Certain businesses, while not recession proof are largely recession-resistant. These include manufacturing jobs that make diapers, peanut butter and sodas - and surprisingly, event catering. While people habitually cut back on expenses during lean times, they still get married, they still hold family reunions and businesses still hold catered conferences to try to drum up sales. This means catering - even in Detroit - can be a sound business to get into.
Of course, a catering business in Detroit is much the same as any other type of business opportunity, in that you should always have a proper business plan in place. Additionally, you'll need to have a firm understanding with regards to the costs which you'll incur. You'll also need to try and determine how much income you'll need to generate in order to see a profit. Lastly, you also need to familiarize yourself with the type of customers you're likely to deal with.
Fortunately, at least at the start, a catering business can start out with very modest capital investments. Catering Detroit can start with being a personal chef - where you're charged with producing a number of meals per week to a family and delivering them; many of these meals can be prepared in your own kitchen. Many people who hire a personal chef do so because to them, the money spent is worth less than the time they'd spend in the kitchen, or because they have specific dietary needs.
Your first step will be to examine your running expenses, such as how much you'll need to spend on purchasing all the ingredients you'll require. Depending on your current kitchen, you may also need to make a few changes to enable you to cater to a larger customer base. Secondly, you'll need to work on finding clients, which means that you'll need to decide how to go about marketing your business. Thirdly, you'll need to focus on your transport arrangements, in that you'll often be required to serve warm meals. This obviously means that you'll need to make certain arrangements so that you're able to deliver the food warm, or you're able to heat them up on site.
In the vast majority of cases when you're catering Detroit, initial customers will usually be friends and family, unless of course you wish to look in the newspapers to see if there are any wedding announcements. You could also consider handing out your business cards to various other businesses, such as wedding supply stores, function centers, and etc.
As far as your prices are concerned, you should always try to follow the golden rule, in that the price of a meal should be approximately three times more than the cost of the ingredients you use. You should also familiarize yourself with the various restrictions you'll inevitably encounter, such as is the case with halal food for Muslims and kosher for the Jews. Remember, being in a position to cater for these groups gives you the upper hand, in that you'll be able to reach a much larger number of people.
If you're ever fortunate enough to be hired for the purpose of catering for events which revolve around school kids or students, then you should also make it your responsibility to find out as much as you can with regards to common food allergies. For example, you may want to consider avoiding any ingredients which contain traces of peanut. No, peanut allergies are by no means common, but you can the rest assured that many people tend to be paranoid. The main thing to remember is that when you cater Detroit, you're catering for the people, and that means that you need to respect their wishes.
In short, there are a lot of catering opportunities in Detroit. Even if you're not quite up to becoming a caterer yourself, a lot of caterers have gotten to the point where they'll need extra help to meet demand; you may be a food prep person (learn to follow recipes and work efficiently in a kitchen) or a server (learn to handle customers adroitly). What they're mostly looking for is opportunities to make a good impression on the people eating their food - because that's the way they get future business down the road. - 30241
Of course, a catering business in Detroit is much the same as any other type of business opportunity, in that you should always have a proper business plan in place. Additionally, you'll need to have a firm understanding with regards to the costs which you'll incur. You'll also need to try and determine how much income you'll need to generate in order to see a profit. Lastly, you also need to familiarize yourself with the type of customers you're likely to deal with.
Fortunately, at least at the start, a catering business can start out with very modest capital investments. Catering Detroit can start with being a personal chef - where you're charged with producing a number of meals per week to a family and delivering them; many of these meals can be prepared in your own kitchen. Many people who hire a personal chef do so because to them, the money spent is worth less than the time they'd spend in the kitchen, or because they have specific dietary needs.
Your first step will be to examine your running expenses, such as how much you'll need to spend on purchasing all the ingredients you'll require. Depending on your current kitchen, you may also need to make a few changes to enable you to cater to a larger customer base. Secondly, you'll need to work on finding clients, which means that you'll need to decide how to go about marketing your business. Thirdly, you'll need to focus on your transport arrangements, in that you'll often be required to serve warm meals. This obviously means that you'll need to make certain arrangements so that you're able to deliver the food warm, or you're able to heat them up on site.
In the vast majority of cases when you're catering Detroit, initial customers will usually be friends and family, unless of course you wish to look in the newspapers to see if there are any wedding announcements. You could also consider handing out your business cards to various other businesses, such as wedding supply stores, function centers, and etc.
As far as your prices are concerned, you should always try to follow the golden rule, in that the price of a meal should be approximately three times more than the cost of the ingredients you use. You should also familiarize yourself with the various restrictions you'll inevitably encounter, such as is the case with halal food for Muslims and kosher for the Jews. Remember, being in a position to cater for these groups gives you the upper hand, in that you'll be able to reach a much larger number of people.
If you're ever fortunate enough to be hired for the purpose of catering for events which revolve around school kids or students, then you should also make it your responsibility to find out as much as you can with regards to common food allergies. For example, you may want to consider avoiding any ingredients which contain traces of peanut. No, peanut allergies are by no means common, but you can the rest assured that many people tend to be paranoid. The main thing to remember is that when you cater Detroit, you're catering for the people, and that means that you need to respect their wishes.
In short, there are a lot of catering opportunities in Detroit. Even if you're not quite up to becoming a caterer yourself, a lot of caterers have gotten to the point where they'll need extra help to meet demand; you may be a food prep person (learn to follow recipes and work efficiently in a kitchen) or a server (learn to handle customers adroitly). What they're mostly looking for is opportunities to make a good impression on the people eating their food - because that's the way they get future business down the road. - 30241
About the Author:
James "Catering" Nicholson is a writer and reviewer of various business in the Detroit Area. You can find out about the particular catering detroit location he is focusing his current writing on here: Catering Detroit.
