Of course, starting a catering business requires a financial investment on your part. The catering business takes a large financial investment and sometimes requires you to find some kind of collateral to get the funding you need. This risk brings the opportunity to make a lot of money. But before you put your house up, just remember do not venture more than you can afford to lose.
What kind of financial investment is required to start a catering business? Typically, you can start your catering business for around $2,500. Your advertising will most likely cost around $1,000 to $1,500 to start. These fees will get you the licensing required plus start-up supplies and equipment. You can check with you accountant or check you county requirement for a catering business. Also ask your accountant about the type of business organization (LLC, INC, etc.) that best suits you and about obtaining a tax ID number.
You may require a food handler's permit for both you and your employees and a liquor license if you plan to serve alcoholic beverages. Remember, owning a business means that you not only deal with the aspects of catering like food preparation, you'll have to be an accountant, secretary, tax preparer, people manager, marketing/sales/advertising representative, and bill collector. You will need help in performing these areas. Some of the business end of the tasks includes bookkeeping, scheduling, and marketing. These are also a few other expenses you should consider.
You can plan on doing all of the business tasks on your own or you can hire someone to perform these tasks for you. Being able to acquire sales for your business is the most important task. You will need the right personality to start a service-oriented business. In other words, you need to be a "people person". Being a people person is the ability to talk effectively to strangers like they were acquaintances. You have to anticipate the needs of your clients and have the ability to fulfill them. Communication is a must!
These are still advertising, and the cost of the supplies and equipment really depends on how large of a business you plan on starting off with. It takes a while for a new business to see a profit so thing is to make sure that you have enough money to live on while your business is getting off the ground.
Starting your own catering business is certainly challenging but there are steps you can take to run a successful business. Be sure to talk to other business owners and see the challenges they have encountered. If you feel you don't have the skills then hire someone. Check out some services management courses in your area to help you on your way to successful catering business.