catering business essay

• Credit cards
• View all credit cards
• Banking guide
• Loans guide
• Insurance guide
• Personal finance
• View all personal finance
• Small business
• Small business guide
• View all taxes

You’re our first priority. Every time.

We believe everyone should be able to make financial decisions with confidence. And while our site doesn’t feature every company or financial product available on the market, we’re proud that the guidance we offer, the information we provide and the tools we create are objective, independent, straightforward — and free.

So how do we make money? Our partners compensate us. This may influence which products we review and write about (and where those products appear on the site), but it in no way affects our recommendations or advice, which are grounded in thousands of hours of research. Our partners cannot pay us to guarantee favorable reviews of their products or services. Here is a list of our partners .

How to Start a Catering Business in 9 Steps

Many or all of the products featured here are from our partners who compensate us. This influences which products we write about and where and how the product appears on a page. However, this does not influence our evaluations. Our opinions are our own. Here is a list of our partners and here's how we make money .

The catering industry attracts a broad range of entrepreneurs. 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.

Or maybe you’re like Dannella Burnett, of Gainesville, Georgia, who formed her catering business back in 2009, and your reason is simple and sweet:

“I figured if I could cook for other people and put food on their plates, I could put food on my family’s plate,” Burnett says of her decision to start Oakwood Occasions.

But as Burnett knew even in the nascent stages of starting a catering business and expanding to event planning, the business is about much more than putting food on plates. It’s about thinking your way through stressful situations, planning for the unexpected, and most importantly, running a business just like you would any other.

In this guide, we are going to take you step-by-step through everything you need to know about how to start a catering business. With a little help, you'll be delighting guests at parties, events, and festivals in no time.

How to start a catering business in 9 steps

Before you get to the following steps to starting a catering business, note that you should decide on the type of catering business you want to start before learning how to start a catering business.

Some caterers only do cocktail reception drinks and small finger foods, others do buffet-style catering, and some do the sit-down catering that you might see at a banquet or wedding. Once you know what kind of catering you want to do, you can get on to the next steps.

Step 1: Choose your business name and business entity type

Once you have the type of catering business you want to start in mind, you can move on to choosing a name for your business and defining the entity for it as well. You'll want to choose a name and make sure it's available in the state where you're opening your catering business. In most states, you can check business name availability online with the Secretary of State.

You'll also need to choose the business entity you want your business to operate as. Here you've got a lot of options depending on a few things, including whether you want to go it alone or not.

If you decide to operate as a sole proprietor, your business will be unincorporated and be owned by you alone (or you and your spouse). If you want to have a partner for your business, or want to avoid taking on all personal liability for your company, you can choose to register your business as a general partnership, a limited partnership, a limited liability partnership, a limited liability company, or another business entity. Each offers different protections for the partners and the business.

How much do you need?

with Fundera by NerdWallet

We’ll start with a brief questionnaire to better understand the unique needs of your business.

Once we uncover your personalized matches, our team will consult you on the process moving forward.

Step 2: Write a business plan

Once you have your business name and entity chosen, the next step on the "how to start a catering business" checklist involves writing a business plan. This will take some work, but it will pay off in the long run because you'll have the plan to fall back on and it can help you know what to expect while running your business.

You can use a business plan template or you can make a plan on your own. When you do make the plan, it should include quite a bit of research. You'll want to include an overview of your company, a market analysis, your business's organization, the specific products and services you'll be providing, and your marketing and financial plan. If that sounds like a lot, don't worry—you can always add to your plan as you learn more about the catering business world.

Importantly, though, you should also research your competition and identify potential customers. Is there a particular type of catering that is needed in your area that is currently underserved? For example, if you live in an area with a lot of golf courses, you may find that they are always in need of caterers for weekend events. Your market research into the needs in your area can go a long way to helping you sustain your business.

Part of your business plan for how to start a catering business should also include the vendors and suppliers you plan to use. Look into sourcing all the supplies you need, including linens, utensils, china, even tables and chairs for some events, and of course the food. When it comes to non-food items, Burnett suggests renting first, before buying things outright.

“At the beginning, you can rent anything you might ever want or need,” she says. “And renting is great: You know what the cost will be and you don’t have the upfront cost of purchasing something.

“But at some point, though you want to buy those things yourself because you still can charge for them and basically you’re paying for the ownership of them. And they ultimately pay for themselves.”

When it does come time to buy, equipment financing can provide you with the funding you need to cover the cost of supplies.

Step 3: Register your catering business and get an EIN

Depending on the business entity you chose, your business's name might by default be your name. If you want to change that, you might need a DBA or "doing business as" name. You'll want to register your business and its name with the state you plan to operate in.

For a catering business, because you're handling food, this might also require some other registrations depending on the rules in your state. The health department might need to check out the place where you're cooking and preparing the food you'll be serving, for example.

You'll also want to apply for an employer identification number also called an EIN. You can apply for one online from the IRS in just minutes and enjoy the benefits of having one for years to come. It can serve as a business tax ID number and help you do other business tasks like applying for a credit card and paying your employees.

Step 4: Get all licenses and clearances needed to start a catering business

As with most industries involving food prep, you can’t just, well, do it. You need to obtain a business license from the state, as well as a food handling license. You also need to pass a county or state health inspection—a residential kitchen likely won’t cut it, so consider looking for a commercial kitchen that has already been approved.

Some other requirements you might need to consider include workers' compensation insurance and permits or licenses to work out of certain venues—the monthly or annual costs of which can cut into profit margins.

If you’re unsure of what will be required, get in touch with your local Chamber of Commerce , Small Business Development Center , or the Small Business Administration to find out more.

It's not a bad idea to consult a lawyer in your area who specializes in the food or service industry for help filing everything and getting all of the registrations squared away before you start cooking.

Step 5: Determine your pricing

Pricing your work depends greatly on where your business is located and what kind of catering you do. Many businesses create price tiers that provide a certain level of service and amenities for various amounts. Burnett never went down that route.

“I started off doing custom proposals for people, and I’ve stayed with them throughout these nine years,” she says. “It takes a lot more time, but a lot of my proposals get accepted, rather than a package deal where it may or may not fit what someone is looking for. If they don’t need something, if it doesn’t pertain to their event, it’s not going into their pricing. If they need more, they pay for more; if they need less, they pay for less."

To get an idea of what costs what, Burnett says that her price per person has varied from $7-$8, for light appetizers for cocktail hour, up to $80 for filet and lobster.

“It varies because we do buffets, plated dinners, simple appetizers, or [events] where we’ve just dropped off food and they’ve served it themselves—to very high-end menus with unique ingredients,” she explains.

Step 6: Hire, train, and outfit your staff

It’s unlikely you can cater an event all by yourself, so staff is a requirement. Hiring and training staff is something that came organically for Burnett, but that might not be the case for you, so do whatever is best for your business is recommended here.

“At the first location, we brought on staff members one by one as we needed people. There was no real formal training from the beginning," she says.

You may be able to find staff just as easily, either by word-of-mouth or by combing your own network. But you might also need to reach out on foodservice-oriented job-seeking sites, or look into how competitors found their staff. Just keep in mind that what works for you when you're starting a catering business might not be what works once your business starts growing.

"But when we moved into our new location, at the Hall County Government Center, we opened up a café, coffee shop, and expanded the catering business at the same time. Since we were going to have in-house staff as well as catering staff, we had to go through a much more extensive training period.”

Here’s another place where having capital at the start comes in handy: If you’re hiring and training staff before they actually work an event, you need to set aside training dollars.

Additionally, uniforms, including vectorized logos, can be “really cheap or really expensive,” in the words of Burnett.

“Hey, I want aprons with logos on them—getting that logo vectorized for $75-$80, then $5-$7 a piece depending on how big you want the logo. Then you have to buy the apron. If you need 20, 30, 40 of those—that adds up,” she says.

Step 7: Market during your own events

When it comes to marketing and advertising your business, Burnett has one suggestion that trumps all the rest.

“When you’re putting food in somebody’s mouth, that’s the best time to find your next client,” she says. “It’s through the guests that are attending the events you’re catering for.”

Otherwise, it depends on what kind of catering you specialize in. If you focus on weddings, you’ll want to attend bridal shows—which involve bringing food samples and sometimes buying a booth. Corporate catering might involve more focus on LinkedIn advertising, where you can buy leads; you might also pay people to knock on doors and pass out fliers to bigger businesses.

“Really, it’s about networking. A lot of word of mouth, a lot of referrals,” she says. When you're just starting a catering business, that’s where the putting food in someone’s mouth tactic comes in.

Step 8: Get funding

Burnett made the decision to start her business out of necessity after her husband lost his job in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. She had previously worked in food and retail management, and she fell back on that experience when it came time to find a new source of income.

“A woman at my church said, ‘Why don’t you reopen your catering business here at the church?’ I didn’t think you could do that, but we called the health department and had them do a site visit at the church kitchen. It was deemed sufficient for commercial use, so I had my church kitchen licensed as a catering commissary, and I launched the business with zero capital, zero plan. Nothing but me, myself, and I,” Burnett explains.

Burnett found herself in business well before she expected to be. Despite making things work, she says luck took the place of capital and wouldn’t recommend that path to other future caterers.

“There are some things that I could look back on that I would say either by sheer doggedness or dumb luck, the next right thing did happen,” she says. “Was it more stressful because there wasn’t a plan at the beginning or there wasn’t capital? I think definitely.”

Burnett notes that, for the catering industry, access to capital is especially important: “Most small businesses fail because they don’t have the capital to get them through the ebbs and flows. And in something like the catering business, there should naturally be some ebb and flow, whether it’s the seasonality of the type of catering that you do, or the calendar—seasons and holidays.”

If you aren't as lucky as Burnett, you will probably need some funding to get your catering business off the ground and through slower months. Knowing how to acquire capital is one of the keys to figuring out how to start a catering business. There are plenty of routes you can go to acquire small business funding to get your business going.

If you want to go the traditional route, you can go for a traditional term loan, a business line of credit , or maybe a business credit card . Once you're established you can look into getting an SBA loan .

Step 9: Plan for emergencies — both financial and others

You should have extra capital when you start out, and continue to budget wisely as you go, because you never know when something will go wrong in the catering industry.

"Things break, so you have to replace them. Maybe you started off with china for 200 and now you only have china for 150 because they break,” says Burnett, listing the things that caught her off-guard when starting out.

“Repairs to vehicles: Catering can be hard on your vehicles, so you’ll need replacements to tires. The price of gas, when it went sky-high, it had an impact. Food was costing more. And people understood that food cost more to a certain extent, but people still had in their head that they need to do a lunch for $10 or $15 a person, and when the price of gas and food has gone up, it’s easy for that not to be profitable.”

But preparing for the unexpected is about more than budgeting. Most events are catered at a venue that can be 30 minutes, an hour, or even a few hours away from the kitchen. That can put you in a tight spot.

“The ability to be a MacGyver is a requirement. Every venue is different, and if you forget something, you’ve gotta figure out how to make it work,” Burnett says.

Start Your Dream Business

How to start a catering business: The bottom line

Catering isn’t an easy business. Burnett says you need to “know what you’re getting into,” due to the physical and demanding nature of the work.

“You can be a great cook, and that doesn’t necessarily make you a great caterer,” she says.

But Burnett was able to build a massively successful business—so much so that she actually began tapering off of catering in 2019 to focus more on event planning—off little more than an idea that was born in a church kitchen.

This article originally appeared on JustBusiness, a subsidiary of NerdWallet.

On a similar note...

Hotel and Catering Business Essay

Introduction, concept of the business, competitive analysis, reference list.

The demand for hospitality and catering services around the university has been going up and this is because of peoples changing lifestyles. There are a lot of parents who have gone back to class to advance their education.

This means that they don’t have enough time to prepare food in their homes because of having to deal with demanding jobs and going to class in the evening. Preparing food at home is quite demanding and this has made most parents and people to go to hotels for take away services.

Most of the food that they have ordered has never satisfied them because it is not prepared according to their needs, tastes and preferences. It’s on this need that I seek to establish a hotel and catering business that will deliver food to people’s houses according to their taste and preference.

In extreme cases, our staff will be going in our clients houses to cook for them. This is based on the business context and model that we would like our business to use (Westbrook, 1997, p. 12).

The business is built on a unique concept that has never been seen before in the market. This is set to revolutionize the hotel and catering business in the neighborhood because the needs of the society have been changing.

