START & RUN A CATERING BUSINESS
George Erdosh
Self-Counsel Press
(a division of)
International Self-Counsel Press Ltd.
USA Canada
Copyright © 2012
International Self-Counsel Press
All rights reserved.
Introduction: The Appetizer
Catering: the business of preparing, presenting, and serving great food (and tasting it along the way), then graciously but modestly accepting the compliments at the end of an event. Every guest wants to know who the caterer is and they all take a business card. The reputation of the caterer spreads at once (since word-of-mouth is the best advertisement of all) and the telephone rings all the time. People beg the caterer to reserve dates for them. Sounds like a truly lucrative business.
Is it really that easy? To an outsider who has had no inside contact with the catering business before, this scenario sounds ideal, a perfect way of making a good living while having fun. This is the main reason so many people turn to catering as a possible new business venture, part time or full time.
Many caterers jump into their new profession from completely different fields. My own experience is a good example; I was a mineral exploration geologist for some 25 years prior to establishing myself as a caterer. You don’t need to be afraid of a complete career change; it is not uncommon.
Opening a restaurant seems to have an equally high appeal, though restaurants and their workings are a little more visible to the public. The failure rate in both businesses is extremely high; the lucrative appeal is not always as it seems. No matter where you live, restaurants are opening and closing constantly. Some of them cannot even stay in business for a year. This is equally true for catering, except that business is much less visible. Most caterers don’t want walk-in clients, so the public is often unaware of their presence.
However, the business of food catering is not quite as gloomy if you know what you are getting into from the very beginning. It can be fun and pleasurable to run a profitable catering business.
This book is written for people who either have already started catering on a very small scale and are struggling to establish themselves and their businesses, or who think they might enjoy opening a catering business but have little or no idea of what to expect. This book is also for those who already have the knowledge, experience, and financial backing to start a business right away. For those of you who think of catering as a possible future career, perhaps in retirement or once the children are raised, this book shows you how to get yourself ready.
It tells you what to expect, what you are risking, what skills are essential to have before you even consider getting into catering, and what skills are desirable.
Other books on catering are written from the point of view of large catering establishments, hotels, and banquet halls. But very few, if any, caterers ever started large. Most start tiny and grow as they succeed. This book is written by a small caterer for entrepreneurs who want to start small and become successful as small caterers.
This book is also for those who want to start with minimal financial backing and equipment, and minimum staff. It is targeted to those wanting to know what to learn, how to gain experience, and when to apply for a business license.
The dream of being a professional caterer is appealing to many. The lure may be the pleasures of cookery; creating or altering recipes and dishes; presenting dishes with an artistic touch that instantly stops conversation around the table; serving and pleasing guests; or simply the mistaken belief that catering is an easy way of earning a living.
Many people have considered catering as a profession; few have acted on that wish. First of all, once you stop and think about all the logistics of starting a complex business like catering, you may quickly lose your belief that it is easy. But if you follow the advice and steps given in this book, you may realize your dream and enjoy the varied life of a successful caterer.
1
Entrée: The Ifs and Whys of It
1. Before You Decide to Start a Catering Business
Before you embark on your new catering business, you should realize that there are essential skills and knowledge that every caterer must have. Your chances of succeeding without these prerequisite skills are slim indeed. To succeed as a caterer, you must be an organizer, a planner, a problem-solver, an excellent cook, and an artist with a flair for presentation. Some catering skills are relatively easy to learn; all you need is practice. Others you have to be born with.
The knowledge and skill considered essential for catering is discussed in more detail in Chapter 3. You must decide for yourself how many of those skills you already have, where your weaknesses lie, and how you can overcome any problem areas.
When you operate a reasonably large catering business, you won’t need to know how to do everything; someone else on the team may have the skills you lack. But if you want to start a small operation, often doing all the work by yourself, be sure there is no weak spot in your business: You need to have all the required skills and knowledge.
By the time you are ready to spread the word about your new catering service, you should be fully confident about your abilities. Of course, you’ll learn through trial and error and through the day-to-day experience of running your business, but it will take years before you can call yourself an expert.
Even if you have employees or partners who complement your weak areas, you should not neglect those skills. After all, when your part-time food preparer with an artistic touch in food presentation cannot make it into the kitchen for a last-minute lunch order, you will have to take his or her place and attempt an equally glamorous presentation.
Even if your business is large enough to employ workers who can take over the various tasks required to successfully execute an elaborate wedding, your expertise in the different fields will make you a better manager, a better judge of your employees’ work, and a better person to coordinate the event.
If you look at the list of essentials and find you’re lacking several that won’t be easy to acquire, perhaps it is time to reconsider. Maybe this avocation is not meant to be your next career. Can you learn to be extremely organized and efficient, or have these always been alien concepts to you?
Since you’re now considering catering as a profession, chances are good that you already have a number of skills you’ll need.
For now, let’s assume that you consider yourself an excellent potential caterer and proceed to the next step.
2. Types of Catering
There are at least a dozen different types of catering niches or styles. Some are not exactly catering (e.g., preparing and serving food to clients) but they are closely related. All of them deal with food and food preparation. Decide which type of catering best fits your personality, skill level, interest, and expectations, and focus on that. As you learn more, you can expand into other areas without much effort, either slowly, gradually, or all at once.
First of all, catering services have two broad areas: corporate and social catering. Corporate catering is fairly routine, concentrating on breakfasts, luncheons, and occasional dinners. Corporate receptions, however, are not routine at all — they are often very