Catering is a great way for someone seeking to make money from home to get a foot into the food industry. It also provides a very economical way to serve the public with such an essential and in demand product.
So how do you get started in this business? Here's some things to know....
Some of the things you'll need:
- Cooking space or commercial kitchen: Depending on your needs or local laws, you may be required to operate in a certain confinement. For many states, it requires used a licensed commercial kitchen. While other states, allow for certain types and amounts of food to be produce directly from your home kitchen.
- Equipment: It's important to have the right equipment for making your product. Yes, your food, no matter how good it is, is a product that needs to look as presentable and professional as the store bought food, or even better. Having the right equipment allows you to do this. However, you don't need to splurge on the latest equipment, most household grade equipment can do the job just as well as much of the commercial equipment used is for productivity output, not quality.
- Skills and experience: As a professional chef, home based or not, you will need to know how to deliver professionally. Many of those who go into the business, mistakenly assume that because they get rave reviews from the dinner guests at family reunions, they are adequately prepared for the work involved in serving those whom you are charging, this is not so. You will need to master the craft of food preparation and delivery for this business. Presentation skills, commercial preparation, storage information and food handling are some of the attributes you will need.
Products/services you can offer with this business:
- Private chef: This is a good way to get started. You can offer your services to families and establishments that already have kitchens but just need someone to manage them. All cooking is done on site and you can offer more of an array of products without having your own commercial space.
- Events: This is a popular choice most people get started in. Large events and meetings need to be catered if dining out or cooking is not an option. Many people will opt to have someone cater an event rather than taking a large number of guests to their event which can be much more expensive.
While catering provides a valuable service there can be pitfalls that can cause you to lose business or turn out unprofitable.
- Legal requirements: If your local laws require you to operate out of a commercial kitchen, this can be expensive. Many kitchens charge by the hour and restrict the amount of time you can use them. This is especially true when operating from an existing business, often being a reason why many restaurants will refuse to offer these types of services to caterers, making it harder to start your business. Try to find out if there are any cottage laws in your state that allow certain types of foods to be produce from your home and stick with those, for a more economical way to operate your business.
- Competition: Many restaurants are now offering catering services, which can make the industry a bit competitive. However, these services take time and can be costly, so when restaurants have staff they need to pay and time they need to save for their regular business, the service may be more expensive than that of the small home business caterer. Competing with price is very important to stay ahead.
- Business planning: Like all businesses, you will need proper financial planning in order to stay afloat. Making sure you aren't just charging for your product but also your service is very important. If you aren't very good at the business planning aspect of this business, you may need to brush up on these required skills.
No comments:
Post a Comment