How To Start A Catering Business From Your Home

Creating Catering Business Names

2008-04-25T12:27:00.001-07:00

The wonderful world of catering is continuously evolving and is becoming a more and more competitive world. These days a lot of people are starting their own home business, which usually means that all decisions fall onto them. If the company makes thousands of dollars, then they get to benefit from the profits of thousands of dollars.

However if the company is not receiving any customers which means no profits they could slowly but surely find themselves in debt. A cater must have something that stands out from the rest or else business will not gravitate towards them because they are simply like the rest and usually it always starts off with the name you choose.

How many times have you not gone somewhere or bought something because of the name? A name can easily turn someone off from buying something or even worse it may not even catch someone’s attention. That is definitely not what a caterer wants, a caterer who is trying to name their business should choose a name that catches the attention of people and is not dull and boring.

You also should want to have a name that is appropriate and possibly describes you as a company or the individual owner. One idea is to run any names that you have in mind by a few people, friends, family, co-workers, so that you can get idea of what potential clients may think. You will find out if they like it or not, think it is creative or think it is boring.

Just remember that there is nothing wrong with having your name in the business name. The main idea is for you to have a name that evokes a picture in ones mind. ‘Andrew’s Catering’ for example may be fine for Andrew but does it distinguish him from anyone else and what kind of picture appears when you think about that name.

Also be careful about restricting yourself. For example if your selling Caribbean food be careful about choosing a name that would that lock you into that market. What would happen if you changed concepts 2 years down the road? You would have to change the name. So when thinking of a name have fun but be smart, weigh out all your options and remember not to only think about the present but also the future.

Things needed to start a catering business

2008-02-11T21:14:00.000-08:00

Catering is a business that many people are starting to get involved in, and if run your business efficiently there is a lot of money that can be earned. One thing that’s for sure is you must have a business plan. If you take initiative and have a business plan your business will be that much easier to run.

There are two things you can do when starting a business. You can start your own which is what many like to do, or you can purchase an already opened business which ever seems to work best for you. Something that you need for sure is the proper paperwork permits and licenses.

If you would like to know everything that you will need, you can go to Health Department and they will let you know about everything that you will need to start your own personal business. You definitely don’t want to pass anything up because the government agency will be making inspections to insure that you are following all of the regulations.

Other items that you will need is equipment, utensils and apparatus. Some of these things might be a car so that you can drive the items to the clients, you’ll need forks, knifes, plates, cups, and many other things might come to mind as your going along. You will also need things that will appeal to your clients such as props, decorations.

But just remember to think about the items that you are buying and how beneficial they will be and if they are actually needed.For example why buy a Van for 20 000, when you can get a van that will do the exact same job for less money. The point of a business is to make as much money as possible not lose money. Just remember the better the job that you do is, the more likely they will tell their friends, family, co-workers to ensure that business keeps flowing for you.

Operations Flow Of Catering Business

2007-11-22T15:06:00.000-08:00

The first step in operating a catering business is starting it up. You might consider getting a franchise so that you can reap the benefits that the franchise may already have such as a good reputation. You also get help in training management and free advertising because in most cases for a franchise people should already know and hear about the company.

However for a franchise, every year you must give a certain percentage of your sales and revenue to the franchisor and you must follow their standards and rules. If you decide that you do not want to do those things and that a franchise is not your thing. Then you may want to start your own company, but you must remember that marketing, advertising and good public relations is key to help the success of a catering company.

Depending on how big your market is, things that you may want to consider are either flyers, advertisements in the newspaper, television radio and even on the internet. Just remember that a satisfied customer is advertising right there because they will be sure to tell their friends and family about their pleasant experience. Also if your company has a website make sure to have hours of operation, telephone numbers, fax numbers, and any other information that maybe valuable to the customers.

Preparing menus and setting the right prices is the next step, things to consider are operating expenses as well as competitor’s pricing. Licenses and regulations should also be considered, they are the rules that all business need to follow and comply with. It is mandatory for the entrepreneur to contact the municipality that is involved as well as the provincial and federal governments.

Other things that are a must are insurance which varies from business to business, accounting, furnishings, equipment, cost control to control, inventory and costs. Education and training is always important to make sure that your employees are up to par and know exactly what they are doing.

Running A Catering Business

2007-11-15T13:17:00.000-08:00

Running a catering business is a lot harder than
just cooking for people. There is definitely an
art to this profession. There are a lot of
considerations when you start a catering business
. If you are unable to coordinate Thanksgiving
dinner for your family, this is not the job for
you.

