Contracts and stuff

[tasty mil]

Hey friends.....I am starting to get a little more busy. Got a few questions. How do you all charge. I am still trying to find something that works for me. Today for example I have a dinner party. Am making a greek salad, pan roasted asparagus, and a merlot braised short rib over greesy grits. I charged $50.00 per plate(4 peeps) plus the cost of groceries. Thoughts?

Also I am not doing any contracts/receipts. Should I? If so, is there a template that I can follow? Thanks!!!

[shroomgirl]

so how many hours are you putting in on this dinner for 4? For really small groups I started charging by the hour......any conversing time, drive time, shop time, prep time, cook time, clean time.......adds up.
For non-regular clients I get a non refundable deposit, balance due the day I cook.
If you just e-mail out specifics......day, time, menu, costs, when monies are due, what your are charging for....in my case I do spellout what goes into my time......

No formal contracts for shtuff like small dinner parties.

[Montelago]

I would do a contract for everything you do. When everyone is on the same page and in agreement about what is to be delivered, it eliminates a lot of problems down the road. Also, God forbid you have an issue that requires litigation, if it was not documented, it never happened.
As far as what to charge, you need to figure out your cost just like you were in a restaurant. You have to cover you food cost and your labor cost. When you know what the cost of your food is, typically multiplying by 3.3 will give you a nice fair markup. Cherge an hourly rate for your labor, say $20.00 per hour, plus a service charge for incidentals, say 18%. That should give you a decent pay rate.

[youngbuck]

I have never done a private party, so im not the best person to listen to here. But, I had a chef in school tell me that if there isnt a contract and the person is paying in cash and if he felt like being a **** and didnt want to pay, there isnt much of anything you could do about it. Just a thought.