South Africans love of dining and entertaining has created a tremendous market for off-premises caterers all across the country. A wide range of social and business events are providing an opportunity for caterers to cook up tasty dishes. Social catering has seen some of the strongest growth in the overall food – service industry in recent years, and that trend is expected to continue.
From a cost – to – entry perspective, catering is probably the most flexible of all food businesses. While you need a commercial location, you can start small and build your equipment inventory as you need to. You may even find an existing commercial kitchen that you can rent and operate from till you can move into your own premises.
The catering industry attracts a broad range of entrepreneurs. If you’ve been wondering how to stat a business in catering you’ve got plenty of options. Maybe you’re an excellent cook, maybe you love throwing parties, or maybe you’re interested in event planning and want to get the ball rolling by catering.
If you want to be successful in this type of business start by following these steps:
Step one – Choose Business name and type.
Once you have decided on the type of catering business you want to start, you can move on choosing a suitable name for your business. Make sure your business name is available by checking the name with the applicable authorities.
Step 2 – Write a Business Plan.
This will take some time and work to do, but it will pay off in the long run because if you have a plan to fall back on it can help you to know what to expect while running your business. If you struggle in this area you can always make use of the services provided by experienced consultants.
Step 3 – Obtain license and clearance to start.
You need to obtain a business license from the authorities local government, as well as a food handling license. You also need to pass the required health inspection, so consider looking for a commercial kitchen that has already been approved.
Step 4 – Decide on Pricing.
Pricing your work/services depends on where your business is located and what type of catering you do. Pricing will varies when you do buffets, plated dinners, simple appetizers and events where you just drop of food and customers served it themselves.
Step 5 – Employ Staff.
It’s highly unlikely you can cater an event all by yourself, so some staff will be a requirement. You may be able to find staff easily, either by word – of – mouth, or your own network. But you might also need to reach out on food service – oriented job seeking sites, or look into how your competitors find their staff. You also need to ensure that all your staff receive proper and ongoing training.
CONTACT US NOW IF YOU NEED HELP IN ANY AREA OR WITH A PROFESSIONAL BUSINESS PLAN – (27)84 583 3143 – (27)11 704 1248 EMAIL – money@global.co.za