People need unique services that will serve their specific needs and this is what the business intends to do (Armstrong, 1982, p. 9). As a mater of fact, the business will listen to what customers and clients need as far as food requirements are concerned.Every business has a basis upon which it operates and this is what we will capitalize on (Menon, 1999, p. 34).

In this case, customers will always identify us with quality, effective time management and value for their money. This means that customers will always stay with you as long as you are the best (Miles, 2003, p. 53). Our business has been built on existing concepts but we intend to do the right thing that others have not been doing.

Competitive analysis is very important because the market has to be well understood for long term sustainability. Competition will determine if the business will end up being successful (Miles, 2003, p. 36). This is because consumers are always demanding and informed on various products and they will run away from you if you are not offering something unique (Scrizzi, 2007, p. 71).

As far as competitive analysis is concerned, there are other businesses but they do not offer the services that the business will give. In this case, they deliver food to clients but not in relation to their tastes and preferences. This is a unique aspect that we intend to use to gain customer loyalty and keep off competition.

The business will also embark on a friendly pricing model because we can still prepare food for clients in their homes. This is a service that is not offered by our competitors and we intend to use this for long terms sustainability. There is a gap in the market and this is what the business will capitalize on to enhance its operations and grow.

The SWOT analysis explores and explains our strengths, opportunities, threats and weaknesses.

• A unique business idea
• A strong and dedicated team
• Executable strategies
• The business has not been operational meaning that we do not have enough experience in the market
• Limited funds and employees
• Replication of the idea by competitors
• Changing consumer and customer needs

Opportunities

• A large and emerging market
• Insatiable demand
• Increasing population

Armstrong, J. (1982). The Value of Formal Planning for Strategic Decisions. New York: Routledge.

Menon, A. (1999). Antecedents and Consequences of Marketing Strategy Making . London: Kogan Page.

Miles, R. (2003). Organizational Strategy, Structure and Process. Stanford: Stanford University Press.

Scrizzi, M. (2007). Punk Marketing , New York: Harper Collins.

Westbrook, R. (1997). SWOT Analysis: It’s Time for a Product Recall . New York: New York Times.

• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2023, December 1). Hotel and Catering Business. https://ivypanda.com/essays/hotel-and-catering-business/

"Hotel and Catering Business." IvyPanda , 1 Dec. 2023, ivypanda.com/essays/hotel-and-catering-business/.

IvyPanda . (2023) 'Hotel and Catering Business'. 1 December.

IvyPanda . 2023. "Hotel and Catering Business." December 1, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/hotel-and-catering-business/.

1. IvyPanda . "Hotel and Catering Business." December 1, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/hotel-and-catering-business/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Hotel and Catering Business." December 1, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/hotel-and-catering-business/.

• Liquefied Natural Gas Role in Catering the Energy Demands
• Stonyfield Café, Bayfront Center, Long Island Catering Halls Websites
• The Catering WA Ltd Dispute Case
• Spirit of Faith Church Catering Services: Fundraising Project
• British Military Catering System's History and Future
• Nonprofit Organization Business Plan
• Catering Management: The International Conference on Cryptocurrency 2023
• Automated Catering Management System
• Virgin Blue Airline Company
• Food and Beverage Management
• Appreciative Inquiry by Cooperrider and Whitney
• Aligning HR with the Business at SBC
• Sustainable Practices in Facilities Management
• The Importance of Human Resource Evaluation Essay
• Human Resource Management Issues

How to Start a Catering Business (12 Steps)

Bryce Warnes

Reviewed by

April 8, 2021

This article is Tax Professional approved

If you’ve got a flair for fine cooking and entertaining, and you’re ready to start working for yourself, then maybe it’s time to start your own catering business.

Catering companies in the US raked in a total of $11 billion revenue in 2019. And if you run a catering business, you can expect to make $30,000 – $80,000 annually .

I am the text that will be copied.

But what are the ingredients to a successful catering business? And how can you make sure yours succeeds? Here’s how to start your own catering company in 12 not-too-complicated steps.

1. Find your speciality

When your catering business fits in a specific niche, for face less competition from the big, one-size-fits-all caterers on the block. And it becomes easier to build up a solid base of repeat clients through word of mouth marketing.

Ask yourself:

• What type of food will you serve? Will you serve everyone? Or go deep on a niche market, like vegan or gluten-free cuisine.
• What types of functions will you serve? When you’re just starting out, smaller functions like cocktail parties, staff lunches, and wedding showers may be easiest. As your business grows, you can expand your catering services to include larger events.
• What’s your capacity? If you’re jumping into this full time, maybe you’re ready to serve multiple functions per week. But if catering is a side hustle, you may need to limit your business activities to the weekends.
• Who’s going to do the work? Sketch out a hiring plan, factoring in who’s going to do food preparation, sales, accounting work, etc.

Next, it’s time to see who you’ll be competing with, and who you’ll be working for.

Researching customers and the competition

It’s best to research the lay of the land before you put together your menu and start buying equipment. For instance, if you live in a small city and there are six other caterers specializing in Sikh weddings, you’ll face a lot of competition in that niche. You may want to focus on something no one else is trying, like vegan pub fare.

A search for local caterers should be your first step. See what menus are being offered, and what size functions your competitors serve. If they don’t have approximate prices on their websites, consider calling to get quotes.

After that, the best way to learn about local caterers is to talk to their customers. Not only do you get the scoop on what your competitors are doing, right or wrong, but you’ll be conducting customer research. That will help you plan how to market your business later.

A few ideas to get you started:

• Talk to friends and family. Baptisms, weddings, wakes—chances are, you know someone who has had to plan one. Ask who they chose as a caterer, why, and what the experience was like. It may give you an idea of what types of services your business should offer.
• Call up the people who use caterers the most. These are your potential customers, and they’re a gold mine. Wedding planners, office managers, event coordinators—they all have their own favorite caterers. Who’s the most popular caterer in town? Who has a bad reputation? What do they look for in a caterer?
• Read the reviews. This may seem like a no-brainer, but in the rush to get your business off the ground, you may forget to investigate what customers think. Google, Yelp, and Facebook reviews for local catering companies will give you some insight into what customers like and what they don’t.
• Look at the big picture. Reports and statistics on catering businesses nationwide can give you a bigger picture of how the industry operates, as well as recent trends. Get started by checking out Catersource’s state of the catering industry report .

2. Investigate local licensing and permits

Licensing and permits for catering companies vary state by state. Depending on your state, you may or may not be allowed to prepare meals in your own kitchen with equipment you also use for personal meal prep. And liquor licenses will have different requirements according to state.

Despite state-to-state variations, there are a few licenses and permits common across all states, some of which you’ll likely need to start your business:

• A general business license , issued by your state, municipality, city, or county.
• A zoning permit , depending on where you’ll locate your cooking facilities.
• Health permits, depending on where you’ll be preparing food and whether you’ll be transporting it.

Get in touch with your local health department, as well as your Secretary of State, to learn about licenses and permits that pertain to you.

3. Create your menu

If you love food and you’re already thinking about starting your own catering business, no doubt you’ve stayed up late at night dreaming of the magnificent meals you’ll serve.

Now that you’ve done some research, answered some important questions about your business, and investigated local licensing, it’s time to write a rough draft of your menu.

While you may customize later, it’s best to start of with a set list of options. That way, you can perfect well in advance the supply orders and preparation processes for each dish you serve. Once customers choose their items, it’s just a matter of mixing and matching factors you’ve already planned out.

Your menu will be shaped by your capacity and your cooking facilities. Less tangibly, it will also be affected by what types of food you’re comfortable serving, and the niche you’re marketing to. For instance, if you only serve food with local, seasonal ingredients, your winter menu won’t offer freshly squeezed orange juice.

4. Plan your location

The location of your business will depend on local laws pertaining to catering businesses, as well as zoning regulations.

Some states may not allow you to prepare meals in your home. In that case, you have one of two choices: Rent a commercial kitchen, or prepare food on-site.

Renting a commercial kitchen increases your operating costs, but it also gives you flexibility; you’re always able to prepare meals for your customers, regardless of their location. And you’ll be able to do it in a larger capacity than you would be able at home. However, you’ll also be responsible for delivering food, so you’ll need vehicles and equipment that are up to the job.

Preparing food on-site means you’ll be relying on customers’ facilities for meal prep. That limits you to serving customers who rent or own places with kitchens—churches, community centers, and homes. You’ll save on operating costs, but pay in other ways: It’s up to you to adapt to whatever kitchen you’re using. Also, you won’t be able to serve some events—like gallery openings, work lunches, or some outdoor events.

The best plan is to decide what you’re going to serve, and to whom, and then choose the location and plan the budget that fits.

5. Get ready to buy equipment

Your equipment needs could range from a new egg whisk to an industrial mixer, from a couple of Yeti coolers to half a dozen chest freezers. It depends on the scale of your business, and your customers.

Prepare a list of all items you’ll need to get up and running. Then get in touch with a restaurant supply company, and get a quote for your shopping list. You’ll use that to help you put together the budget in your business plan.

If you’re considering financing equipment, take a look at all your options first. A small business loan or line of credit may be cheaper, in terms of interest payments, than a finance plan. And paying cash upfront may give you the option to buy used equipment, which could cost you less in the long run.

7. Prepare a business plan

“Cook it and they’ll come” is a recipe for a failed catering company. You’ll need clear plans for every part of your business in order to succeed.

On top of including research you do into customers and competitors, a startup budget, and financial projections, your business plan should cover:

• The problems you solve for clients and customers
• What sets you apart from the competition
• The resources your business depends on
• Your mission statement and vision for the future
• What inspired you to go into business

This is just a brief overview. See our guide on how to write a business plan to put everything together one step at a time. And don’t forget to include a cover page that catches people’s attention.

A word on catering company startup costs

According to the pros , you should be prepared to budget $10,000 to $50,000 in startup costs for your catering company. Naturally, startup costs vary business to business. You’ll need to take into account your equipment, transportation, and marketing needs. Whatever your startup costs, your initial budget should be able to cover the operating costs of your business for 12 months, without taking into account revenue.

8. Create an affordable marketing strategy for your catering company

Luckily, you don’t need to buy a Super Bowl ad to get the word out about your catering business. A few inexpensive techniques can do the trick.

Keep menus and prices fresh

If customers are looking up your business, chances are they’re already thinking about having an event catered. That means they want to know what kind of menu you offer, what kind of events you cater, and how much it will cost.

Keeping menus and price lists up to date on your website helps your customers start planning before they even contact you. A couple planning their wedding would rather know if your services are in their budget before they contact you; offering price ranges up front could mean they choose you over the competitor whose website still says “under construction.”

Curate your reviews on social media

A social media profile with recent reviews proves the lights are on—you’re an active, popular business. Encourage customers to leave reviews, and be sure to address any negative ones; it’s often better to offer a refund to a customer with unrealistic expectations than to suffer the damage to your reputation caused by a one-star review.

Post sexy food pics

Pictures of the dishes you’re most proud of can get social media followers’ mouths watering, and show them you know what you’re doing when it comes to presentation. Occasional food photos are a great, low-investment way to keep your social media up to date.

Be warned, though: An unattractive photo of your cooking is worse than no photo at all. If every photo you take looks like a public warning poster about food poisoning, you may want to enlist the help of a professional.

Word of mouth marketing is your best friend

Good, bad, forgettable—whatever kind of experience a customer has with catering, they’re only too happy to share it by word of mouth. The best thing you can do is make sure your customers have good things to say about you.

One way to do that is by providing exceptional service, every time. The other way is to offer referral deals. Maybe if a customer refers someone, they get 15% off their next order—or fresh-baked breakfast muffins and coffee for their office, as a way of saying thank you. Building and maintaining good relationships, as well as incentivizing referrals, will grow your clientele faster than any print ad or flyer.

9. Choose a business structure

Your business structure determines how your catering company will be taxed, and also your level of personal liability when it comes to debts and legal proceedings.

As soon as you go into business for yourself, the IRS automatically considers you a sole proprietorship . That’s great in terms of ease—no forms to fill out, no business structure to elect. But it’s not so great if you can’t pay your debts, or someone decides to sue you.

The next step up from a sole proprietorship is a single member limited liability company (LLC) . An LLC functions a lot like a sole prop, except it sets up your business as a separate legal entity from your individual person. Meaning, you get more liability protection than you would with a sole prop.