One of the parts of a good catering business is
developing menus. The menus that you develop
need to keep in mind the preparation times and
whether or not the recipes multiply well. It is
good to practice some of the more decorative
aspects of your menu on your friends and family.

You have to have a good and reliable supplier of
meat and produce for your catering business. If
you offer asparagus on your menu and it is chosen
, you need to be able to deliver asparagus to the
table. Getting to know farmers at the local
farmer's market is a great idea for anyone
running a catering business.

You have to actually have paying jobs to consider
yourself a caterer. A catering business needs a
business plan and a marketing strategy. This is
a hard market to break into without a reputation.
People have to take a gamble on you. It is a
great idea to ask clients after a successful job
if you can use them as a reference.

It is vital to a catering business that the
businesses not take on more jobs than it can
handle. It is better to turn someone away when
you know that you will be too busy than to accept
the work and not deliver what was promised.
Reputation really is everything and knowing your
limitations will help your catering business not
look foolish.

Hiring someone periodically to look at your
catering business is a good idea. It is valuable
information to know that adding just one employee
would make the catering business either succeed
more or completely derail its profitability. It
is a smart business move to let people who know
more than you analyze your plan.

A catering business can take up a lot of time. It
is only a good idea to do it if you are
enthusiastic and have a lot of family support. I
would never recommend this line of work to
someone that would end up resenting the weekends
spent working. At the end of the day, a catering
business really is a labor of love.

http://www.BestSanDiegoCatering.com

Controlling The Costs Of Your Catering Business

2007-11-02T17:34:00.000-07:00

Costing is one of the most important parts of running a successful, profitable catering business. How can you best control your costs? Here are a few tips:

Food Costs

Controlling your food costs will be one of the keys to your success. If you spend too much on your food and don't plan well enough so that you have charged enough to cover your costs and include a profit, then you're going to be in trouble. One of the best ways to control costs for your catering business is by keeping exquisite records and use a catering costing software program. A costing program can effectively track your inventory, identify shrinkage problems, track your receiving, automate your purchasing and audit your pricing. A food costing program can save you a whole lot of money in the long run.

Inventory

A costing program can also reduce the amount of inventory you waste, extend your inventory even further and identify needs to make ordering easier.

Quoting

With a more comprehensive costing program in place, you'll be able to provide far more accurate quotes to your customers and better profits for you.

Save Time

Save loads of time on planning, ordering, tracking, records, pricing and costing. A costing program can do all this and more.

Record Keeping & Taxes

With excellent records, you won't have a problem when tax time rolls around. Your records will have been kept organized and accurate.

Reporting

A costing program can also keep precise records for each year you are in business. With this historical data, you can track seasonal business trends and make better staffing decisions to prepare for periods that have been especially busy in previous years and pre-organize and contract with suppliers when they will be needed later in the year.

In summary, a costing program for your catering business can save you alot of time, save you alot of money, increase your profits and make your business better organized and more professional overall.

Lydia Quinn writes for R & I Solutions, makers of Cost Genie restaurant costing software. Get a free demo at: http://www.costgenie.com

Starting A Catering Business In Los Angeles: How To Begin?

2007-10-22T08:59:00.000-07:00

You must know some facts about the city before starting a catering business in Los Angeles. Los Angeles is situated between the Pacific Ocean and the San Gabriel Mountains. This second-largest city of the United States is situated in the southern part of California. The arrival of the railroads triggered the growth of city after 1876. For those who are interested in sightseeing, the points to visit are the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Getty Museum, the Museum of Contemporary Art, and early Spanish missions.

Prepare a Detailed Business Plan:

While starting a catering business in Los Angeles, the very first thing that you need to do is to devise a business plan. This is the first and essential step for running the catering business successfully. You have to decide which type of catering services you are going to provide to your customers in Los Angeles. For example, you have to choose from receptions, seated dinners, picnics, box lunches, dessert, and other kinds of food.

Perform a Thorough Market Research:

Before starting a catering business in Los Angeles, you should do thorough market research. During the process of market analysis, you should try to know whether your catering business would provide the customer some special kind of service that they are not getting at present. Alternatively, you should try to offer such kind of catering services that already exist in the market but the demand for such services is exceeding the present supply. You should also analyze whether you have any competitive advantage over the other similar service providers in the market.

Know Your Customers and Also Your Competitors:

In addition to this, when starting a catering business in Los Angeles, you need to know about the different kinds of customers and have to decide what kind of customers will be your target customers. Gather as much information as possible about your competitors. This is essential because if you know what their strengths are and what are their weaknesses, then it becomes easier for you to devise your marketing strategies.

Who Will Be The Suppliers And What Kind Of Staff Do You Need?

