If different cuisines interest you and you have a penchant for social gatherings, the field of catering is perhaps the ideal career route for you. Catering jobs involve a lot of hard work and you have to sort it out over hot stoves for long hours; nevertheless it is worth all the effort, if you have a genuine interest.
Although it's not necessary to have a culinary degree, you must be familiar with food safety and handling procedures, food preparation techniques, and food presentation. As you may be aware, eating food begins with the eyes, therefore it is crucial for you to possess the ability to present your food in a pleasing-to-the-eye manner. Not only must your food look good, it must taste even better!
Most importantly, you need to believe in yourself and get started with enough information to succeed. So, start by researching on the internet or by visiting libraries. Make sure you do a thorough research on licenses, certifications and registration requirements before you invest your time, energy and money to your catering business.
Once you've completed your research, you need to construct a business and marketing plan. This is not a difficult process even if you have no prior knowledge about creating such documents. Just do a web search for "business plan" and "marketing plan" and you'll find plenty of samples and helpful material. The libraries and online resources are always easy to find and cheaper alternatives to hiring a consultant for extensive support. The Small Business Association (SBA) provides a large selection of classes and publications for new business owners. Visit www.sba.org for more information about their services.
The next step is finance. Having your hands on a good business plan and marketing strategy will give you a fairly accurate idea of the kind of credit you will require, as well as increase your chances of quick loan approval. You can get this done through banks and finance companies. Obviously, you will have to invest a small fraction of the total budget upfront. Even as you do this, take care that you do not end up investing more than you can afford losing.
Starting your own enterprise is a dream come true. In the beginning you are going to have to multitask. Apart from catering, you will have to conduct other jobs like marketing, answering the phone, customer follow-up, accounting, stocking, etc.
Catering businesses are profitable, but initially you will have to work hard to make your business stand on its own, and have it well established, before you can relax.
A catering business is not just about preparing food for an event. The actual A to Z process involves preparation, delivery, table arrangements, food serving and cleaning up after the event. You'll need lots of stamina for this business and it's best to be prepared for the uphill climb.
There's more for you to tackle when you are running a catering business. Most often, caterers work 15 hours per day, 7 days a week. Outdoor events are more common than indoor events, so you'll need lots of energy and gumption to be able to handle the summer-day catering events. Also, maintaining a friendly attitude with lots of vitality throughout all this is essential for a good catering business relationship.
When you do what you love, the work isn't considered a burden and most caterers enjoy working the long hours. Although it can be a stressful business, if you take time to organize and plan you can create a catering business that is exceptionally rewarding and profitable.