To see all the business entity types you have to choose from, and how to elect each one, check out our guide to business structures .

10. Name your business

If you’re a sole proprietorship and you’re operating under your own name—say, Monica Geller—there’s no need to register a business name. But the minute you choose to operate under a different name—Monica’s Catering with a Smile—you’ll need to register it.

And if your business elects and structure other than a sole proprietorship, you’ll need to register your business name, regardless of whether it’s the same as your personal given name.

In either of these instances, you register your business name by filing a doing business as (DBA) form with your state and county. Our guide to DBAs gives you the full step-by-step.

11. Get insured

Business insurance protects your catering company in case the untoward happens. Even if your particular state doesn’t require you to get insurance, you should buy as many types of insurance as you need to protect your assets and shield you from being sued.

The most essential type of insurance for a catering business is general liability insurance. Chocolate fountain overflowed and permanently damage your client’s rare Persian rug? Bad batch of oysters from your supplier got some wedding guests sick? Over enthusiastic flambé took out someone’s eyebrows? General insurance has you covered.

After that, you might want to consider the following:

• Commercial automotive insurance , for your catering van.
• Commercial property insurance , protecting you in case your equipment or kitchen are damaged.
• Unemployment insurance , often legally required if you have employees. It also protects you from being sued for damages if an employee loses their job.
• Wrongful termination insurance , protecting you from being sued if an employee believes you mistreated them.
• Key person insurance , in case your star chef is put out of commission and it costs you business.

Take a deeper dive with our complete guide to small business insurance .

12. Start bookkeeping ASAP

Doing your books may seem a far cry from sights, smells, and tastes of the kitchen. But it’s a key ingredient when you start your own business. When your bookkeeping is disorganized, so is everything else.

Good bookkeeping helps you make sure you’re getting paid by customers, make certain you’ve paid suppliers, and keep track of how much cash you have to work with. It can help you plan how to expand your business, or make it more profitable if you’re having trouble paying the bills. And when you have a complete record of expenses on the books, you can take advantage of every possible tax deduction at the end of the year.

Before you cater your first event, make sure you’ve got bookkeeping set up. There are a few ways to do that, but naturally, we recommend Bench (that’s us). You’ll get a complete team of bookkeepers who do your bookkeeping for you, plus an intuitive app to track finances—all for a flat monthly fee.

Not sure Bench is right for you? Try an appetizer first. When you sign up for a trial , we do one month of your bookkeeping free.

Join over 140,000 fellow entrepreneurs who receive expert advice for their small business finances

Get a regular dose of educational guides and resources curated from the experts at Bench to help you confidently make the right decisions to grow your business. No spam. Unsubscribe at any time.

• MARKETPLACE
• DOWNLOAD BUSINESS KIT

How To Write a Catering Business Plan w/ Templates (PDF, Word Doc)

Whether you’re starting a catering business full-time or planning to operate out of your house initially , writing a business plan is essential to getting clear on the type of catering business you want to open. After all there’s some pretty important stuff covered inside of what can seem like a stuffy document.

For the purposes of starting a catering company, think about the business plan as the one place you put your operation details. Things like the cooking equipment you need to purchase and the total cost, tentative catering menu, food costs, and who your target customer is. These are all super important details you need to understand before opening! This document provides a place for you to organize everything.

By the end of this guide, you’ll be able to draft your plan and start on that first catering gig you’ve been planning to open. We also provide templates you can use in PDF and Word Doc you can download and edit. Let’s get started.

Executive Summary

Catering spread for a Mexican food concept.

Start your business plan with an executive summary. This is a way to introduce your catering business so whoever is reading your business plan will know what to expect. This will include a brief introduction of your catering business, a description of your company, the services your catering business will be providing, and the customer focus.

Introduction

A quick introduction helps the reader get a bird’s eye view of your catering business. Here you’ll be talking about what to expect and what you can offer as part of your catering service.

This section isn’t considered lengthy. This usually has two to three sentences. What you need to focus on when writing this down is by the end of it, your reader will more or less understand what your catering business is all about.

Here’s an example introduction you can use as a guide:

The Big Spoon is a small catering business headed by Lydia Smith. She specializes in Italian cuisine but can cater to American, Mexican, and Asian dishes as well. The Big Spoon can accommodate an intimate dinner for 2 up to a large party of 50 accompanied with table settings and chafing dishes to complete that delicious home-cooked meal experience.

Just by the introduction, the reader will know how big your catering business is, what cuisine they can expect to order, and how many people the business can cater for. It also gives them an introductory glance about your catering style wherein you already provide more than just food but also a table setting so they don’t have to look for a supplier for this separately.

Keep your introduction informative but also short enough. You will be able to add in more to the details later on.

Company Description

Some food trailers make more than 50% of their annual revenue from catering gigs.

A little background on your catering business is needed in the company description part of the business plan. Here, you can describe the meaning behind the name for your catering business, who the owners are, and what their roles are going to be. Who will be in charge of cooking? Who will be in charge of accounts and marketing?

This may just be brief but this is a way for you to introduce what’s going to happen behind the scenes of your catering business.

Catering works great for food trucks and restaurants.

Although your catering business may sound self-explanatory, it would still be of great help to you if you mentioned the services you’ll be offering.

For example, The Big Spoon already mentioned in their introduction that they’ll be catering food and offering table settings. They could also add that they will be offering an ice cream station and even a cocktail bar.

You will describe more of this in detail later on but you can summarize it and mention it here already.

Customer Focus

For a catering business to flourish, you must know your target market early on. And though a thorough explanation of that can be found in the Market Analysis section, you can briefly state them in this portion as well.

Also, remember that your customer focus would also have to coincide with your skills. You can’t be targeting customers who are vegans if your culinary skills and knowledge do not include cooking vegan food. This is why it’s important to write this early on so you can narrow down the customers you are planning to cater to.

Mission Statement

What’s your mission statement?

Businesses with clear goals stated from the start lead to a successful operation. Why? Because every decision you make revolves around these goals which will lead you closer to success.

Here’s a sample mission statement to picture it out clearly:

The Big Spoon aims to cater delicious home-cooked meals to its customers. Every dish that is served will contain natural and fresh ingredients. We see to it that the service we provide is top-notch so that our customers will feel as if they are being served in a fine restaurant in the comforts of their own home or wherever they choose to have us cater them.

By writing this down in your business plan, you and your staff will have to stand by the standards you’ve set for yourselves. For instance, as stated in The Big Spoon’s mission statement, no fast food will be served and no artificial ingredients will be used so you and your staff will always remember this by heart.

By following this and revolving your decisions around your mission statement, you will be able to keep such standards which will lead to pleased and returning customers.

Company Concept

This is the section of the business plan where you can finally put in detail the concept you’ve been planning for your catering business. Remember the things you’ve been holding back in saying in the introduction? This is the time to write them all down now.

Related Reading: 7 Powerful Ways I Promote and Market My Catering Business

You can start by answering the following questions:

• What cuisine will you be offering?
• How many people can you cater to?
• Will you be offering healthy options such as vegan, keto, or paleo meals?

You may also add in other concept ideas that are not mentioned above. Just make sure to cover everything so you can have a basis for your product line and services to be tackled later on.

Market Analysis

A compelling catering business logo.

Planning to put your business out there means you also have to know the industry you’ll be diving into. This is to help you analyze your potential customers, the growth of the catering business in your area, and the competition.

Target Market

As mentioned above in the customer focus, your skills will have to match your target market. You’ve already written a brief introduction about it so in this section, all you have to do is to explain it in detail.

Industry Analysis

The catering business has been going on for a long while now so it’s important to gather in as much information as you can regarding this industry. This is to help you figure out if there is a potential market for your business and how to put your plans into action.

Another helpful guide is to look into the type of cuisine most people in your area look for. You can then incorporate it into your business and offer it as part of your menu.

The bottom line is that analyzing the industry around you helps you plan better for the future of your catering business.

Competitive Analysis

You will not be the only catering business in your area. You’ll have to consider restaurants as your competition too. Check their prices and set menus. Do a competition check by tasting their food once in a while. Knowing who the players are in this competitive business game gives you the upper hand because you’ll be aware of their strengths and weaknesses and how to deal with them on the field.

Management Structure

Determine the key players in your business.

A catering service is run by a few people. In this section of the business plan, you’ll list down everyone who is working on this business alongside you as well as the roles they possess in your business. This includes:

• Business Partners
• Accountants
• Co-chefs (If you’re not the only one doing the cooking)

Why is this so important, you might ask? Stating clear business roles and laying out the management structure keeps everyone in check and helps avoid any misunderstandings. Most businesses that don’t define this early on end up having a messy workflow. So make sure to state each duty clearly for everyone to follow.

Product Line and Services

Burgers are a proven catering option.

This section of the business plan goes hand in hand with your company concept. Here you can present your different sample menus for all the cuisine you wish to cater to. Be sure to include the prices for the set menus per head.

You can also write down the services you plan to offer. Here are some you can consider for your catering business:

• Out of town catering
• Cocktail station
• Set up style (buffet or plated)
• Table setting (formal or casual, rustic or summer feel)
• Wait staff or food display only

Writing them all down in this section will keep your business more organized which is very important when you start on your catering business.

Sales and Marketing

Grilled chicken is another popular option for caterers.

How are you going to market your catering business? Do you plan to have an ad out in your local newspaper and on social media? Both strategies are fine but you need to find more ways to get your catering business out there.

One way to market yourself is to partner up with rental spaces such as function halls that do not provide food. Give them a proposal that when there are inquiries regarding the rental of their halls, they would present your set menus to the guests as well so they don’t need to trouble over finding a caterer.

Related Reading: How I Started a Legit Catering Business Out of My House

Partnering with several event coordinators is also a way to get your business known. People these days hire event coordinators to do all the planning for them. They expect these coordinators to answer all their questions from food, music, and decorations. By partnering up with an event coordinator, they’ll be the ones to pitch in your catering business to their customers.

Remember to uphold your mission statement as well. By providing good food and high-class standards during your catering event, you’re already marketing your products and services to the number of people you’re catering to. So always make an exceptional first impression because that will stay with the guests long enough for them to remember hiring you on their next and succeeding events.

Financial Plan

Plan your financial future.

Knowing where you’re going to get the funds to start your catering business is a must. This is how you’ll know if your plans are going to be achievable or not. Besides, having a solid financial plan will also allow you to go through with your ideas without any interruptions.

In this section, break down your financial plan into two categories which are your plans to request for funding and your financial forecast.

Funding Request

Some business owners are ready to put up their catering business due to having saved enough money through the years. But what if you lack the funds to do it? Don’t fret. You can still loan from the bank and invite investors.

Whatever your plan is that deals with requesting for funding, include it here so you can document it.

Financial Forecast

Make conservative and best case scenario financial forecasts.

Reaching break-even is the ultimate goal when you’re putting up a business. You can compute how long it will take you to reach it early on in the planning stage.

You can also list down all your proposed expenses here which include the following:

• Pots, pans, and other large kitchen appliances and tools for cooking
• Chafing dishes
• Dessert displays and trays
• Table cloths, plates, glasses, and utensils
• Uniforms for you and the staff
• Storage boxes and food warmers

You may also add in tables and chairs if you do not want to keep on renting these. But sometimes, the venue where you’ll be catering can provide these as well.

Download Now: Bakery Business Plan Templates for 2021

Be sure to include your staff’s payroll expenses. Since catering events are not done daily (unless you’ve already made a name for yourself and you’re booked every day), you can just have your wait staff be on call and pay them per catering event rather than a daily wage.

By computing these, you’ll know just how much you should allot for your startup capital and how much should your goals be to reach during every catering gig in order to profit off of it.

Operational Plan

What’s your operation plan?

Put your plan into action by making a timeline of your operations. Here is an example:

Date Plan [Insert Date Here] – Finalize the business documents you need such as permits and registrations for your catering business.[Insert Date Here] – Start marketing your business on social media and the local news. Send out proposals for partnerships with event coordinators and function halls.[Insert Date Here] – Hire and train staff.[Insert Date Here] – Start catering when booked.[Insert Date Here] – Achieve goals and reach break-even.

The appendix section of the business plan is where you can put all your documentation. This includes photos of your food and table setting and your copies of the permits and registration for your catering business.

