The food industry is one of the businesses that hardly fail because there will always a demand of food anywhere you go. However, the tricky part is starting it. So, here are some simple advices on
how to start a catering business.
1. Know what food you can make.
Before anything else, you have to think what food you can do best based on your passion and make it your specialty. Start with the ones that you have already mastered. You can add new dishes on your menu after some time. You also have to consider whether you will provide catering only for special events or occasions or maybe for lunch or desserts. Your menu has to reflect what you can do. You have to decide on your menu as early as possible so that you would know what equipment you would need and how much space you should work in. Have your friends or family or even co-workers (if you have any) taste your dishes. You should let different people try it to gather suggestions for improvement. It is recommended to get honest feedback from them so that you could fix whatever dish you need to improve before serving them to your customers.
2. Secure a place and the equipment you would need.
If you are doing it as a part-time, you can rent a kitchen to save on your expenses since you would not need the whole time. But, if you are expanding, it would be better to find a permanent place for you and your staff to work in. Make sure that there is enough space for all your workers to move around freely. You have to consider storage space as well. After you have finalized your menu, you can purchase the needed equipment to cook and prepare them. If you are under a tight budget, buy the most important things first like stove, oven, pots, pans and so on. You can try getting used equipment to start with and then get new ones once you have gained enough profit.
3. Deal with the legal papers.
Know which licenses and permits you should be getting. It takes time to process legal documents so you have to start as early as possible. Make sure to know the taxes you should be paying, too. Also, you should determine if you need someone to do your bookkeeping for you or if you can do it yourself. Do your research on how you would be pricing your food and services, as well.
4. Build your team.
Since you are catering, you would need regular workers who would be in the kitchen with you and also temporary ones for when you need to cater big events. Make sure to train your employees on the kind of service you would want to offer to your clients.
5. Find the best suppliers for your ingredients.
To be able to cut down on your expenses, it is best to get your supplies straight from wholesale companies.
6. Market your business.
There are many ways you can market your catering business. The social media is one of the fastest and cheapest ways to do it. But, you also need to associate yourself with other businesses to gain more clients. There is a software for catering that a lot of food businesses use to help them with orders, booking and much more. (
click to learn more about catering and the
catering software.)
