Camping

By Scott Richardson

Starting your own catering business need not break the bank. There are a lot of successful big-time caterers today who started out with zero capital by stating their catering business from their homes. Initial investment can be as low or as high as you can afford.

Catering is a very lucrative business. More and more people are opting for catering services for almost any occasion: birthdays, graduation days, baptisms, weddings, corporate events, cocktail parties and what-have-you. The frenzied and frenetic schedules of most working moms just don’t allow extra time and energy to slave away in the kitchen for a child’s birthday party fare. It is easier to hire a caterer.

However, it would take more than your culinary expertise and love of cooking to start your own catering service. You should have some organisational and management skills to run a catering business. You should also have a general idea of how to keep your operating cost down but still manage to present high quality catering service.

If you are just starting up, there is no need for you to rent out a big space for your kitchen. You can use your home kitchen for the time being and as demands grow, you can opt to rent out a kitchen as needed.

You don’t have to buy chinaware, silverware, chairs and tables and the hundred and one things needed in catering as you can basically rent these items initially. As your business expands, then you can buy all the necessary items one at a time.

You don’t have to hire waiters, cooks, busboys and other workers on a permanent basis as you can hire them on a per event basis. Note that you should see to it that you interview a contractual worker at least two weeks prior to an event to see if he/she qualifies for the job.

Make sets of sample menus from which potential clients can choose from. Do some research and make sure each dish bunched in one set menu complements each other.

Make sure you register your business no matter how small it is. There are permits and licenses that you need in order to get set up. Clients are sure to ask for receipts and if you are not duly registered, there’s no way that you could issue out a receipt. However, if you are just starting out real slow and easy- catering for less than 30 friends and relatives – then there is no rush to get that license and permit.

Once you are determined to go into full-time catering, then you should register your business at the local authority. File the paper work and submit the necessary requirements.

Advertise online by setting up a website. You can showcase your sets of menus and maybe some pictures of wonderfully prepared dishes and table settings. If you have pictures of past catering events upload them too. If you can afford it, hire someone to design your business website. You can even set up a payment option in your website for the benefit of clients.

About the Author: Starting your own

self catering business

is not hard. Anyone with a flair for cooking and a sensible business plan can do it. Find the best deal in

self catering

in your area today.

Source:

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