Download Templates

Here are the catering business plan samples in PowerPoint, Word Doc, Google Doc, and PDF. These are ideal for commercial or home-based catering businesses.

• Catering business plan template Google Doc
• PDF catering business plan sample
• Catering PowerPoint template
• Catering businesses are ideal because there is no space for you to rent which is considered one of the main expenses that can be quite heavy on the pockets. You will be cooking in the comfort of your own home. Just make sure your place can handle heavy cooking and there is enough space for you and your staff to move about.
• It would be nice to learn more about the different cuisines as you go along so you can cater to a wide variety of audiences.
• Include a checklist of all the equipment you need to operate at the start. These equipment requirements make up the bulk of your startup costs. You can download a checklist of frequently used catering equipment here .

Throughout this entire guide, we have been referring to your readers as one of the main reasons why you should make your catering business plan easy to understand. But in truth, making this business plan is for you as well. You will need this plan when you’re requesting for financial assistance in banks and this would also serve as your work guide. So remember to keep it detailed and easy to comprehend because you will be using this on the road to putting up your business.

While opening a catering business can be extraordinarily rewarding there are a few factors you should consider before deciding to push ahead. Creating a business plan lets you understand what the factors are, what’s going to make this business become a success, and how you can profit from the venture.

If you’re serious about starting a catering business, don’t forget to sign up for our Food Business Startup Kit . This free community will give you access to exclusive interviews with catering professionals you can use to help grow your own business.

Want to start your own food business?

Hey! 👋I’m Brett Lindenberg, the founder of Food Truck Empire.

We interview successful founders and share the stories behind their food trucks, restaurants, food and beverage brands. By sharing these stories, I want to help others get started.

If you liked this story, sign up for our newsletter that includes our food business startup kit and most popular interviews sent straight to your inbox.

Know someone interesting that should be interviewed on the website? Tell us about them here. 

About the Author: Brett Lindenberg

Related Posts

175+ Brilliant Food Tasting Event Names For Your Consideration

(My Tips) 13 Smartest Ways to Save Money on Wedding Catering

Corporate Catering Business: How to Find and Close More Leads

Wedding receptions: how to pull-off an unforgettable catering service guide.

How to Start a Catering Business

Tony Sekulich

20 min. read

Updated November 13, 2023

Free Download:  Sample Catering Business Plan Template

Do you find the process of shopping and chopping, sautéing and flambéing for large groups of people rewarding and fulfilling? Would you rather die than serve a salad that is topped with anything other your homemade vinaigrette dressing? Are people constantly asking you to cook for their next gathering?

If any of this sounds familiar, you’ve probably at least toyed with the idea of starting a catering business. It’s a thriving industry which can be scaled and tailored to whatever best suits your skills and situation. This article is intended to serve as a step-by-step guide to show you how to get started.

To supplement this guide, I interviewed two seasoned veterans of the catering business:

Jean-Marc Fontaine is a French-trained chef, event planner, and sommelier who now serves as the Catering Sales and Events Consultant for Urban Source Creative Catering in the heart of downtown Toronto, Canada. Warren Dietel is the Owner and President of Puff ‘N Stuff , a full-service wedding, corporate, and holiday event caterer and planner serving the greater Orlando area and all of central Florida.

• 1. Understand the state of the catering industry in the U.S.

In the United States alone, the catering industry is an $11 billion juggernaut and growing every year—more than 4.5 percent between 2014 and 2019. 

An industry report shows that in 2012, the average costs for the foodservice at a wedding reception in the United States was to $3,579 U.S.; wedding planning website The Knot surveyed  their users and found that in 2017, the average cost was $6,528, or $70 per guest. Wedding Wire says the average cost is about $4,000, but most couples spend between $1,800 and $7,000. Not surprisingly, the largest market segment that supports the catering business is households earning at least six figures.  In 2015, of households with a combined income of 100,000 U.S. dollars or more, 5.4 percent spent $500 to $999 U.S. on catered events outside the home.

Though there are major players in the catering industry, there are a lot of reasons why it’s appealing to entrepreneurs: Unlike most other sectors, the industry is highly fragmented, meaning there is no single corporate entity dominating the market share. 

This means there’s room for everyone who has some skill and hustle. Large companies can leverage their ability to scale to any size event and cover multiple events at the same time; smaller outfits can push their personal touch for a competitive edge.

2. Figure out if you’re ready to start a catering company

There’s no shortcut to determining if you are just a “weekend warrior” dazzling your friends and colleagues in your own home or someone who is a great candidate to branch out and start their own catering business. Jean-Marc Fontaine says to find success, people need to spark that burning desire from within.

“I really have a passion for food and entertaining and the reason I’m still doing this job today is because I am passionate about the food industry,” he says. “It’s a very special area, it’s not like an office job, it’s more like art—you have to really love it.”

Jean-Marc believes this passion is necessary because almost everyone who enters the foodservice industry greatly underestimates the amount of time, effort, and expense it requires to be successful. This is a lesson he has learned personally.

“Many years ago when I was in France, my brother (also a chef) and I opened a small restaurant together—30 seats so not a big operation. It was just his wife serving and we had someone helping in the kitchen. We knew it would be a lot of work; we didn’t know we’d be working literally 18 hours a day, seven days a week. So many things to think about, not just food prep but cleaning and overhead, you need equipment, you need a vehicle which means expenses for gas and parking. If you don’t anticipate all the expenses and overhead charges, it can be overwhelming,” he says.

Warren Dietel also cautions anyone thinking of entering the business against getting swept up in the glamorous portrayal they may have seen on television, as the reality of the industry is altogether different.

“Catering is not for the faint of heart, this is a hard business,” he explains. “You can’t get into this thinking this is what you see on the Food Network. I think the cooking networks have done a fabulous job of showcasing the glamorous side of what the foodservice and special event industry is, but at the end of the day, it takes hard work, grit, and determination to be successful.”

If you are driven by that burning desire to start a catering business and are prepared for the work and accompanying expenses, the catering industry will offer some distinct advantages over starting a traditional sit-down restaurant. Before you get started, take this quiz to help you think about what it takes to start your own business. 

Brought to you by

Create a professional business plan

Using ai and step-by-step instructions.

Secure funding

Validate ideas

Build a strategy

Advantages of starting a catering business

Food production costs.

Caterers know exactly how many people they are expected to serve. That means you can buy only what is absolutely necessary and reduce the expense of food waste. A traditional restaurant may be prepared to serve 150 people on any given night, even if only 30 walk through the door.

Equipment costs

Since most small catering operations only need their equipment for a few days each week, it makes more sense to rent it for only the times they will be in use. This expense is factored into the overall job quote. That means, unlike the new restaurateur, the caterer does not have to deal with a staggering amount of overhead right out of the gate.

Serving staff

Most catered events are buffet style, which means the catering company can get by with two or three servers for a party of over one hundred guests, whereas that same guest list in a restaurant would require at least eight to ten paid serving staff.

• 3. Test the waters by working in the industry

You’ve seen the advantages, you know what’s in store, and you’ve decided you will forge ahead and start a catering business.

Before you lease space and start advertising, there are some “test drives” you should do first. These are things that can give you a better sense of the professional landscape and either confirm or challenge your commitment to moving ahead.

Work for a local caterer

As obvious as it may seem, there is no better way to prepare yourself for the realities of making it on your own. You will get a master class in everything that goes into running a successful (or not so successful) catering business. 

It will also show if you have the one trait Jean-Marc believes any caterer must have to make it in the business:

“I know it sounds a little cliché, but you always have to keep a positive approach because there are so many factors that can be stressful,” he says. “A lot of things can go wrong from the get-go. It could be accidental food poisoning or the delivery van could have an accident on the way to an event. No matter what happens, you always have to have a positive approach.”

Volunteer as an event planner

For any prospective caterer, the ability to multi-task is just as important as the ability to prepare mouth-watering dishes. The most delicious food in the world will not save an event that is an organizational train wreck. 

The experience you gain from helping to plan fundraising events for your favorite charities or church functions could reap huge benefits further down the line.

Work as a personal chef

This is a very common training ground for many eventual caterers.

By working as a personal chef, you not only hone your skills in the kitchen, but you can also develop a client base and begin networking, which will be very beneficial when you transition to catering.

• 4. Do your research and write your business plan

When you’re finally ready to make a go of it and launch your catering business, the first thing you have to do is determine what makes your business unique. One way to describe this is your unique value proposition , or UVP. In a nutshell, your UVP covers: how your catering service works, what makes it valuable and unique, and why it’s better than the rest.

When you’re first starting out, you will likely be a very small operation and that makes it especially important to establish your niche in the marketplace. Large corporate events like Jean-Marc’s Urban Source Creative Catering can scale up or down depending on the order. They can be a large one size fits all operation that can be, in many ways, everything to everyone.

“A couple of weeks ago I was planning a corporate lunch for executives for one day and the next day, it was a birthday party for a five-year-old girl,” he says. “We’re flexible enough to adapt the menu to the needs and preferences of the client.”

Identify your target market

With that in mind, it’s very unlikely you will have the same capability. Most businesses benefit from identifying their target market —and it probably won’t be everyone who needs to eat, from five-year-olds to corporate executives. 

So here are some things you can do to narrow the focus of what your catering business is all about.

Identify your concept—who and what you serve

This is essentially determining what the DNA of your catering business will be.

What’s your most identifiable and unique business trait? Are you a target-based caterer, meaning you specialize in certain events like weddings, corporate lunches, or social fundraising events? Or are you a cuisine-based company that specializes in vegan and vegetarian dishes, Southeast Asian food, or catering for some of the more common food allergies and restrictions?

Find out who your competitors are

Maybe you decided that you are going to be the premier vegan and vegetarian caterer in your city. You’re going to want to find out how many other businesses out there are trying to service that same market. You need to know who else is serving your same target customers in your area. Putting together a simple competitive matrix can help you see where you and your competitors overlap, and where you stand out. 

Practically every business has competition . If there aren’t any other caterers serving your style of food in your area, don’t make the mistake of thinking that you don’t have competition. Find out how your target customers are getting their needs met already. What do they do when they want to serve 30 of their friends a huge meal? How do they make it happen? Make it your business to find out. 

You may be in trouble before you begin if your chosen niche is already oversaturated in the market. So, find out who has been successful locally and why. What are people saying about them? Why do they get repeat business? The answers to these questions will help you guide and shape you’re growing catering business.

Write your business plan

If you’ve done some market research and thought about competition, it’s time to start thinking about putting together your business plan . You’ll need a formal business plan if you plan to seek a bank loan or investor funding. Check out a  free sample catering business plan in the Bplans sample business plan library to give you some insight on what to include.

If you’re not planning on seeking funding, consider putting together a Lean Business Plan instead. It’s shorter by design, and it will help you make sure you’ve thought through all the critical aspects of your business. 

• 5. Build your catering menu

A caterer does many things and must wear many hats, all at the same time. But, nothing is more central to the core identity of the business than the menu .

Your service and presentation must be impeccable, but it is the food that will keep customers coming back and offering referrals to their friends and associates. For many, it is the single defining aspect of a catering business.

Here are some things to consider when putting together your catering menu.

Have an area of expertise

The larger corporate catering firms which often target large and expensive executive lunches can scale their operation up or down to meet any food request presented to them. Starting out, your focus will have to be more narrow, partly because for budgetary reasons and partly because that will help you create an identity.

By targeting your menu to what you do best, you put yourself in a better position to deliver a top-quality product to your client. This is something Warren Dietel believes is crucially important for new caterers.

“Know your limitations and always try to undersell and over-deliver,” he advises. “You don’t want to promise something that you can’t deliver upon.”

Stay on top of current food trends

Food is no different from fashion, architecture, or technology in that it is nearly impossible to stay on top of all the current trends .

The advent of food and cooking television networks over the past 10 years has given rise to self-proclaimed “foodies” who are very specific about what they consume, and this is the biggest change Jean-Marc has seen in the industry in the last five years.

“We are seeing a big demand for gluten-free items these days, but it’s always changing,” he says. “Up to a couple of years ago, it was all about cupcakes, everybody had to have cupcakes. You would see cupcake shops spring up all over the place, but now that’s fading away and now we’re in the macaron phase. Everyone now wants macarons for their parties.”

It would seem keeping current has never been more important in the foodservice industry. Consider joining a food service organization or other professional group with a mission of helping food businesses succeed to help you keep your ear to the ground. 

