How to start a catering business at home, I’ll teach you!

It’s time to learn how to start a home catering business. So if you like the idea, you can’t miss this course.

[box type=”bio”] In case you still do not understand much about what catering is, I will explain it to you: it is a type of company that provides food services in bulk for a group of people (collectives, passengers, employees of companies, events, parties, presentations). , etc. .)[/box]

Although this type of service is usually offered by party halls, companies in specific sectors and even hotels as a complement to their business, taking on this sector from home is not out of the question.

And that’s why we’re here, because we’re going to look at how to start a home catering business. Let’s begin!

How to Start an At Home Catering Business Here’s the Answer!

Without further ado, let’s see some tips and recommendations that go into how to start a business of this type.

1- Potential customers.

[Tweet “Sin clientes no hay negocio prospero #HazloFácil”]

There is no successful business without customers. So before you embark on this adventure, it’s important that you do some sort of survey and see if there are people or companies with the profile of the customer you want.

So the first thing to do is decide what type of customer you want to target. A catering company allows you to work with events, schools, companies, hospitals, etc. You have to decide and see (according to your conditions) which customer segment suits you best.

Don’t forget that we are talking about starting a business from home. It would be very difficult that only with the kitchen of your home you can meet the food needs of a large hospital, company or facility. In my opinion, it is more convenient to work with catering focused on events, parties and other types of meetings.

“How sad! My dream was to offer this kind of service to big companies and educational institutions” – saying that, don’t worry. Remember, starting from home should be a temporary idea. I recommend not that you get too comfortable hahaha because your goals and objectives must be bigger, you are only at home because it is difficult for you to run a business abroad at the moment (lack of space, resources, time .. .), but if you’re successful, you’ll grow. But the decision is yours to make. What type of customer do you want to target?

Once you’ve made the decision, you should conduct a survey and see if there are these types of customers in your area. If so, congratulations! otherwise you should come up with something else (different type of customer, go somewhere else and in the worst case give up your idea for the time being).

You need to connect your potential customers

Maybe I’m rushing this, but I want to take advantage of the fact that we’re talking about leads. When I say you need to connect with customers, I mean you need to visit them and showcase your services.

If your potential customers are educational institutions, you should go to each of them and get yourself in order. You must do it with an enticing and eye-catching proposal. I advise you to offer personalized dishes as it attracts customers’ attention.

If you are taking our advice and want to cater for events and parties from your home, we recommend you visit:

• bridal shops.
• Organizer.

Next to other shops where people usually organize their parties. I’m sure hiring your catering services will be a good idea. In short, these companies will be your promotional tool through referrals.

2- The permissions:

Do not think that in answering the question of how to start a catering business at home, we will ignore the laws. The fact that you are committed at home does not mean that you should work in a disorderly and irresponsible manner.

I therefore urge you to obtain all legally required documents including facility permits (i.e. your kitchen), sales licenses, business license (DBA), food handling license and much more that may be required by region. You can’t start this business without having your papers in order.

3- The suppliers:

As in any business and especially in food, suppliers play a very important role. We recommend that you go to wholesale stores as this can save you a ton of money by making it easier to compete with low prices. Now that I know that we are mostly dealing with a home from home business, a wholesaler could be great for you.

So no problem, buy your products from any store that offers the best value for money. But yeah, we’re not here to throw away money or food, so I encourage you to do a good calculation so you don’t buy a lot of perishable food. The key is to know which menu you are going to prepare.

Let’s take advantage and talk about the menu.

It’s important to have an eye-catching menu when introducing yourself to the customer, but don’t forget to make it clear that it can be customized. In the case of events and parties, I recommend you to offer sweet and savory ones, don’t just focus on one type of appetizer, not if the customer doesn’t ask for it.

By then, however, you must already have a letter outlining everything you offer the customer as support. Remember that just like demanding customers, there are also those who don’t know what to ask for! It’s your job to make sure they feel comfortable and confident with what they’re about to order!

So I invite you to take a look at what’s trending in party appetizers right now. Well, I’m not recommending anything because I don’t know what year you will be reading this article, hahaha, a good decoration related to the theme of the party or something fashionable at that time is a good one idea . Remember that food is praised with taste but attracts with presentation.

4- worker or assistant

Maybe it’s still too early to have employees. However, what I recommend is to have at least one assistant. It’s not easy to do shopping, cook, carry groceries, etc. Although it all depends on the demand you have.

If it’s time to hire staff, I recommend you to choose well-qualified and above all creative chefs (even more so when we talk about events and parties).

5- Advertising materials that are trends.

In addition to promoting yourself through the means already mentioned above, you cannot ignore social networks and even have a blog. They are tools that you can use to boost your business without having to invest much or even nothing if you know how to use the tools and want to start with the simplest ones.

Do not forget to share your dishes through these networks, surely you already know it and I have already said it in this post but I will repeat it again. Presentation is what draws customers when it comes to food!

6- When contacting a customer…

…You need to meet with him and be very clear about the specifics of the service you are providing him and the value he must pay for it. With that in mind, it’s important that you clarify:

• The date of the event.
• The place where you provide the service.
• The time.
• Very important! the number of guests.

We’ve come to the end.

That’s all for now. If you’d like to complement our answer on how to start an at-home catering business, there’s nothing better than reading the following post, The Canvas Business Model. By applying this design to your business, you can rest assured that you’ll (almost literally) a map that tells you how to behave in that sector.

Without further ado I say goodbye, a hug, see you next time!