Many people will encounter a catering business at some point in their life, whether you attend a wedding, funeral, birthday party or other celebration, you’ll likely experience catered food.
If you want to start your own catering business, completing your own research and knowing where you fit alongside your competitors is a good place to start.
Here are five top tips for starting your own catering business and achieving success with your food for years to come.
1. Know Your Speciality
As a caterer, having an area of specialty or expertise will help you to stand out from your competitors and win over customers. Whether you opt for a specific type of cuisine, or type of food, it’s important to have an area where you can shine.
Ensure to include your specialisms in your advertising, as this will attract more customers to your door.
2. Source Your Ingredients
Using high quality ingredients will be more expensive, but will provide you with a higher customer retention rate in the long run.
Although it can be tempting to scrimp on your ingredients, customers can tell when your heart and soul is not in the food, and if they’re paying a substantial fee for catering, they will expect the best.
You can source your meat from local butcher markets such as York Wholesale Meats, use locally grown fruit and vegetables where possible, and support other small independent businesses. Citing where you source your ingredients can also give your suppliers some well-needed publicity too!
3. Have a Clear Pricing Structure
A clear pricing structure will set you aside from your competitors by providing transparency to your costs. A clear pricing structure will also encourage more customers to enquire about your services than if your prices aren’t listed online.
You can also offer bespoke packages to suit customers who are looking for something a little more unusual, or have a strict budget to adhere to. Being flexible with your pricing can land you with loyal customers who will value your ability to suit their needs.
4. Set Up Your Prep Area
As a catering business, your prep area is a sacred space, and needs to be of a high standard to enable you to hygienically prepare your food and be easily cleaned and washed down afterwards.
Having a high quality food prep space also enables you to prevent cross contamination of both bacteria and allergens to customers.
If you’re looking for the best worktops for your prep areas, DIY companies like B&Q excel in providing the best materials for your catering kitchen so that you can focus on obtaining happy customers without sweating the small stuff.
5. Complete a Business Degree
By completing a business degree, you can rest assured that you’ll be able to tackle whatever issues the industry throws at you, and manage the inevitable ebb and flow of business life.
Providers like Signum Magnum College are purveyors of the best quality remote business degrees from undergraduate all the way up to doctorate, so you can undertake your own journey to economic success with academia. The flexible nature of their courses means you can study whilst you work!
Do you have any tips for setting up your own catering business? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!
