy to find and cheaper alternatives to hiring a consultant for extensive support. The Small Business Association (SBA) provides a large selection of classes and publications for new business owners. Visit www.sba.org for more information about their services.
The next step is finance. Having your hands on a good business plan and marketing strategy will give you a fairly accurate idea of the kind of credit you will require, as well as increase your chances of quick loan approval. You can get this done through banks and finance companies. Obviously, you will have to invest a small fraction of the total budget upfront. Even as you do this, take care that you do not end up investing more than you can afford losing.
While it might be exhilarating to start your own catering business, it’s important to realize that in the beginning you will be wearing many hats. In addition to preparing food and catering events, you’ll need to have a good understanding of marketing in order to obtain new business. And, let’s not forget the day-to-day duties such as answering the phone, quoting prices, following up with clients, performing accounting duties, ordering supplies, etc.
Although owning your own catering business is a highly rewarding experience, you should be prepared to work long hours and be available to work weekends and evenings, at least until you are well-established.
Owning a catering business requires a great deal of stamina. Not only will you be preparing the food, you will also be required to deliver it, set-up serving tables, serve the food, tear everything down, and clean all the equipment.
Most times of the day, you will be up on your legs. Catering jobs require you to stand for long hours. You may have to work hard for as long as 12 to 15 hours each day. You might have to serve for catered events at odd locations. It is important to remain calm and positive through all the rigors.
When you do what you love, the work isn’t considered a burden and most caterers enjoy working the long hours. Although it can be a stressful business, if you take time to organize and plan you can create a catering business that is exceptionally rewarding and profitable.
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