Starting your catering business

The restaurant business is very profitable.

The catering business is a more profitable proposition than opening a restaurant for a number of reasons. Food of the same type can be prepared in bulk and more than what is called for just needs to be ready. This eliminates the need to make, say, 100 individual dishes of a varied variety. Here you can get the advantage of economies of scale. In addition, since the food is served in a buffet, the number of waiters required is less and, therefore, the labor cost is less in this context. Initially, the catering company can start small and then move to a big business.

Experience

Having experience in the restaurant business is vital before thinking about starting out on your own. It is advisable that you work as an apprentice with an established caterer as this will give you invaluable insight into the business. Working as a personal chef will also help as that way you can increase your network through word of mouth advertising. Getting first-hand experience in the field allows you to gain insight into the finer details of the business.

Catering and cooking concept

The budding caterer has to decide what type of menu they will specialize in, such as whether they want to go gourmet catering, wedding catering, lunch and snack catering, or comfort food. The next significant aspect of the catering business is food. First start with food that you are an expert in and can guarantee you will be delicious. Also, food has to stay that way despite spending hours together in a food carrier or hot plate.

Staff

Staff form the core of any business and getting an efficient pool of employees who can deal with the stress and fast pace of the catering business is essential. Among these, the first person to be hired is another good chef as the owner of the catering business; you can’t limit yourself to cooking all the time. Bringing another person as a chef to your business helps expand your business and take it to the next level.

catering equipment

A caterer should have a good stock of catering equipment to make your party event run as smoothly as possible. Some of the equipment you need includes food carriers, beverage dispensers, dinnerware, serving dishes, display items, etc. Several restaurant equipment manufacturers maintain a complete inventory of such items, and the caterer can begin by purchasing the essential items at the outset. However, you need to do your research on commercial kitchen equipment manufacturers before making your purchasing decision.

In addition to the above marketing skills, event planning skills have an equally vital role to play to get your catering business off to a good start.