Do you have a knack for food? Are you planning to start a catering business? Wondering where to start? What are the steps to keep in mind and precautions to be taken before entering this field? Let me quickly guide you through the process:
It’s worth the risk!
As we know, catering is the business of providing food service at sites such as hotels, hospitals, pubs, aircraft, entertainment sites, and event venues. It is a very simple business but requires a lot of planning and investment at the beginning. It also comes with a lot of risks but if done executed properly, it has the bandwidth to generate unimaginable profits.
People hire caterers for events like weddings, birthdays, corporate, anniversaries, dinner parties or even a small get-together. An investment of around 4 to 5 lakhs is required at the beginning of this business which fetches a profit of more than four thousand a day.
Reason to start this business
Before we get into the process, here are a few valid reasons that will explain why you must start considering it:
1. If there is no established brand for catering in their nearby areas then starting this business would be a great opportunity.
2. This business can be expanded easily.
3. If a person has the talent and creativity but is not able to afford a restaurant, they can easily start with this.
4. Loves food and likes to try different varieties of food with different ingredients and techniques.
Steps for starting a catering business
Step 1: Get an office, website, and business card.
Conduct a thorough research on the location of the office so that the frequency of customers can be high. Make sure your website and card are eye-catchy and attractive so that none of your potential customers leave your website without the final payment.
Step 2: Buy the necessary equipments and prepare a menu
Food is one of the most adventurous genres with a lot to explore. However, along with that it requires a lot of equipments, starting from the containers to the serving dishes, assemble all the necessities. Once that is sorted, prepare a menu so that the customers can choose their dishes according to their preferences.
Step 3: Hire Trained employees and contact vendors
Employees are the wheels of every company, and yours is not an alien either. Thus, lookout for employees who have atleast basic experience in catering. If not, then impart training to the eligible candidates. Apart from that, maintain contact with the vendors for getting raw materials such as vegetables, meat, and dairy products. It will help you meet the immediate demand for these products.
Step 4: Create and adopt a marketing strategy
Your marketing strategy must contain both – digital and traditional marketing, so as to leverage from both of these platforms. Keep a check on the advertisements of Zomato and Swiggy or other players in the same field, to get some inspiration.
Now that you are aware of the ground plan, what’s the wait worth for? Ready. Steady, FOOD!