Determine your price point

Like most other goods or services, catering businesses range from the very affordable to quite expensive. You’ll need to determine where in that spectrum your business is situated.

If you are going for high-end clients like corporate lunches or expensive wedding parties, you will need to price your meals and services accordingly. Or perhaps you’ve decided to make catering affordable to those who would normally not consider it, and so you’re going to offer delicious catered meals at a lower price.

In either case, how successful you are in your targeted market is going to depend in large part on determining the right price point.

The other side of this is putting together a sales forecast. Once you have a sense of what your price point will be, and what your materials and other overhead costs will be, put together a simple sales forecast to help you model different scenarios. 

Make sure your menu is cost-efficient

This may seem self-explanatory, but there is no faster way to put yourself out of business than by delivering amazing dishes that cost more to produce than what you are receiving from the client. Be sure to factor in all food preparation costs when deciding what you will put on your menu.

• 6. Choose your location and handle logistics

Before you can place that first order and take that first piping hot tray out of the oven, you will have to clear some logistical hurdles to get your business operational. To work through this next step, you will have to wear the hat of a shrewd CEO and CFO.

Choose a business location

Perhaps the biggest difference between the catering and restaurant industries is that the restaurant mantra “location, location, location” does not really apply as much when it comes to starting a catering business.

Jean-Marc believes what is most important in choosing a location is what amenities are available rather than what part of the city you are situated in.

“I don’t think it really matters where you are located,” he says. “What is important is to have plenty of preparation and storage space. We have office space plus a basement for storage with walk-in fridges and walk-in freezers.”

Decide on transportation

Setting up shop anywhere you’d like is a positive, but having reliable and sizable transportation is an absolute necessity. You will have to determine if it makes sense to buy a company van or simply rent one on an as-needed basis.

Of course, there’s more to transporting food than simply loading it into the back of a van. You will need special units to keep the food properly preserved from your location to the function.

This might include: 

• Food carriers
• Beverage carriers
• Insulated food carts
• Banquet carts
• Thermal insulators

Make sure you have insurance

Anyone entering the foodservice industry absolutely must protect themselves with adequate business insurance coverage .

Even with the most careful attention to detail, accidental food poisoning or other mishaps can happen and you must be prepared for all eventualities. Your serving staff will also require workers’ compensation insurance.

Reduce risk wherever possible

Pay attention to workplace safety . Catering disasters aren’t unheard of. Plan for the unexpected . Think about what can go wrong and come up with a few ideas for how you might deal with it. You can reduce your risk if you plan ahead. You’ll encounter challenges that it never occurred to you to think through. Do yourself a favor and check a few of those off the list, well before go-time. 

• 7. Develop your marketing strategy

You’re already the culinary master, you’ve taken on the role of CEO and CFO, and now it’s time to put on yet another hat: marketing specialist.

No matter how great your food is, your business won’t survive without the clientele. Here are some things to consider when it comes time to start marketing your catering business.

Think twice about brochures and flyers

Not long ago, this was one of the go-to methods for getting exposure for a catering business. Handing them out a wedding or trade shows was considered a no-brainer for any enterprising caterer.

“We used to do brochures and flyers but that doesn’t really work these days,” Jean-Marc says. Instead, they now use a targeted cold-call method when they have on-site office jobs. “Let’s say we have a job in the building at 110 King Street. What we do is take business cards to the neighboring businesses and let them know who we are and what we have to offer. That has worked well for us in the past.”

Establish a website and social media presence

Your website is the first place most people will go to see what your business has to offer and determine if it’s a good fit for them. This is by far the most effective marketing tool you will use.

Having a strong web presence is an absolute must. Make it easy for clients to reach you and understand what you’re about. Should you  run your entire catering business on a Facebook page? Probably not. There are some risks associated with running your business from a platform that you don’t own and don’t have much say over. Think of social media as one arm of your marketing strategy, but not the entire thing. Especially as Facebook and other platforms have evolved to deprioritize business-related content, remember that you get what you pay for. Instagram might be a great way to generate some buzz around your food, but don’t put all your eggs in one basket. 

Volunteer your services at a charitable event

This is a tactic that Jean-Marc has found to be very effective during his years in the business. Find a great cause you want to support, and offer to cater the event as your contribution in exchange for the organizers using your company name and logo on all promotional materials and at the event itself. 

You will be incurring a significant expense at the outset, but it is a great way to penetrate a target-rich environment.

Partner with event planners and venue owners

Look to develop long-term, mutually beneficial relationships with other organizations that frequently use caterers. Establishing a great working relationship with the top two or three event planners in your area is a great way to keep your business going strong.

Below you’ll find a list of different resources that can help you find out more about what goes into getting your catering business off the ground.

• The Catering Institute : An excellent online resources which offers downloads, essays, videos, and webinars on topics such as leadership, operations, sales and marketing, and delivery. Past webinars include “Catering Menu Optimization,” “How to Market Your Holiday Catering Program,” and “Building Loyalty and Order Frequency with Rewards and Incentives.”
• NACE : The National Association of Catering and Events offers online learning opportunities through what they call NACE University. Their courses fall under two umbrella headings: The Business Academy, and Food Safety. They also offer Certified Professional in Catering and Events (CPCE) Designation.
• Vegetarian Society : An excellent resource to help caterers navigate the often choppy waters of providing excellent meals to a strict vegetarian clientele.
• TES : An online educational resource hub that is home to the world’s largest online community of teachers, with 7.3 million registered users. It has numerous resources for caterers including information on cooking skills, health and safety, managing an event, customer service, world foods, and preparing food—just to name a few.

Books and magazines:

One visit to Amazon will give you numerous options for published guides on starting a catering business.

Some of the titles you’ll find include:

• How to Start a Catering Business: The Catering Business Plan—An Essential Guide for Starting a Catering Business by Sierra Young
• Good Food Good Business: Starting and Running a Successful Catering Business by Culina Salus
• The Everything Guide to Starting and Running a Catering Business: Insider’s Advice on Turning Your Talent into a Career by Joyce Weinberg
• Starting and Running a Catering Business by Carol Godsmark
• Taking those first steps

Both Jean-Marc and Warren stress the importance of patience and determination in those early days. It will be harder and more labor-intensive than you can possibly imagine, but it will also be unbelievably rewarding.

Warren said anyone new to the field must anticipate seasonal ups and downs—there will be natural ebbs and flows and it is important to be both psychologically and financially prepared.

“This is a very seasonal business . It seems we work really, really hard for eight months out of the year and for four months out of the year we get to regroup, recalibrate, reorganize,” he says. “That’s a good thing, but you just have to be sure you prepare for that from a cash flow perspective.”

So, the next time you amaze your social circle with your culinary mastery and someone says “you should really start your own catering company,” ask yourself one question—are you ready to flip the switch?

See why 1.2 million entrepreneurs have written their business plans with LivePlan

Tony has returned to his early love of journalistic writing by freelancing long form articles and blog posts. He is currently turning his TV series pilot for The New Twenty into his first novel. Tony lives in Toronto where he continues to be tormented by his beloved Maple Leafs.

Table of Contents

• 2. Figure out if you’re ready to start a catering company

Related Articles

11 Min. Read

How to Start a Successful Online Clothing Business

8 Min. Read

How to Start a Food Truck

25 Min. Read

How to Start a Farm: Your Complete Guide to Success

4 Min. Read

Resources to Help You Start a Successful Real Estate Agency

The Bplans Newsletter

The Bplans Weekly

Subscribe now for weekly advice and free downloadable resources to help start and grow your business.

We care about your privacy. See our privacy policy .

The quickest way to turn a business idea into a business plan

Fill-in-the-blanks and automatic financials make it easy.

No thanks, I prefer writing 40-page documents.

Discover the world’s #1 plan building software

How To Write A Winning Catering Business Plan + Template

Creating a business plan is essential for any business, but it can be especially helpful for catering businesses that want to improve their strategy and/or raise funding. This begs a question: what elements appropriately belong in your catering business plan.

A well-crafted business plan not only outlines the vision for your company, but also documents a step-by-step roadmap of how you are going to accomplish it. In order to create an effective business plan, you must first understand the components that are essential to its success.

This article provides an overview of the key elements that every catering business owner should include in his or her business plan.

Download the Ultimate Catering Business Plan Template

What is a Catering Business Plan?

A catering business plan is a formal written document that describes your company’s business strategy and its feasibility. It documents the reasons you will be successful, your areas of competitive advantage, and it includes information about your team members. Your business plan is a key document that will convince investors and lenders (if needed) that you are positioned to become a successful venture.

Why Write a Catering Business Plan?

A catering business plan is required for banks and investors. The document is a clear and concise guide of your business idea and the steps you will take to make it profitable.

Entrepreneurs can also use this as a roadmap when starting their new company or venture, especially if they are inexperienced in starting a business.

Writing an Effective Catering Business Plan

The following are the key components of a successful catering business plan:

Executive Summary

The executive summary of a catering business plan is a one to two page overview of your entire business plan. It should summarize the main points, which will be presented in full in the rest of your business plan. Follow these tips:

• Start with a one-line description of your catering company
• Provide a short summary of the key points in each section of your business plan, which includes information about your company’s management team, industry analysis, competitive analysis, and financial forecast among others.
• Form a line-up of evaluators to whom you will give your catering business plan and have them be heartless in their criticism.

Company Description

This section should include a brief history of your company. Include a short description of how your company started, and provide a timeline of milestones your company has achieved.

If you are just starting your catering business, you may not have a long company history. Instead, you can include information about your professional experience in this industry and how and why you conceived your new venture. If you have worked for a similar company before or have been involved in an entrepreneurial venture before starting your catering firm, mention this.

You will also include information about your chosen catering business model and how, if applicable, it is different from other companies in your industry.

Industry Analysis

The industry or market analysis is an important component of a catering business plan. Conduct thorough market research to determine industry trends and document the size of your market. 

Questions to answer in the catering business plan  include:

• What part of the catering industry are you targeting?
• How big is the market?
• What trends are happening in the industry right now (and if applicable, how do these trends support the success of your company)?

You should also include sources for the information you provide, such as published research reports and expert opinions.

Customer Analysis

This section should include a list of your target audience(s) with demographic and psychographic profiles (e.g., age, gender, income level, profession, job titles, interests). You will need to provide a profile of each customer segment separately, including their needs and wants.

For example, a catering business’ customers may include:

• Wedding receptions
• Corporate luncheons and events
• Private parties
• Cocktail parties

This information will help you determine your marketing strategy later on. It is important to remember that your target market may not always be the same as your actual customer base. In other words, you may have to market to a different audience in your catering business plan than the one you eventually want to sell your services to.

You can include information about how your customers make the decision to buy from you as well as what keeps them buying from you.

Develop a strategy for targeting those customers who are most likely to buy from you, as well as those that might be influenced to buy your products or catering services with the right marketing.

Competitive Analysis

The competitive analysis helps you determine how your product or service will be different from competitors, and what your unique selling proposition (USP) might be that will set you apart in this industry.

For each competitor, list their strengths and weaknesses. Next, determine your areas of competitive differentiation and/or advantage; that is, in what ways are you different from and ideally better than your competitors.

Marketing Plan

This part of the business plan is where you determine and document your marketing strategy. Your plan should be clearly laid out, including the following 4 Ps.

• Product/Service : Detail your product/service offerings here. Document their features and benefits.
• Price : Document your pricing strategy here. In addition to stating the prices for your products/services, mention how your pricing compares to your competition.
• Place : Where will your customers find you? What channels of distribution (e.g., partnerships) will you use to reach them if applicable?
• Promotion : How will you reach your target customers? For example, you may use social media, write blog posts, create an email marketing campaign, use pay-per-click advertising, launch a direct mail campaign. Or you may promote your catering business via word-of-mouth.

Operations Plan

This part of your catering business plan should include the following information:

• How will you deliver your product/service to customers? For example, will you do it in person or over the phone only?
• What infrastructure, equipment, and resources are needed to operate successfully? How can you meet those requirements within budget constraints?

The operations plan is where you also need to include your company’s business policies. You will want to establish policies related to everything from customer service to pricing, to the overall brand image you are trying to present.

