Home Business

I started my own catering business out of my home in 2003. You might think I had to go to culinary school or take some formal cooking training to accomplish this goal, but the reality is that I learned a lot of cooking from my mother and, yes, my father too, when I was growing up. That childhood experience would turn out to be very influential on my future, but I wouldn't find that out until years later.

My friends knew I loved to cook, so on weekends they would ask me to go over to their houses to cook for them, and we'd have small get-togethers or parties. I loved doing it, and it was great because I got to experiment with a lot of different styles of cooking and get instant feedback from my "customers" without a lot of stress or pressure. I mixed up the recipes I had learned growing up and threw in a dash of my own creativity. Little did I know it, but I had just set the beginning of my business in motion.

Soon people, friends of friends, and even people I didn't know began offering to pay me to cater small parties for them on the weekends. It took me a couple of times before I realized that I had a viable business on my hands, and that I could make some real money from this--all the while doing something I loved. As I cooked for people I got to have great conversations with them and find out where they came from and just get their perspectives on life.

Soon I had a "waiting list" of clients who had heard about me and wanted my services. But I realized I didn't have the time or the personnel to meet all that demand.

So, I thought long and hard about it, and finally wrote up a business plan for a home catering business, should I decide start one. I realized that I didn't have the necessary startup capital on hand to really make a go of it, so my reasoning was that a good business plan could be very useful for me in getting the startup capital I needed. I also planned and developed a menu of dishes that I knew I could deliver consistently and that my guests had given me good feedback on.

Finally, I took the plunge! I quit my job day job as a quality assurance technician and devoted my full efforts to building my own real business. Now I could cater events throughout the week, such as business lunches or weekday dinner parties. Instead of getting formal financing, I ended up borrowing $4000 from friends and relatives to revamp my kitchen and purchase necessary equipment and supplies.

I'm not going to say it was all smooth sailing from the get-go. There were some mistakes on my part, and some disappointments from clients, who would sometimes change terms at the last second or delay paying me for months. For the most part, the workers I've hired have been great, though I made a couple of unwise hiring choices at the beginning.

Keep in mind that at a restaurant, customers come to you, while as a caterer, you have to go to them. Compared to operating a restaurant, there's a lot of extra factors to consider. You have to plan ahead, ideally at least a few weeks ahead. You have to account for the number of guests and purchase the right amount of food and ingredients. You have to make sure you have enough preparers and servers. You need to account for logistics and transportation, and make sure you know exactly how to get to the event with enough time to get set up properly. Eventually I sold my car and bought a used van that I now use to transport my creations.

I've realized it's not enough just to be a good cook. You could be the greatest cook in the world, but if you don't know how to run your business efficiently, it'll be hard to succeed. You need to know how to present your food so it looks delicious as well as tastes delicious...which is an art in and of itself. It's all part of your marketing.

Speaking of marketing, word of mouth is so important in this business, I can't emphasize that enough. One negative rumor that you don't handle food safely or that your kitchen is not run in a sanitary fashion can be enough to ruin your reputation. You need to make sure your customer is completely satisfied, and that he will spread a good word about you.

So that's basically how I started my home catering business. That was in 2003 and I've been having a blast ever since.

I'm planning on hiring permanent workers instead of hiring them on an as-needed basis, as I plan to expand my business in the upcoming year. I actually have to turn away requests for catering now because I'm completely booked for long stretches at a time. I always strive to provide quality service over high quantity, but still, in a business sense, I want to be able to capitalize on all that extra potential business.

Not to paint just a rosy picture, I've had my fair share of setbacks, especially when just starting out. But the most important thing I learned is that you have to take life by the horns and just go for it sometimes. If you're always running away from risk you won't achieve anything great in life.

My happy customers are the best reward I could ever ask for. When they come back to me and say how much they enjoyed my meals, it just makes my day, my week, my year. It makes it all so worthwhile.