Plate garnish can only be done when the meal is full-service. For self-service, the decoration is on the table and on the serving platters. Magazine pictures will give you ideas, but most decoration in such photos looks artificial, commercial, and cold.
If you prefer something a little more casual, which looks as though a real person created it, then add your own personal touch. I like to use a variety of fruits and vegetables in different shapes, colors, and sizes scattered around the table, encircling the serving platters.
A few unusual, eye-catching items are fine, but don’t overdo it. A good supermarket produce department or your local farmers’ market will have all kinds of interesting items, but you need keen eyes to find them. Look for things such as an elephant garlic with its long stem topped with a flower. Or use more common items such as a fresh, shiny Japanese eggplant, or bright red and green chilis.
Another simple decoration is fresh carrots with the green tops left on. Place them on the table in a loose, wreathlike fashion or create a bouquet in a vase. A bouquet of combined vegetables is simple and effective, not overpowering, and reusable. The next event’s guests will see the vegetables in a different form — on their plates.
A cream pitcher filled with cherry tomatoes, wine goblets with oil-cured olives, a glass vase with a bouquet of two-foot long vermicelli — all are good examples of attractive focal points on the serving table.
1.6d Use attractive serving dishes and utensils
Creativity is required for serving pieces, too. There are only a few points to keep in mind. First, the serving piece must not chemically react with or discolor the food. Take special care when presenting acidic foods such as salads, pickles, or marinated vegetables.
Second, the serving piece must look appealing. No matter how pretty a porcelain bidet is, or a brass spittoon, they are not suitable containers for a reception table.
Third, the material must suit the event. Highly polished silver is not commonly used anymore except for very formal, strictly traditional affairs. Anything rustic and exotic is in style: terracotta flowerpots and saucers, rough wood, and antique baskets. Clay, bricks, and stones all add a certain air to your table for informal catering.
1.6e Collect special props for theme parties
For theme parties, look for table decorations in secondhand shops, thrift stores, and at flea markets. You may want to start a collection of special props for catering to corporate clients. If you have several law firms, for instance, use a few old leather-bound law books; for health-related organizations, use a small collection of old medicine bottles or antique health books. To decorate the reception table for a construction company, buy small eye-catching toy tractors and bulldozers or some rusty old tools. Your guests will remember that your table didn’t have the same dull, standard look as dozens of other catered parties. It is a good marketing technique and is worth the extra expenditure and personal time.
1.7 Dealing with clients
Being a small caterer, you will be dealing with your clients personally most of the time. (If you have a sales and marketing person, he or she may be the first contact with a potential new client.) From that first contact the deal will be determined mainly by your relationship with that client. It will be your personal interaction that determines whether there will be any future business from that client. This is where your skill in working with people enters the scene. (See Chapter 8 for further discussion on dealing with clients.)
Contact with strangers is intimidating to many people, while others feel immediately comfortable with anyone. But even the most timid person can learn to be perfectly at ease when meeting potential new clients, introducing the business to them, and letting them know what you have to offer and at what price. Evening courses on public speaking are popular, and there are helpful books and audio guides that offer techniques on good communication and presentation skills.
Based on an initial introduction, the client will decide if you are the right caterer. If you are, start selling yourself and your business. A great deal of your success depends on how well you can do that. Catering, particularly small catering, is a very personal business. It is you and not your company that the client will hire. Your reputation and recommendations from satisfied clients will help a great deal, but if you personally don’t impress your client (and the first impression is always the most important), you may not have a deal. He or she may want to talk to someone else before deciding. If you give the right impression, the client may decide right away with a deposit check.
For a small catered affair, that first contact may be the only face-to-face meeting you and the client have until you arrive on the agreed-upon date with the agreed-upon food. If the event is a large wedding, chances are that you will be dealing with the client several times. Some clients will call you daily, even several times a day, for the entire week preceding the wedding. You have to know how to reassure this type of client so that he or she will relax.
With the convenience of email and fax, you may not meet your client in person until the day of the event. If you were recommended, the client may not insist on a face-to-face meeting, and the event may be arranged through the magic of instant electronic transmission, saving time and money for both parties.
2. Desirable Skills and Knowledge
No one can be so perfectly well rounded that he or she has all the necessary and desirable skills and knowledge for running such a complex business. You are a fortunate person if you have all seven of the essential skills just discussed; if you do, you have a good chance of becoming a successful caterer. However, there are another six skills that are very desirable, although not essential, to have. The following are definitely ingredients for success, too:
(a) Well-developed marketing and selling skills, and ability to network
(b) Good record keeping and bookkeeping skills
(c) Ability to manage staff
(d) Solid financial backing along with good budgeting skills
(e) Financial and emotional stability to deal with seasonal highs and lows
(f) Ability to deal with extreme pressure and stress, especially during the holiday season
Let’s look at each of these desirable skills in detail.
2.1 Marketing and selling
It is a great advantage to have solid marketing and selling skills when you own virtually any business, particularly if you are a sole proprietor. Unless you have few competitors and what you provide is much in demand, you have to sell your service.
If you live in a small town with few competing caterers and many social and corporate clients who need catering services, you may not need to spend so much time and money on marketing. If, through word-of-mouth and repeat clients, your business is operating at the level of your expectations, marketing is again optional. But these are rare cases.
You may or may not have the time to do marketing and selling while running a catering business alone. It depends on your volume and the other time requirements the business imposes on you. To properly market your business and sell your services you will need to put in at least 10 to 20 hours a week, possibly 30 to 40 hours if you want to do aggressive marketing. Can you sacrifice that much time from the catering side?
Many caterers who have all the essential skills to run a good catering business, but who also can sell and market, prefer to do the latter and delegate the catering end either partly or entirely. The choice is yours as long as you can find competent, reliable help. Good sales and marketing people are rare. It is often easier and cheaper to find a good catering and kitchen manager.
Networking is an important part of marketing. To be good at networking, you need self-confidence and social skills. If you have decided to hire a person to do your marketing, you can either do your own