Starting a Home Catering Business...

...Should I or Shouldn't I?

Owning a catering service is definitely one of those careers that you are either cut out for, or you're not.






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Of course, if you have been in the catering industry in some capacity in the past, then you may already be familiar with many of the requirements needed to be successful in the business. On the other hand, if you have zero industry experience but feel that starting a home catering business is exactly what you’d like to do, then you DO have tons of catering business research that you need to dig into first. You may find that it’s EXACTLY the type of business you want, or you may throw up your hands and say, “What the Hell was I thinking!”

Seriously, I think the best advice if you have no catering experience, is to work with an established caterer for a while before starting a catering service of your own. This will help show you most of the ins and outs of the business (short of looking at the owner’s books), show you what’s good and what's bad about being a caterer (do you mind working most weekends?), and help you decide if starting a home catering business really is what you want to do.

You’ll also be able to critique what this owner does well so that you can copy them, and also what they do poorly, so that you can change it and do better in your own catering business startup down the road. It may also be a good idea to take some business and marketing courses, as well as some culinary courses, if you’d like to improve upon your own cooking or learn to make other dishes.

Professional Catering Service Advice:

A good place to ask for some specific catering service advice is on a catering forum. You’ll find several if you just Google “catering forum”.
A good forum that I found for catering service advice is HERE


This is a career that can be very rewarding if you are the type of person who first of all LOVES to cook for large quantities of people, and second of all, the people you cook for LOVE your cooking! Afterall, a successful catering business is largely dependent upon returning clients and referrals from past clients. So if you gag everyone with your cooking (even if you enjoy it!), you’re probably not going to make much of a living doing it as a career. So if you plan to be the chef of your own home catering business, ask people for their HONEST opinion of your cooking first!

Also, if you ARE planning on starting a HOME catering business, then you definitely have to have a very large kitchen area in your home. You will have to obtain a license for the business, and every state has their own set of rules, guidelines and laws pertaining to working in the food service industry. The Board of Health is usually involved in this practice, as they will have to give their seal of approval for your operations.

The Board of Health will review how your food is handled and prepared as well as the sanitation of the environment where the food is prepared and stored. This part of the process may be a bit of a headache, as you will have to set up an operation that the Health Department will approve of. However, if you have a nice, big, clean kitchen space in your home or proper facilities to work with, you should be able to obtain your license with no problem.

Partial Checklist Needed for Starting a Catering Service

So here’s a short list of bullet points to think about BEFORE starting a catering service or starting a home catering business:

- You will need a kitchen big enough to handle your catering needs

- You will need food service / catering equipment

- Whatever kitchen you decide to use must pass various inspections, as well as the food you stock and prepare (you must be up on all food service laws)

- You must obtain a license

- You’ll need a food delivery vehicle

- You will probably need to hire/recruit employees or helpers

- How will you finance your business? You may need a small business loan to get the business up and running

- Will you specialize or be more of a general catering service in your catering business startup

- You will need a marketing and business plan to guide you along the way

* For More Information on This Site on Starting a Home Catering Business, Click Here ...


If you are to the point where you have decided to Start a Home Catering Service, CONGRATULATIONS!

Here is a catering service business plan template for you to use. You will need something like this if you plan on getting any startup business loans for your new catering business startup:




- See a further List of Home Based Business Ideas Here...

- Go to the Attract-a-Profitable-Home-Business.com Home Page...



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