Running Your Own Business
Becoming a caterer means starting and running your own business. You'll be responsible for everything from sales and marketing to procurement and staffing. Cooking is only one aspect of being a caterer.
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Running your own catering business means you're an entrepreneur, an innovator, and someone who recognizes opportunities and gathers resources to take advantage of them. You have to anticipate the market's needs, introduce new tastes and techniques, and separate yourself from your competition without making yourself too outlandish.
Having your own business has its positives and negatives. One thing is for sure: It's never dull or boring. Before you take the big leap and decide to start your own catering company, read this book carefully and evaluate your skill set. It will give you the tools to discover some of the most important skills required of successful caterers. You'll also have a chance to think about what you're good at, what you need to improve, and whether your skills are compatible with the business of catering.
Running your own business is a big responsibility. If you have an entrepreneurial flair and have always had a side interest in selling products or services, then you may enjoy the freedom that running your own business brings. However, think carefully before leaving a job with benefits, especially if you've never ventured off on your own in your professional life.
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Catering is one of the most multidisciplinary careers you can have. It requires you to use several specialized skills at the same time. If you love cooking and multitasking and tend to get bored easily, catering might be the way to put your passions to work for you.
You may sit at your desk and daydream about having your own catering business, but the reality won't be as pretty. Having your own business means there's no safety net. At the beginning, you'll most likely be on your own. You may have a supportive spouse, great friends, and a helpful mentor, but the ultimate responsibility will be yours.
At your job there may be a billing department, a sales department, a marketing department, a product development lab, a manufacturing division, transportation and logistics departments, and a host of other departments from human resources to customer service. When you have your own catering business, you'll be all those departments — and you'll have to cook!
Running your own catering business gives you the freedom to do what you want without answering to a boss or manager. This is refreshing, but it's also daunting when you stop to consider what being your own boss entails. You'll have to breathe down your own neck, which is as tricky figuratively as it is physically. No one is going to check to make sure that you paid your vendor bills so that when you call to order next time, you'll still be a customer in good standing.
The variety of tasks can be both stimulating and overwhelming. Some people find the freedom of running their own business and controlling their own destiny exhilarating. Others find it scary and enjoy working as part of a large corporate team. By reading this book, you'll begin to understand what branching out on your own involves and whether it's the right move for you.
There are very fun parts of the business and less fun parts of the business, and this book explains them all. Overall, it's a fun business run by passionate professionals. Food is love to many people, so you'll be delivering a very powerful emotion.
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Consider the mundane when you plan how to run your business. Choose reliable Internet and telephone service providers so you can be sure the things you take for granted will work when you expect them to. Decide on a bank and familiarize yourself with all of its business options.
