Starting your own catering business can be as varied as caterers are different themselves. To follow a specific strict procedure can be frustrating and difficult. Filling out questionnaires in software programs for business plans has always caused this frustration to me. Asking me questions that I have no idea of the answer and certainly do not want to spend the time and money to find answers to. Certainly when the questions are not appropriate for my situation.
What is more appropriate and enjoyable is to follow a set of guidelines and customize the process to your goals and desires. Now that is not to say being asked un-related question to your goals can not be helpful. Often these questions alert you to things you did not know you needed or reminds you of items you have forgotten. My point is do not get stuck in the process.
The process of setting up your business should be an exciting and enjoyable experience. An experience filled with hopes and dreams, don’t let some of the details cause you to give up before you even start. One of the greatest advantages of a Catering Business is you can start as small or big as you want. If you find out what you originally had in mind is going to be to much effort or expensive at this point in your life, just adjust down and start smaller. It is a cliché but so true “The longest journey starts with a single step”. So lets take that first step.
What do you want?
Do you know, or maybe you just thought catering would be a great idea and have no idea where to begin. Lets start by creating a small file system. You can purchase a file box for a couple of dollars at the store or just find a box that will hold your file folders. Purchase or find in your home a box of files that will fit your file box, some pens and a calculator. Your first file should be for receipts. Place the receipt for the supplies you just purchased into the file. You are now in business.
Next take out a piece of paper and answer these questions. Certainly you can do all this on your computer, yet this is a piece of paper you may want to look at on and off as you build and grow your business. You may be different but I find I do not tend re-open old files on my computer.
Questions you must ask yourself to determine the type of catering business you want to create.
What is my cooking experience?
What is my service experience?
Do I like throwing a party?
Am I organized?
Am I good with money?
Am I good at math?
Am I good with the public?
Am I good at time management?
Am I capable of standing on my feet all day?
Do I have experience managing other people?
Am I willing to deal with all the government codes and laws? Am I good at fixing things?
Are you willing to fix foods you do not like?
Do you like working by yourself?
Do you want to work part time or full time?
How much money do you want to make?
Are you looking for a business you can pass on to your children?
Are you willing to Learn what you do not know?
There are many source of information on getting started. Of course my favorite is starting your own home based catering business
Before you spend your hard earned money on a catering business plan or software that will create a business plan for your soon to be home based catering business, take a step back and think the process through.
I know many books will tell you, you must have a business plan if you want to start your own business. And the basic idea behind this advice is valid. It is very important you have a good idea of what you are trying to accomplish with your own home based catering business.
You need to know what the start up costs will be. You certainly have to have a marketing plan and estimates of how much money you will bring in and the costs associated with this income.
Yes, indeed you must have a catering business plan if you are going to be successful. Yet and this is a big yet, after you have collected all this infomation what are you going to do with it.
No one will lend you money for a start up food service business, unless you have full collateral to back up the loan. And in this case it does not matter if you have a catering business plan or not. Once again I am not saying not to have all the information needed for the plan, just not in some fancy format.
Your money is much wiser spent on learning about running a catering business then having a fancy document you will never use.
So before you spend fifty or several hundred dollars, just make sure you will utilize the product you buy. Otherwise you will just have one more program taking up space on your hard drive or bookshelf as in my case.
Yes, I made this mistake so I am hoping to help you avoid it. If you would like to check out more information on how to start your own home based catering business please go to Your Catering Success and Check out the real information you need for your Catering Business Plan. Please also feel free to check out my catering web site for some Holiday Catering Ideas in Cartersville.
What do you want?
Starting you own catering business can be as varied as caterers are different themselves.
To follow a specific strict procedure can be frustrating and difficult. Filling out
questionnaires in software programs for business plans has always caused this frustration
to me. Asking me questions that I have no idea of the answer and certainly do not want to
spend the time and money to find answers to. Certainly when the questions are not
appropriate for my situation. Yet if starting a catering business is what you want, certain questions are needed.
What is more appropriate and enjoyable is to follow a set of guidelines and customize the
process to your goals and desires. Now that is not to say being asked un-related question
to your goals can not be helpful. For a home based catering business often these questions alert you to things you did not
know you needed or reminds you of items you have forgotten. My point is do not get
stuck in the process.
The process of setting up your business should be an exciting and enjoyable experience.
An experience filled with hopes and dreams, don’t let some of the details cause you to
give up before you even start. One of the greatest advantages to start a Catering Business is
you can start as small or big as you want. If you find out what you originally had in mind
is going to be to much effort or expensive at this point in your life, just adjust down and
start smaller. It is a cliché but so true “The longest journey starts with a single step”. So
lets take that first step.
What do you want?
Do you know, or maybe you just thought catering would be a great idea and have no idea
where to begin. Lets start by creating a small file system. You can purchase a file box for
a couple of dollars at the store or just find a box that will hold your file folders. Purchase
or find in your home a box of files that will fit your file box, some pens and a calculator.
Your first file should be for receipts. Place the receipt for the supplies you just purchased
into the file. You are now in business.
Next take out a piece of paper and answer these questions. Certainly you can do all this
on your computer, yet this is a piece of paper you may want to look at on and off as you
build and grow your business. You may be different but I find I do not tend to re-open old files on my computer. Stay tuned for our next lesson on Home Based Catering Businesses
Best of catering,
Chef Jeff
Your Catering Success ebook cover
Hi,
This is just my first post to Starting A Catering Business, so I am learning how the system works. My goal is to make weekly updates with suggestions and tips to help the beginning caterer and or experienced home base caterer. Much more information can always be at Starting A Catering Business
It can be very gratifying to have your own catering business and this is something we will talk about in the next post. I have owned four restaurants and now a home based catering business. The benefits are awesome including a lifestyle I control.
There will be plenty of tips on how to start a catering business through out the posts, which I hope will having you coming back for more. I will also be doing regular pod casts with the information on how to access them coming soon.
So if you want to start your own catering business or already have I believe you will receive many new tips and valuable information by stopping back often or go ahead and subscribe to my rss feed. You can also get more information at Your Catering Success
Best of catering,
Chef Jeff
Your Catering Success Ebook
