Catering dream.

[Andrew Hope]

My dream is to own and operate my own catering business, I'm a second year Apprentice. I work at the nicest restaurant in my city (just switched to there two months ago) but I don't know and am not learning a thing about catering even though that’s the kind of business I’m leaning towards opening.

I guess this is somewhat of a question thread so I better ask some questions and stop babbling on about me. So how much does starting up a catering business cost? What should I know before opening one, what sort of equipment should I have? operating kitchen size etc. What kind of venues should I aim for? How should I advertise?

I’m sure there is more but I will ask them as they come up, Thanks.

[foodpump]

I guess the main thing about catering is not the food, but the client. 9 times out of 10 the main things that the client is concerned with is:
1) If I am on time, and
2) If I meet his budget.
Quality and originality rate somewhere down the list. More time and energy is spent planning, costing and organizing the event than with cooking. I am, however, very fortunate that my partner focuses on these things and lets me concentrate on my one trick pony: Cooking.

[melsbully]

The most valuable lesson I was taught was to pick a certain niche in the catering business and perfect and build on that. I decided to cater lunches for one of the largest banks in the US. I didn't do box lunches, I served a hot lunch. I also didn't limit myself to a menu. I would make suggestions to the client based on info like what time of the year was it, is the group more men or women, are there any dietary restrictions. I built this business to $60,000 a year doing it all by myself and at my own schedule. I never advertised. It was all word of mouth. My product was fresh, homemade, consistent and on time. Now I'm in a different field of catering. I do the backstage catering at different venues for musicians and performers when they come to town. I would suggest going to work for a caterer. Restaurant work and catering work can be very different.

[DanBrown]

The first thing you need to do is go to work for a caterer. You won't know what problems arise until you've had the EXPERIENCE. Regardless of the newness of your current job, if it's not making a direct contribution to your growth and fulfillment of your ambitions, it's not the job you should be doing.

I concurr, that the guest is the most important aspect of the catering business, and learning to deal with high maintence individuals, and making them happy, is a skill that must be honed.

Third, (to answer your questions)...

1. Starting a catering business can be relatively inexpensive if you find a kitchen that you can use. Renting equipment for caterings us usually very easy, but not cheap. You need to structure your pricing around your known costs. You will need a business plan to get financing, so researching and writing your business plan will help you better understand the structure and costs that you will incurr.

2. I think I answered the equipment question in #1.

3. Venues...dependent on what kind of food you're planning to produce.

4. Advertising...get something to advertise first, unless you have complete confidence in you ability to begin doing something you don't know how to do better than other professionals with experience.

[kagumea]

wel.... check out some books like Starting Your Own Catering Business ..the contents interesting tho...