How to Start Catering

Catering is more than creating fancy meals.

Many people who love home cooking at some point have considering becoming caterers, but preparing meals is a small part of maintaining a successful catering business. Marketing, a good business sense, strong management and people skills, creativity and a tireless work ethic all contribute to the profit or loss of a professional food service business. Before printing and handing out business cards to family and friends, sit down and think through your plan.

Instructions

1. Study the menus of caterers in your area and fill in the gaps. Caterers that specialize in vegan or allergen-free foods may find a client base in those areas. Alejandro Salinas of Global Catering in San Francisco markets his use of environmentally friendly hot boxes for cooking, which “allow chefs to reduce their culinary carbon footprint.” Likewise, look to see if anyone else is specifically doing kids parties, international foods, economic casual affairs or individual meals that harried families can purchase.

2. Learn about the business of catering from other professionals. Read books such as "The Professional Caterer’s Handbook," "The Complete Caterer" and "Off-Premise Catering Management" or the online magazines Catersource and Catering. Study food trends by attending conferences and local tastings.

3. Get a job as a cook or server with a successful catering business. If you have never catered before, learn the ropes from within. Pay attention to the types of equipment used, how the staffing is utilized, how much preparation is involved when cooking for large groups and how meals are organized.

4. Obtain business licenses and permits. Food-service regulations vary by county and state. Contact your county health department to find out what is required before preparing food for sale out of your home—in some cases doing so is illegal and can cause you to lose your business before it even gets started.

5. Purchase materials for your business. Catering requires large cookware, transportation boxes, serving wares and preparation equipment. Unless you have a great deal of start-up capital, piece these items together as your company grows. Rental companies can help you fill out your kitchen early on.

6. Market your company on the Internet by creating a blog and using social networking sites, but be careful while doing so. Meryl Snow, co-owner of Philadelphia-based Feastivities Events says, “Overexposure can be deadly. Be sensible about how and how often you use the various social media. Sadly, not everything you do is media worthy. Pay attention to the responses you get; they’ll let you know which social media work best for you."

7. Work a few small events for little or no cost. For practice, cater one or two small parties for close friends but branch out from that comfort zone as soon as possible to get a true sense of the job and your talents. Browse online classified ads, contact people who are interested in hiring a caterer for a small event and offer your services for a reduced fee to begin getting your name out in the community.

References

• Catersource: Lessons in Catering
• Amazon: The Professional Caterer's Handbook
• Catersource: Social Media For Marketing

Resources

• Catering Magazine: Home