Cool well that answers my question! I had a part-time catering company for a smidge over 20 years. It was word of mouth only. I also worked in restaurants (foh, boh) and for a small cooking school (for the consumer not the trade).
The way I got started was through doing parties for friends and their businesses and business lunches. Attorney firms do TONS of entertaining and I was in that niche market. I had as much business as I wanted.
But I also had another day job in advertising that paid the rent. So if I was going to do it full time and needed the money now...I would start differently. Being reticent to cough out a big downpayment for a professional kitchen, I would start out as a personal chef. Join the association. Have some credibility from that association membership (and also get good information). Get registered with your food safety/handling license. Advertise and get a handful of personal chef clients. This can be done with very little money. Take an ad out in neighborhood newsletters in your area. They are pretty cheap (usually around $150 or less per newsletter for a partial page ad). Once you get a full-time set of clients or the amount that pays the rent and is steady...then look at getting a space in an existing kitchen where you can cater. Or consider catering gigs where you can prep and cook at the client's (which is hard). I'd also look at the regulations for kitchens in your locale. If you our in a county as opposed to city, sometimes the codes are looser.
Start building your business that way. Otherwise, keep your industry job and start putting the word out to friends that you are open for doing parties...it carries a much higher risk level if you plan on cooking out of your home without liability insurance, etc. It's a big risk. At least get your food safety/handling license...
Good luck! Oh and also, before you start, read the archives here like crazy and do a search for pricing structures of different caterers here. It will help you know what kind of margin to do for your food if you don't already know that...  |