If you are an excellent cook, and you want to start a small business catering to other local businesses, it doesn’t matter whether you’re going to make sandwiches or cupcakes, you’re going to need a lot of patience to make it work. When gathering money for this business endeavor, you’ll need to include some other expenses you might not think of at first. You’re going to need to start collecting cost-effective recipes that are at the same time extremely delicious, and that can be made quickly as to accommodate your needs. Your working space, or cooking area, must be equipped with all the needed kitchen appliances. You’ll also need to invest into some proper advertising and your online presentation. But, let’s start from the basics.
-
Think about what you need to get started
You’ll first need to think about what kind of company you want to create, or what your specialty is going to be, and according to that, you must collect recipes. Maybe you want to create a large number of sandwiches or lunches for business companies, or you want to make whole meals for greater celebratory occasions. Choose your recipes according to your abilities and business goals. You want them to be easy to make, delicious, and at the same time you want them to be cheap and affordable to the customers, and to generate nice profit for you. All recipes must be tried out, and when you are satisfied with the result, you can add them to your menu.
Try and improve new things, and update your menu regularly. Listen to the customer opinions and adjust accordingly, because something that you like making might not be suitable for your customers, and their needs come first. At the same time, your menu must be diverse, offering quick sandwiches, simple desserts but also full blown, high-quality lunches, salads, cakes, etc. Offer vegan options and kosher meals, and always be prepared to adjust your recipes according to the preferences of your buyers. You also must be prepared to deliver to the required destination, which will include packaging your food.
-
Equip your kitchen
Your cooking expertise alone is not enough, and that is why you must heavily invest into some proper cooking equipment. Everything – from blenders, food processors to cooking stoves and microwaves – will be required. Buy appliances based on your needs, but always be sure to buy from tested brands that have a long warranty period. Make sure you have plenty of working space, and many people refurbish their garages for these purposes, or empty rooms. Try and make a business deal with your local farm markets, where you can buy your ingredients in bulk, and they could give you a discount. If nothing else, people like knowing that all the materials used in the making of your goods are produced using the methods of organic farming. You should also think about hiring an assistant or two, maybe not full-time, but only when the need arises.
Another important thing is that you should keep your working space perfectly clean, and you must conduct your business in accordance with your local health code, and you and your workers must be healthy, and using all the safety precautions as not to contaminate food. Do regular checkups, and make sure that everyone stays healthy, because you do not want one error to jeopardize your whole business.
-
Advertise online
Finally, once you have set up your menu and you have what to offer to your clientele, and your working area is fully equipped and staffed, you will need to start looking for business opportunities. And nothing is better than using social media to advertise. Using Facebook and Google+ might be a good start since there, you can post pictures of the products you’re offering, with prices and all the contact info your potential customers might need.
Of course, having a fully developed website is much better, because it will not limit you in any way, and it can be much better for representing your business. On your website, you can add social sharing buttons, and that is how you can check customer feedback and their experience of your services. Hosting a website is really easy these days, as there are many good hosting providers, and you can read what they have to offer on specialized websites that compare their services. For example,GoDaddy Editor’s Review written by Michael Lederstatter plus 21 reviews written by users.
In the end, if you have a diverse menu with attractive prices, a clean and efficient kitchen – with some good advertising you can make a really profitable business.