Key Ingredients for Starting a Catering Business
All of us dream about starting our own business. The kind of
business we start should be compatible with our abilities and
personality. If you have a passion for cooking, a head for
planning and can keep your cool under pressure, consider
starting a catering business.
You don't need a big initial investment to start a catering
business. You can keep your costs low at first by renting needed
equipment. Most of your spending can wait until you get your
first contract.
Catering is not affected by downturns in the economy. In good
times or in bad, there always seems to be a market for catering:
catered parties for rich clients, business lunches and meetings,
birthday parties, wedding receptions and more.
If you're not sure about starting a catering business, test the
waters first. Ask your friends or your office to let you
"pretend" cater a dinner party or lunch meeting. They pay you
for the groceries and you do the work for free. Experience
first-hand the challenges of planning and running a catered
event.
When you start a catering business, you'll need to check state
and local laws. Zoning laws could affect where you do your
cooking and how much of your catering business you can actually
handle from home. The city you live in may require a permit. It
won't be fun or easy getting everything set up legally, but when
it's the law, you don't have a choice. Starting a catering
business illegally is a bad idea.
Decide on a name and then create your identity. The entire
process of naming your catering business and creating an
identity is known as "branding." Don't rush through this
important step. If your catering business really takes off, you
can brand things like spice mixes, sauces, baked goods and other
food items. Sell these from your website or give them away as
gifts to clients. The point is to keep your name in front of
your potential customers as much as possible.
You probably won't need to set up a separate office when you
first start your catering business (unless you want to). But you
will need to make sure you have some basic office supplies
around so you can look professional.
If you're serious about succeeding, start working on a business
plan for your catering business. A business plan is a blueprint
for a successful business start-up. Good plans are the result of
careful study and hard work. Your business plan explains how
your catering business will operate, how it will be structured
and managed, how it will be financed, and how much profit it
will make. If you need cash to start your catering business,
your business plan is what investors and lenders will use to
make their decision.
The children's TV character Aardvark Arthur Read wisely pointed
out that "the catering business is tough when you only know how
to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches." But if you enjoy
working with people, have good intuition about what they like,
and have the planning and cooking skills to make it happen,
starting a catering business may be your dream come true.