Finally, and most importantly, in your Operations Plan, you will lay out the milestones your company hopes to achieve within the next three-to-five years. Create a chart that shows the key milestone(s) you hope to achieve each quarter for the next four quarters, and then each year for the following four years. Examples of milestones for a catering business include reaching $X in sales. Other examples include:

Hiring a certain number of new employees

Opening a second location

Rolling out a new product or service line

Management Team

List your team members here including their names and titles, as well as their expertise and experience relevant to your specific catering industry. Include brief biography sketches for each team member.

Particularly if you are seeking funding, the goal of this section is to convince investors and lenders that your team has the expertise and experience to execute on your plan. If you are missing key team members, document the roles and responsibilities you plan to hire for in the future.

Financial Plan

Here you will include a summary of your complete and detailed financial plan (your full financial projections go in the Appendix). 

This includes the following three financial statements:

Income Statement

Your income statement should include:

• Revenue : how much revenue you generate.
• Cost of Goods Sold : These are your direct costs associated with generating revenue. This includes labor costs, as well as the cost of any equipment and supplies used to deliver the product/service offering.
• Net Income (or loss) : Once expenses and revenue are totaled and deducted from each other, this is the net income or loss

Sample Income Statement for a Startup Catering Business

Balance sheet.

Include a balance sheet that shows your assets, liabilities, and equity. Your balance sheet should include:

• Assets : All of the things you own (including cash).
• Liabilities : This is what you owe against your company’s assets, such as accounts payable or loans.
• Equity : The worth of your business after all liabilities and assets are totaled and deducted from each other.

Sample Balance Sheet for a Startup Catering Business

Cash flow statement.

Include a cash flow statement showing how much cash comes in, how much cash goes out and a net cash flow for each year. The cash flow statement should include:

• Cash Flow From Operations
• Cash Flow From Investments
• Cash Flow From Financing

Below is a sample of a projected cash flow statement for a startup catering business.

Sample Cash Flow Statement for a Startup Catering Business

You will also want to include an appendix section which will include:

• Your complete financial projections
• A complete list of your company’s business policies and procedures related to the rest of the business plan (marketing, operations, etc.)
• Any other documentation which supports what you included in the body of your business plan.

Writing a good business plan gives you the advantage of being fully prepared to launch and/or grow your catering company. It not only outlines your business vision but also provides a step-by-step process of how you are going to accomplish it.

A well-written business plan is critical for any catering business looking to start or grow. In addition, be sure to include a detailed financial plan and supporting documentation in your appendix. This will give investors and lenders the confidence they need to believe in your company’s long-term success.  

Finish Your Catering Business Plan in 1 Day!

Other helpful articles.

Free Catering Invoice Template and FAQs

Catering Business Plan Template

Catering business plan.

If you want to start a catering business or expand your current one, you need a business plan.

Over the past 20+ years, we have helped over 5,000 entrepreneurs and business owners create business plans to start and grow their catering businesses.

How to Write a Business Plan for a Catering Company

Below are links to each section of your catering business plan template:

Next Section: Executive Summary >

Catering Company Business Plan FAQs

What is the easiest way to complete my catering business plan.

Growthink's Ultimate Catering Business Plan Template allows you to quickly and easily complete your Catering Business Plan.

Where Can I Download a Catering Business Plan PDF?

You can download our catering business plan PDF template here . This is a business plan template you can use in PDF format.

What Is a Catering Business Plan?

A catering business plan provides a snapshot of your own business as it stands today, and lays out your growth plan for the next five years. It explains your business’ goals and your strategy for reaching them. It also includes market research to support your plans.

Why Do You Need a Business Plan for a Catering Company?

If you’re looking to start a catering business or grow your existing small business you need a business plan, especially if you are seeking financing for your business. A business plan will help you raise funding, if needed, and plan out the growth of your company in order to improve your chances of success. Your catering business plan is a living document that should be updated annually as your catering company grows and changes.

How Do I Write a Successful Catering Business Plan?

The best way to write a catering business plan is to follow a proven catering business plan template. This template should include the following information: Executive Summary, Company Analysis, Competitive Analysis, Industry Analysis, Customer Analysis, Marketing Strategy & Plan, Operations Plan, Management Team, Financial Projections & Plan, and Appendix.

What Are the Sources of Funding for a Catering Business?

With regards to funding, the main sources of funding for a catering business are savings and/or credit cards of the business owner, bank loans and angel investors. With regards to bank loans, banks will want to review your business plan and gain confidence that you will be able to repay your loan and interest. To acquire this confidence, the loan officer will not only want to confirm that your financials are reasonable. But they will want to see a professional plan. Such a plan will give them the confidence that you can successfully and professionally operate a business.

The second most common form of funding for a catering business or cafe is angel investors. Angel investors are wealthy individuals who will write you a check. They will either take equity in return for their funding, or, like a bank, they will give you a loan. Venture capitalists will not fund a catering business. They might consider funding a catering company with multiple locations or a massive footprint, but never an individual location. This is because most venture capitalists are looking for millions of dollars in return when they make an investment, and an individual or small location could never achieve such results.

What Are the 3 Types of Catering Service Businesses?

There are three types of catering service businesses: on-premise catering, off-premise catering, and event catering.

• On-premise catering is when the caterer sets up a temporary commercial kitchen space at the client's location.
• Off-premise catering is when the caterer provides delicious food for events such as picnics, weddings, cocktail parties, and other meetings off-site.
• Event catering is where the caterer prepares food that is served at special events, corporate events, or family events.

What Are The 5 Steps to Starting a Catering Business?

Starting a catering business is not as difficult as one might think. Here are the five steps needed to get your catering business up and running:

• Come Up With a Business Idea : This is probably the most important step, as it will lay the foundation for everything else you do. When brainstorming business ideas, make sure to think about what you’re good at and what you enjoy doing.
• Do Your Research : This step is important to ensure your business is viable and has the potential for success.
• Create a Catering Business Plan : A business plan is a document that outlines your goals, strategies, and financials. It’s a must-have for any business, but especially for a catering business.
• Obtain Your Business License : In order to legally operate your catering business, you will need to obtain the necessary business licenses.
• Secure Funding : If needed, you will need to secure funding in order to get your catering business off the ground.

Once your business is up and running, it’s time to start promoting it! Create a marketing plan and start spreading the word about your new catering business to potential clients.

What are the Benefits of Starting a Catering Business?

There are numerous benefits of starting a catering business, including:

• Low Overhead Costs : One of the benefits of catering is that the overhead costs are relatively low, especially when compared to other food preparation businesses such as restaurants. This means you can make a profit with fewer customers and staff members.
• Flexible Schedule : Typically have a flexible schedule, which is ideal for those who want to be their own boss and have more control over their time.
• Variety of Services : Can offer a variety of catering services and menus, which gives you the ability to target a range of customers.
• Repeat Customers : Typically have a high percentage of repeat customers, as people often use catering for specific events like weddings, business meetings, conventions, etc.
• High Demand : Another benefit of catering is that there are typically high demands for this type of service during certain times of the year, including holidays and warm weather months when people are hosting events outside.

What are the Pitfalls of Starting a Catering Business?

While there are many benefits to starting a catering business, there are also some potential pitfalls that should be considered. These include:

• Not Enough Demand : Before starting a catering business, it’s important to do your research and make sure there is enough demand for your services.
• Lack of Experience : If you don’t have experience in the catering industry, it will be difficult to start and succeed in this business.
• High Startup Costs : This type of business can have high startup costs because of the equipment needed, as well as all of the miscellaneous costs that come with starting any business.
• Competition : Catering is highly competitive and there are many established catering companies already servicing your market. This means you need to do everything possible to set yourself apart from your competitors in order to be successful.
• Time-Consuming : Catering is a time-consuming business and it can be difficult to balance it with other obligations.
• Limited Scalability : Catering companies are limited in their scalability, meaning you can only expand so much before you hit a limit. This could be problematic if your goal is to grow your business significantly.
• Unpredictable Income : Catering services can be very unpredictable when it comes to income, as they can vary greatly from one event to the next.
• High Risk : As with any business, there is a certain amount of risk involved in starting and running a catering business. You need to be prepared for the possibility of not making a profit or even losing money.

CATERING BUSINESS PLAN OUTLINE

• Catering Business Plan Home
• 1. Executive Summary
• 2. Company Overview
• 3. Industry Analysis
• 4. Customer Analysis
• 5. Competitive Analysis
• 6. Marketing Plan
• 7. Operations Plan
• 8. Management Team
• 9. Financial Plan
• 10. Appendix
• Catering Business Plan Summary

Other Helpful Business Plan Articles & Templates

How to write a business plan for a catering company?

Are you a startup catering business looking to see if your idea is viable and raise financing?

Or an existing catering company looking for ways to grow, expand or improve profitability? 

If so, this guide will provide the tools and insights you need to write a comprehensive business plan for your catering company.

This in-depth guide covers why you should write a business plan for your catering company; what information is necessary; what such plans typically include; and the best tools available for creating them. 

With these resources, you'll be well on your way toward success as an established or aspiring caterer!

On the menu:

Why write a business plan for a catering company?

• Information needed to create a business plan for a catering company
• What is the financial forecast for a catering company?
• The written part of a catering business plan
• What tool should I use to write my catering business plan?

Creating a business plan for a catering company is an essential step in the success of any food service venture. Even if you already have an established catering business, you should regularly revise and update your plan.

A business plan is essential because:

• It forces you to think about how you will grow your business
• It’s what financiers will look at if your goal is to get funding
• It helps you keep track of your progress

Business planning and your catering business growth

Having a clear vision for where you want your business to go will help guide your decisions on how to get there.

Writing a business plan will force you to anticipate every aspect of your business - from pricing, marketing and staffing to forecasting, and financial planning - and act as your roadmap for the years to come.

Obtaining funding for your catering business

A well-crafted catering business plan is a mandatory tool when looking for funding.

The business plan details your company's aims and objectives and gives crucial information to potential lenders to make informed judgments about your catering business’ borrowing capacity. 

Similarly, every Investor wants to see healthy growth, profitability, and cash generation to make sure their investment in your catering company will generate a good return on investment. 

Your catering business plan will provide this detailed financial information through the income statements (P&L), balance sheets, and cash flow statements, enabling investors to make an informed decision. 

Keeping track of your catering business’s progress

A business plan is essential if you want to track the progress of your catering business. 

It’s easy to set ambitious goals, but delivering on them is what really matters. Having a business plan in place, and regularly comparing your results to what was planned, keeps you honest about your capacity to execute.

Tracking your financial performance against your forecasts is especially key as it enables you to quickly identify if you are on track or not, and when needed to adjust your forecast in order to maintain visibility on your future cash flows. 

Now that you understand the importance of writing a business plan for a catering company, it's time to look at what information is needed to create one. 

Create your catering business plan online!

Think your catering business could be profitable? Find out how with a business plan!

What information is needed to create a business plan for a catering company?

Carrying out market research for a catering company.

Market research (a look into consumer behaviour and economic trends) is essential before writing a business plan for a catering company. 

Market research provides valuable insight into the industry and can help you to identify potential customer needs, competition, and trends in the market. 

When performing market research for your catering business you could look at answering questions like:

• Is the sector growing?
• What are the most attractive customer segments (corporate, weddings, or social events)?
• Who is the competition? Is the target market saturated?
• What types of cuisine (Mexican, Italian, vegetarian, fast food, traditional, etc.) are more profitable?
• What are the upcoming trends in customer habits in the catering business?
• What are sales like during weekdays and weekends? Is there a high level of seasonality?
• What is pricing like? And how have profit margins evolved in recent years?

With this information, you can more accurately forecast revenues (sales) and create an effective marketing strategy to give your catering company the best chance of success. 

Also, it gives investors confidence in your understanding of the industry and provides evidence that you are taking steps to ensure long-term sustainability. 

Developing the marketing plan for a catering company

You will also need to think about your go to market strategy - i.e. what actions will be put in place to acquire and retain customers. 

Having a clear sales & marketing strategy in place will help you ensure you have the right level of staff, and budget for sales and marketing costs, to hit the sales targets set in your business plan. 

The staffing and equipment needs of a catering company

Before developing your catering business plan, you should evaluate the recruitment strategy and the investments required. 

Knowing how much money is needed for staffing is key to accurately anticipating the funding requirements and cost structure in the forecast of your catering company.

For example, you could consider how much it will cost you to hire:

• A manager (event planner)
• A supervisor
• Dishwashers

Similarly, you should also factor in the money you will spend on equipment that is needed to start or expand your business.