The next step in the process of starting a catering business in Los Angeles is to decide from where you will purchase the material required and what mode you will choose for the promotion of your catering business in Los Angeles. Then comes the important question of staff. You have to calculate how many people you need to appoint for the different kinds of jobs. You will need people to help you in the production and service, along with the clean up, to run the catering business smoothly. A complete market survey will make you aware regarding the special skills required to run this kind of business.

Alexander Gordon is a writer for http://www.smallbusinessconsulting.com - The Small Business Consulting Community. Sign-up for the free success steps newsletter and get our booklet valued at $24.95 for free as a special bonus. The newsletter provides daily strategies on starting and significantly growing a business.

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Starting Your Own Catering Business

2007-09-10T16:51:00.000-07:00

If you possess the ability to work under pressure and create visually attractive dishes that taste great, then you probably would be perfect for starting your own catering business? The possibilities of becoming a self-starter in catering are endless as the career field is well rounded – offering both full-time and part-time opportunities. All at once, a catering business is entertaining, financially fulfilling, as well as a challenge. When considering entering this field of work, consider the following factors when establishing a plan for your new business:

Getting a License

Each state possesses a set of rules, guidelines, or laws pertaining to working as a food service provider. Usually, the Board of Health must give a seal of approval when food is distributed and sold to the public, which reviews preparation, handling, sanitation, and preservation. Some states require that food operation is kept separate from the kitchen within a home, such as using solid, self-closing doors. Separate sinks for food, washing utensils, and cleaning is another common prerequisite. Your local Health Department can provide additional details.

Products and Market

When developing a catering business plan, it is important to settle on the type of market you wish to serve. A few ideas include providing and organizing picnic lunches, seated dinners, children's birthday parties, dinner for two, specialty cakes, business meetings, dessert trays, or hors d' oeuvres. It is important to choose an existing market where demand surpasses supply in order for you to claim a niche. Checking out the local competition also helps new business owners shape their own plans.

Staff Considerations

In the beginning, some self-catering businesses involve relatives and friends, but often times, there is a need to figure in the possibility of hiring staff to help with service, production, and cleanup.

Start-Up Costs

Some people starting out in the catering business use rented supplies and items in order to keep primary costs at their lowest. Cutting costs may include renting kitchen facilities, tablecloths, tables, utensils, and serving equipment. Your savings can then be spent on building a reputation, developing capital, or figuring out if this is what you really want to do without putting too much money into your plan. Typical start-up costs range between $1,000 (work from home) and $80,000 (professional kitchens).

Menu Planning

Depending on your catering focus, creative menu planning is a must, as you will not serve the same thing to children at a party as you would for a 50th wedding anniversary celebration. For each specialty menu, you need to take into account the type of event, time of day, number of anticipated guests, equipment needed, and estimation of how much it will cost. Before selecting a caterer, customers like to see varying colors, shapes, sizes, flavors, cooking methods, and price alternatives added to menus. Another desirable feature includes a balance of the food groups.

Contracts

Professional caterers need to create contracts, which clearly state the terms of an agreement. Some of the main details include time of event, location, room set-up, duration of event, estimated attendance, and pricing arrangements. A deposit is also required, which ranges from 25% to 50% of the total event cost, which is due when the contract is signed.

Additionally, when starting your own catering business – remember to include insurance costs (product and personal liability), record keeping, and food safety. In order to gauge final charges for your catering business, you will need to incorporate materials (cost of food and drink), overhead expenses (variable and fixed expenses), labor costs (food preparation and service), and anticipated profit in order to come to a suitable figure. In the end, final prices should reflect the amount you need to charge so you can maintain your business, as well as reap benefits.

Click Here For The Catering Business Start Up Kit Now

Online Catering Business Courses

2007-09-06T13:19:00.000-07:00

How many times have you ever felt like learning a few extra recipes by taking a cooking course but just have not had the time to go out and participate in a class?. Well there is a solution. In fact a few different solutions, you can actually enjoy you passions and make money from it by starting a career online in the comfort of your own home.

By using the Stratford Career Institute, you get a less expensive alternative than the standard cooking schools. This curriculum designed by professional chefs is high quality and more friendly to the wallet then cooking classes or even cooking schools. Instead of being rushed and having to worry about falling behind the class you get to learn at your own pace whenever you want and still have time for other commitments such as your job or family obligations. This at home course will prepare you for the much eventful catering career. Take advance of the stepping stone you will get to working for places such as catering companies, restaurants, hotels and learning many key subjects such as the presentation, Cooking Methods for different kinds of dishes the way to create a menu and many more. Taken from the source of the United States department of labor, catering and cooking professionals are in high demand. With this course you can get your diploma to fill that demand.

