How to start a catering business?

How do I start a catering business?

• I'd like to start my own vegan catering business. My family of meat-eaters loves the food I make and are the ones encouraging me to do this. I've always loved cooking for ...show more

• Answer:

  I would start by taking a few business courses or at least reading some basic books of service industry businesses. You need to be able to create a business plan, marketing plan, and do basic research. * Demographics. You need to know basic numbers such as how many people live in your area, how many of them might be interested in that business, how many competitors you have, etc. * Costs. You then need to know basic costs for things such as equipment, space, vehicles, gas, food, staff, marketing, taxes, accounting, insurance, etc. * Income. You need to know how much you can charge, how long it takes to collect, how many sales you need to make a month, etc. * Skills. You need to know that you (or someone you hire) has the necessary skills. This is typically based on education. Do you have a culinary degree? Have you taken food safety courses? Have you taken enough business, accounting, etc. courses to run a business? * Financing. Do you have enough money to run for the first year or ways to find such money. Vehicles, kitchens, staff, marketing, etc. It could be months before you get much -- if any revenue. Most business do not break even in the first three years. Will you need investment, loans, etc.? Are you find living without a salary for the next few years? * Licenses. Thinks such as taxes, liquor licenses, food licenses, etc. etc. * Marketing. Would are your likely customers? Where are they? What services do they need? How to you market to them? Are you talking about weddings, large business events, meals for seniors, or dinner's for two at home? Again, most business courses and books will cover this. Typically business plan outlines are available on the web. It's a good exercise to go through and simply write one. Even 'small' businesses in Canada typically require hundreds of thousands in start-up funds. You are typically completing against multi-million dollar companies -- hotels, restaurants, or other catering companies.