Once you have collected all the necessary information to create a business plan for your catering company, the next step is to develop a financial forecast. 

What goes in the financial forecast of a catering company?

The financial forecast for a catering company contains the profit and loss (P&L) or income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement which we will present in more detail below. 

These financial tables enable the readers of your plan to assess the financial potential of your catering business, in particular its viability, borrowing capacity and potential return on investment.

The projected P&L statement

The projected P&L statement for a catering company is a financial statement that shows how much money your company is expected to make (profit) and how much it is anticipated to grow over time.

The projected balance sheet of your catering company

The balance sheet is an essential financial statement used to assess your catering company's financial position at a given time. It is a snapshot of the company’s assets, liabilities, and net worth (owner’s money left in the business after deducting liabilities from assets). 

Equipment, inventory, accounts receivable (a record of sales made on credit), investments, and cash are samples of assets a firm may own. Loans, accounts payable (purchases the business made on credit), taxes, and wages are examples of liabilities. 

Lenders, investors or business owners can get an insight into a business’s financial condition when they compare what your business owes versus what it owns. 

Also, a catering company's balance sheet will show whether it is solvent (the ability of the business to pay its long-term debt) or liquid (the business's ability to pay its short-term debt). This helps assess your catering business' funding requirements and borrowing capacity.

The projected cash flow statement

The cash flow forecast of your catering business helps you understand how much money is coming in and going out. 

This will assist you in making informed decisions about how to expand your business and plan for the future. 

Knowing your cash flow can also help you determine whether you have enough money to keep the business running or if you need additional capital.

The initial financing plan

An initial financing plan shows how much money you need at the start of your catering company business plan, where it will come from, and what it will be used for.

Now that you know what you should include in your catering company's financial forecast, it's time to look at the written portion of your business plan which provides the context needed to evaluate the relevance of your financial forecast.

The written presentation of a catering company business plan

The written presentation is composed of 7 main sections:

The executive summary

• The description of the business

The products and services section

The market analysis.

• The strategy 
• The operations
• The financial plan

The executive summary of the business plan of your catering company should enable readers to quickly and easily understand who you are, what you do, and the objectives of your business plan. 

The summary should include your mission and vision statement, a comprehensive overview of the catering business, its market, key financials, an overview of your plans and goals, your business strategy, your funding requirements, and the administrative structure of your business.

Presentation of the company

When preparing the description of your catering business, it is essential to consider the different parts that make up the business. First, you should explore the structure and ownership of your enterprise. 

This includes information on who owns the business, how many shareholders there are, and what type of legal entity (sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, and so on) your business operates as.

The second part to consider is the location of your business. It is crucial to explain why you have chosen a particular area or city for your catering venture, and how the local market may benefit from having your services.

Finally, you should describe the management team. Include an outline of each member’s experience and certifications, and how their jobs will contribute to the catering company's success. 

A good leadership team is vital for every business plan since it increases investor trust. As a result, ensuring that they are adequately highlighted can make all the difference.

When you are writing the products and services of the business plan for a catering business, it is important to include detailed descriptions of each product or service.

For example, in this portion of the business plan, you could state that you cater to private events, weddings, corporate groups, and so on. 

Your plan's reader should have a sense of how many guests can be served for each type of event, what types of menus are available, and if any specific dietary needs can be met, as well as other significant facts.

The goal here is to ensure you adequately present all your products and services.

This information should be clear, concise and comprehensive so that potential investors or banks can get a good understanding of what exactly your catering company offers.

When presenting the conclusion of your market analysis in your catering business plan, you should include information about demographics and segmentation, target market, competition, barriers to entry, and regulation. 

This will help lenders and investors understand who the company is targeting with its services, and help inform their opinion of your commercial potential.

In addition to demographic information, it's also important to provide an overview of your competition in order to show potential investors why your service stands out from others in the local market.

You should also explain any relevant regulations you must adhere to when operating.

By providing such details you will give potential lenders and investors a clear understanding of how well-positioned you are for success in this competitive industry landscape.

The strategy section

When writing the strategy section of your business plan for a catering company, you should detail your competitive advantage, pricing strategy, marketing plan, milestones and risks and mitigants (how to counter the risks). 

The competitive advantage should highlight how your services are unique from other competitors in the area. This could include special cuisine options or services, such as delivery or event planning. 

In addition, a pricing strategy is essential to ensure that customers are getting value for money while still making sure that profits are maximized. Pricing should be competitive yet profitable for the business, considering market trends and the customer's willingness to pay. 

Moreover, a detailed marketing plan must be included which outlines how the company plans to promote its services and reach potential customers. 

Plus, you should set milestones to measure the success of your business plan, and risks and mitigants identified to prepare for any potential issues that may arise. 

With these elements included, your strategy section will ensure that your catering company stands out from the competition.

The operations section

This section should provide an overview of how your business is organized to achieve success and must be convincing enough to investors and banks.

The operations section of your catering business plan, you should include detailed information about your staffing team, roles and responsibilities of staff members, recruitment plans, operating hours, key assets and intellectual property needed to operate the business, and suppliers. 

In terms of staffing, your business plan should detail who will be responsible for each job role, what qualifications and experience are required for each position, and how many people will fill that role. 

The financial plan section

The financial plan section of the guide is where you talk about the financial forecast we talked about earlier in this guide. 

By now, you should have a comprehensive understanding of the information that belongs in your catering business plan. It's time to begin assembling all the parts. 

What tool should I use to write my catering company's business plan?

In this section, we’ll be reviewing three solutions for creating a business plan for your catering company: using Word and Excel, hiring a consultant, or using online business plan software.

Create your catering company's business plan using Word or Excel

Using Word and Excel sounds attractive because they are cheap, but these tools are often not the best solution for you due to their limitations.

Do you have the skills to create a forecast in Excel? This is the first issue if you are going fully manual with Excel: you need to understand what you are doing, meaning that you need to have a solid background in accounting and finance to avoid making mistakes.

The second issue is trust. Even if you avoid making mistakes, will investors and lenders think you did? 

Now when it comes to writing the actual business plan, Word is great but you start from a blank page, without instructions, and have to do all the formatting which takes forever.

Hire a consultant to write your catering company's business plan

Outsourcing the writing of your catering business plan to an accountant or consultant may be a viable option for you if you don’t have time. 

The main advantage of this approach is that consultants and accountants are used to writing business plans and financial forecasts, and thus there is less risk of errors. 

However, this method also has its drawbacks:

• It’s expensive: it costs a minimum of $2,000 (or £1,500) to get a business plan from a consultant.
• Revisions required after the first version of the plan are often not included in the price.
• Unless the consultant knows your industry by heart, they are unlikely to be able to challenge your assumptions, and to be able to sell your positioning compellingly.
• Accountants won't touch any part of the presentation (they only help with the forecast).

Using an online business plan software

Another alternative is to use online business plan software . There are several advantages to using specialized software:

• You are guided through the writing process by detailed instructions and examples for each part of the plan
• You can be inspired by already written business plan templates
• You can easily make your financial forecast by letting the software take care of the financial calculations for you without errors
• You get a professional document, formatted and ready to be sent to your bank
• The software will enable you to easily track your actual financial performance against your forecast and update your forecast as time goes by

If you're interested in using this type of solution, you can try our software for free by signing up here .

We hope that this article has helped you to better understand how to write the business plan for a catering company. If you still have questions, do not hesitate to contact us.

Also on The Business Plan Shop

• How to write a successful business plan for a pizzeria
• Coffee shop business plan template

Know someone in the catering industry? Share this article with them!

Founder & CEO at The Business Plan Shop Ltd

Guillaume Le Brouster is a seasoned entrepreneur and financier.

Guillaume has been an entrepreneur for more than a decade and has first-hand experience of starting, running, and growing a successful business.

Prior to being a business owner, Guillaume worked in investment banking and private equity, where he spent most of his time creating complex financial forecasts, writing business plans, and analysing financial statements to make financing and investment decisions.

Guillaume holds a Master's Degree in Finance from ESCP Business School and a Bachelor of Science in Business & Management from Paris Dauphine University.

Create a convincing business plan

Assess the profitability of your business idea and create a persuasive business plan to pitch to investors

500,000+ entrepreneurs have already tried our solution - why not join them?

Not ready to try our on-line tool ? Learn more about our solution here

Need some inspiration for your business plan?

Subscribe to The Business Plan Shop and gain access to our business plan template library.

Need a professional business plan? Discover our solution

Write your business plan with ease!

It's easy to create a professional business plan with The Business Plan Shop

Want to find out more before you try? Learn more about our solution here

Catering Proposal

In the food industry, multiple small businesses have opened to take advantage of the continuous demand. Because of this, it’s normal to feel the frustrations when it comes to your own catering service company. And while you build a good company profile, why don’t you take a look at your food samples, are they worth considering? If so, you will need to highlight what your company can provide in a document. Make a  business proposal  that you can give to your client. With this, you can convince them to choose your restaurant catering for their special event. Check out the examples of catering proposals below for your reference. 

16+ Catering Proposal Examples

1. catering proposal example.

• Google Docs

Size: A4, US

2. Wedding Catering Proposal Template

Size: A4 & US

3. Catering Contract Proposal Template

4. Free Catering Proposal Letter

5. Free Catering Event Proposal Letter

6. Catering Business Proposal Example

7. Catering Business Proposal

Size: 123 KB

8. Catering Services Proposal Request

Size: 266 KB

9. Catering Proposal in PDF

Size: 133 KB

10. Catering Menu Proposal

Size: 677 KB

11. Food Services Catering Sample Proposal

Size: 324 KB

12. Catering Proposal for Wedding

Size: 30 KB

13. Press Catering Proposal

Size: 33 KB

14. Sample Catering Proposal

Size: 376 KB

 15. Catering Approval Proposal

Size: 535 KB

16. Catering Proposal Format

Size: 64 KB

17. School Catering Proposal

Size: 110 KB

What Is a Catering Proposal?

A catering  proposal  is an essential material that contains the catering service that a company offers to solve common issues within a client organization. It includes a  list  of different sections, such as services and  estimates . Generally, it helps the company persuade or convince a prospective client to make a final decision.

A Taste of the Growth of the Restaurant Industry

Many entrepreneurs have gone through different phases of trouble concerning their business. Part of that is the competition. As this may block your way through success, this doesn’t mean that the food industry is failing. Perhaps, the restaurants in the US have been expanding. According to an  analysis  released by the National Restaurant Association, there are now almost  16 million US workers in the restaurant industry . This is because of the nurtured success from the  investment proposals  that keep expanding, including franchise and new branches.

How To Write a Catering Proposal

Before you write a  business contract , there must always be a proposal. In catering services, a proposal should be persuasive enough to attract potential clients. It should follow the right format, tone, and content in general. Always remember to prioritize the budget  and benefits. With that, organize your document by following the steps below.

1. Discuss What the Client Needs

Just like any persuasive writing, it helps in the process to see if you know what the problem that your prospective client is dealing with. Does your client need a food vendor for an upcoming conference? Is it possible to offer the best sellers from your  catering menu ? With this, you can accurately and confidently specify the best offers into your  proposal product proposal .

2. Highlight the Services that Provide Improvement

How are you going to solve what your client is looking for? Next to knowing the requirements is listing all the ways to assess the improvement of such a request. Here, specify all that you can provide. For wedding events, this will include the food choices, cocktails,  event schedule , time duration for reception, persons, and other resources, such as table napkins, tables, and utensils. You may also present descriptions and photos of your menu. By doing this, the client will have more options to choose from.

3. Include the Quotation

It is best to outline the cost of every item as per every client’s request. Here, propose the best  quotation  you can give. Provide the clients a discount and find a way to cut costs, such as presenting event packages and in bulk rates. Doing this will help clients secure that their  expense budget  won’t go beyond what they expect. 

4. Provide the Benefits

Lastly, in your  catering request form , make sure to add all the benefits that clients can get. It can be the convenience, good food, and cost-effective offerings. In this way, you can win the deal because your prospects will no longer look for other options. 

What are the types of catering?

Catering has various types. It includes the corporate, wedding, social event, food truck, and cocktail reception catering.

How is an indoor catering defined?

Generally, it is a catering reception in a closed space. An indoor catering takes most space in ventilated areas. It requires functional systems for indoor lighting and other equipment.