Another option is the Starting a Catering Business Start-Up Guide Kit™ which gives you information on how to start and maintain a successful business. There are many different ways that you can benefit from his kit whether it is from being your own boss to learning in the comfort of your own home. It explains many key aspects such as the essentials that are required in starting your own business, how you can attract potential clients, deciding what and what not to charge, the steps for billing and accounting, how to manage your cash flow, how to keep your clients happy, keeping records organized, and how to make your business continuously grow.

So whether it is from the Stratford Career Institute or using the kit both provide you with all the much necessary information you need to start and maintain a successful catering career.

How To Make Your Fortune With Your Own Catering Business

2007-09-03T07:05:00.000-07:00

Let's face it, everyone has to eat and at one time or another they will be having some type of party or function that they are hosting. When that time happens, you can bet that they will be looking for an inexpensive way to cater their function. The trouble they run into is that most good catering services are very high priced. That leads many people to try to do the function all on their own and most are too wrapped up in the food part of their party to really be able to enjoy it. Many people that have a talent for cooking may not be aware of the money that they can make catering. The key to making this a success is to build a reputation.

You will want to check out the competition and see what the most common choices of dishes for different events are. Be sure to look for areas that you can use to help you cut costs such as, onsite cooking, using the clients facilities or serving a cold buffet menu that you can prepare at home prior to going to the event. This is especially helpful if you are just starting out and do not have a travelling kitchen to cook with. Talk with the client and find out what their likes and dislikes are and remember that you are serving them so you want the menu to be something that will please their entire party. Offer a variety of choices, making sure that they are relatively inexpensive to make and that the ingredients are versatile and can be used in more than one dish. This will help cut down on the grocery bill and you can give your clients many choices to choose from.

When you are just getting started you will want to know the competitions rates and charge your clients less than that. This will help to drum up business. You can offer your services for business meetings, small parties, training events, funerals, conference centres, etc... You can hire a temporary waiter for £5 an hour to help you serve and as you gain experience you will be able to judge service levels and food levels more accurately. You may even try enlisting the help of family or friends with a few functions to help you get on your way, they can help with setup and/or serving till you get enough business and cash flow to bring in hired help.

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Catering Business or Working in a Restaurant

2007-07-09T15:46:00.000-07:00

Preface: This article will help you to decide take informed decisions between a catering business and working in a restaurant.

Today, more and more people turn to catering and prepared food for their special events. Growing numbers of newly graduated chefs are striking out on their own, turning to this field for an alternative culinary career.

What is the difference between a catering business and working in a restaurant?

While both career choices are fast paced, catering has a different pace than working in a restaurant. A restaurant has fast hours, when people wait in line and the kitchen goes crazy. A catering business has fast days, when everything must be done at once and ready to go when the guests arrive. It involves coordinating all the dishes at one time-and usually with a smaller staff. People who open their own catering businesses often hire their own waiters, or serve the food themselves, so there's a lot more multi-tasking on the part of the catering staff. And while this may sound quick, catering also involves a lot of downtime. Hours may be spent planning menus with clients, experimenting with new tools and mapping out a day. After all, few catering companies cover special events seven days a week!

A catering business tends to be less steady than a restaurant. And if you're starting at the ground level, it's unlikely you'll be needed every day. If you start up your own catering business directly out of culinary school, you'll have to build your own reputation-and you won't have a storefront to lure people in. You'll rely on friends and connections for your business, which is guaranteed to be slow at times. And you'll have to invest in a lot of your own cooking supplies, which can be expensive.

If you're in culinary school and are considering working in catering when you complete your degree, you should take the time now to find a job or internship with a catering company. Not only will this provide a prospect for future employment once you finish your course work, but it will also give you a realistic, inside look at how the catering sector works.

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Culinary Artist - Specializes in French & Thai Cuisine Date Posted : 14 - Feb - 2005 Website : http://www.best-cooking-school-culinary-arts-schools-classes.com

Dreamed of Starting Your Catering Business?

2007-03-15T10:59:00.000-07:00

Have you ever dreamed of Starting Your Catering Business?

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necessary tools, tips and strategies you need to successfully
launch and grow your catering business.

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You will benefit from this kit if you are:

- considering starting your own home-based catering business
- already worked for a catering service before and now are ready to start your own - catering business
- ready to take your knowledge and experience of working with food and people and applying it to your own business
- thinking of making an income while working from home and being your own boss

This start up kit kit was designed to guide you with all the information you will ever need to start and run your very own successful catering business. It offers and provides you many pointers that even experienced caterers will find useful.

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