What are the benefits that catering can provide to a client?

Catering provides more food options, a cost-effective meal plan, and positive impressions.

As you see, there is a demand for catering services as events are everywhere. Therefore, there is a competition. When you lack the power to meet the clients’ needs, there are no chances for you to succeed. Because of this, you need to persuade potential clients to consider what you can offer. Write a convincing catering proposal to close the deal.  Grab a piece of paper and make a comprehensive document  now.

Proposal Maker

Text prompt

• Instructive
• Professional

Generate a proposal for a new school recycling program

Compose a proposal for a school field trip to a science museum.

• Call to +1 844 889-9952

Design of Catering Supply Chain

Introduction.

The supply chain in the catering industry has become very important, and firms can no longer ignore its relevance in the modern world. According to Grant and Jordan (2012), the catering industry is emerging as an independent and robust industry from the hospitality industry. For a long time, it was considered part of the hospitality industry. However, it has expanded, and now it is considered an industry of its own.

Many catering service providers have designed their product delivery methods in a way that they can offer their services in any place that their clients require. Catering services are now available onboard planes, on cruise ships, on trains, long-distance buses, in garden weddings, and virtually any place that one may want to have a supply of food. The growth of this industry has seen the entry of many players who are keen on tapping into opportunities. This has seen an increase in market competition over the past recent years. According to Taylor (2004), competition in the catering services has forced many firms to come up with strategies that can help them remain at the top of their game. The only way of doing this is to deliver high-quality products to the customers as and when needed. To do this, a firm must have an effective supply chain design.

The research by Lynch (2012) notes that the supply chain in the catering industry is different from the supply chain of other industries. In the catering industry, almost all the raw materials supplied to the firms are perishable. In order to prepare a high-quality meal, a firm must get fresh supplies. The problem, in this case, is that sometimes it may be necessary to have the inventory in-store in order to meet the changing demands in the industry.

This is even more challenging for firms providing catering services to the airline industry. Sometimes they are given a short notice of less than an hour to deliver an order that is meant for over 300 people. In other cases, the original order may be canceled in less than two hours to deliver. This means that the firm must be in a position to respond to these changes in the fastest way possible without running into a loss or failing to deliver products. Just in time delivery is, therefore, of critical importance to the players in this industry. They must know how to move with speed in responding to the requests of their customers. That is why catering firms are now forced to use unique designs in their supply chains in order to meet their unique industry needs. In this research paper, the focus will be to determine the relevance of technology-based strategic sourcing as a way of improving the supply chain in the catering industry.

Evolution of the Concept

Historical background.

The supply chain was traditionally considered a simple process where a firm would coordinate with the producers of the raw materials to delivering specific products at a given date. However, the changing environmental factors have redefined the concept of the supply chain. Many firms realized that the supply chain strategy used firms dealing in non-perishable products such as cement could not be applicable to supply chain strategies used by firms dealing in perishable goods. In the catering industry, there emerged the need to have a unique supply chain strategy that would be responsive in real-time.

According to Bowersox, Closs, and Cooper (2014), many catering firms raised that in many cases, their trusted clients would adjust their orders a few hours before the time of product delivery. If a customer cancels an order a few hours before the time of delivery, then it means that the catering firm may need to find a way of halting the production process in a way that will not lead to significant financial loss. As mentioned before, almost all the raw materials used in the catering industry are perishable products. This means that halting the process when the raw materials have been delivered may lead to a loss. A firm must, therefore, have a system that will help in halting the delivery of the products from the suppliers. In other cases, a client may request an increase in the quantity of the originally made order a few hours before the delivery time.

When that happens, Barney and Hesterly (2012) say that a firm must be able to source for the raw materials within that short time and deliver the products as per the demands of their customers. This may be quite challenging, given that sometimes it may not be easy accessing these raw materials within such short notice. Canceling of the originally placed order with the suppliers may sometimes cause a strained relationship. In fact, Mitcham (2011) says that it may even result in mistrust. A supplier may not trust orders placed by such a firm, and this means that such a supplier may easily ignore such orders. That can be very serious.

This uncertainty forced many firms in the catering industry to devise different approaches that would enable them to manage the challenges they faced in product delivery. Many of these firms started using just in time delivery approach. This supply chain practice proved very successful to many firms in this industry. It is still in use to date. However, almost all the firms in the catering industry use this strategy, and therefore, it offers no additional advantage over other rival firms. That is why firms have been keen to develop other additional strategies to improve their competitiveness in the market. Other useful strategies that have been implemented by some of the leading catering firms around the world include collaborative strategic sourcing and strategic alliance with the suppliers. In many respects, these strategies have worked. However, the emerging trends in the industry demand more.

Current trends and context

According to Bolstorff and Rosenbaum (2012), catering firms, especially those offering their services to airline customers, are faced with a new trend that is posting serious challenges to their operations. Most of the airline firms are now keen on cutting down their budget. One of the ways of doing this is to reduce the cost of catering services they offer to their clients onboard their planes. This new trend has had many of the catering firms counting losses because they had not mastered the trend in the industry. Airline companies are now making adjustments on their orders a few hours before the time of take-off.

Leon (2013) says that in many cases, an airline firm may receive flight cancellations a few hours before the take-off time. When this happens, it only means that they would require less amount of meal ordered. If the original order is not adjusted, these airlines may be forced to throw away the remaining amounts, and that may lead to a direct loss for the firm. It is because of this that many of them are now keen to adjust their orders when they receive such cancellations. The catering firms must be in a position to respond to such adjustments within the shortest period possible. In other cases, an airline company may request an increase in the number of meals to be provided because of last-minute bookings.

When such eventualities occur, the catering firms must be in a position to adjust the number of their products upwards within the time provided. These last-minute changes on the original order are not a simple thing. It poses a serious challenge to catering firms. They are forced to live in a world of constant uncertainties. They do not know what tomorrow holds. They keep guessing the possible changes that their clients will make on their orders a few hours or sometimes less than an hour before the delivery time. This even poses a big challenge in terms of the number of people to employ. A sudden increase in demand will force a firm to have more people working in the supply chain. A decrease in demand decreases the number of people needed to work in the same chain. This is a challenge that many firms are still struggling within the market today.

However, the emergence of technology-based strategic sourcing is promising to help in addressing this problem. It promises to reduce the last minute rashes or at least prepare the catering firms about the impending changes before they actually occur.

Description of the Supply Chain Practice Including Its Key Elements

Technology-based strategic sourcing is a relatively new concept that has been in use for some time now. The strategy is now well documented by the existing literature because it combines a number of existing strategies into a new integrated system meant to empower catering service providers. It brings together two major concepts of strategic sourcing and the use of technology in sourcing (Johnson, Scholes & Whittington 2011, p. 74).

The concept is simple but very effective and requires a highly skilled team to execute it. Strategic sourcing has widely been used in catering as a way of bringing together a close relationship between the supplies the catering firm and the customers. In this system, when a customer makes a call adjusting the products needed, and then the catering firm would call the supplier in order to effect such changes when delivering their products. This is what has helped most of the firms operating in the catering industry. The close relationship helps the firms to have a forum where they understand one another and commit to offering necessary helps for the overall growth of the three partners involved.

The catering firm will appreciate the significance of order adjustments based on the changes in their booking. They will appreciate the fact that these airlines are trying to maintain low-cost production while delivering high-quality products. On the other hand, the suppliers will understand the relevance of the catering firms to respond immediately to such changes in order to meet the needs of the supply firms. This integration is unique but very important. It allows all the stakeholders involved in the supply chain to closely coordinate for the benefit of all of them,

The use of technology in such a closely integrated system is what is referred to as technology-based strategic sourcing. It allows the stakeholders to closely coordinate their activities in a way that may not necessarily need a phone call. According to Bolstorff (2012), sometimes, a phone call may not be made as soon as the changes occur, leading to delays. In this new strategy, the airline company, the catering service provider, and the supplier will have a closely-knit system that allows the two other players to monitor the events taking place at the airline company. Any cancellation of booking would be seen as soon as it occurs. Any last minute bookings will also be captured in real-time.

The information will be transmitted in real-time to the system of the catering company, where the supplier will be able to pick it from and act upon it. This means that the three players will be able to coordinate their activities without the need to make phone calls, as is the case in most of the catering companies today. Sometimes one may forget to make the phone call at the right time, and this may lead to inconvenience to all the three firms involved in the supply chain. When the data is made available in real-time, then it is easier to coordinate these activities.

Key elements

This new supply chain practice has a number of elements, two of which have been discussed in the section above. As stated, the first element in this practice is the integrated relationship between the suppliers, the catering firm, and the customer. This allows for a close sharing of information relevant to delivering high-quality service. The second element is the use of technology to relay the data. This means that the information needed by the catering company and the supplier about the number of supplies needed will be accessible in real-time. The third element is the security of the system. This supply chain practice can be ineffective if it does pose a threat to any of the three players involved, especially the airline company. Airline companies are always very sensitive when it comes to the issue of their security.

These airbuses carry hundreds of passengers on a single flight. Some are prominent people with enemies who may want to destroy them. For this reason, they would prefer traveling without the knowledge of the public, especially individuals they believe have the potential of causing them harm. That is why many airline firms are always uncomfortable when it comes to releasing important information to other firms. The developers of this new system appreciated that this might be a problem. For that reason, they came up with a system that only indicates the number of seats confirmed per flight, neither indicating the seat number nor the name of the passengers on board. Utmost good faith is another element of this system. This means that even though the information available to the other two partners in this system is scanty, it can still be of use to terrorists or individuals who may have ill intentions. For this reason, the scanty information should purposely be used to deliver services to the customers onboard these places, and for no other reason. The two players must commit to ensuring that this information remains secure in their systems in order to protect the ultimate customer.

Supply Chain Process Map

The supply chain map may help in illustrating the activities and processes involved in technology-based strategic sourcing. It has been mentioned that this supply chain practice brings together three major players. These players include the organizational buyer, which in this case, has been identified as an airline company, a catering company, and a supplier. These three players operate in a closely integrated system in order to enhance communication between them. This unique relationship is made possible through the use of emerging technologies. The figure below demonstrates how these three players and interrelated to one another

As shown in the above map, the system does not allow the supplier to access data directly from the organizational buyer. This data is made available to the catering company. The catering company may have a number of important suppliers responsible for various products. The supplier will determine which of the suppliers should access the given information. This means that when the data gets to the catering company, there is a filter that will determine what the suppliers can access. This is meant to empower the catering company. When the flow of data has been established, there is a process that defines the relationship of the players in this system.

The relationship is a commitment to secrecy. Once the data has been made available, the catering company and the supplier must make a commitment to treat the message confidential from any third party who may need it for whatever reasons.

The catering company is responsible for the airline to protect the information they get about the number of bookings. The supplier is responsible for both the catering company and the airline firm. To the airline firm, any attempt by the supplier to release the information will be a betrayal to their business relationship. This may derail the prospects of future business relationships. To the airline company, releasing such information to the third parties may be viewed as a malicious act meant to cause harm to the airline and its passengers. The airline company has all the right to instruct the catering company to source for an alternative supplier who can keep the information as a secret.

It is through such commitments that this system can operate without being abused. According to Petter (2006), one of the most important ingredients that define the nature of the business relationship between two firms is trust. Firms that have trust towards one another may not find a problem engaging in a profitable business relationship. However, when the trust is abused in any way, then regaining it may be more difficult than it was when developing it. The players in this supply chain process must understand that this supply chain practices heavily relies on trust. When trust is breached, then it may not be easy for the system to function optimally.

Supply Chain Analysis

According to Berggren, Bergek, and Bengtsson (2013), supply chain analysis has remained the same despite changes that have taken place in this field. It still involves a firm getting the right raw materials from the supplier and developing the needed products then delivering it to the customer. This is pretty the same thing that takes place in a catering supply chain. However, modifications have been made in this process to ensure that maximum value is generated to the players involved.

Tallman (2009) says that in catering, the number of suppliers can sometimes be numerous. A catering firm may need vegetables, fruits, meat, flour, beverages, and other ingredients needed to prepare a meal. Each of these suppliers plays very important roles in ensuring that the catering firm delivers on its promise to the clients. Sometimes it may be challenging to coordinate with numerous suppliers, especially when handling highly perishable products that may be needed in varying quantities. It is at such moments that technology becomes an integral part of the supply chain system. Technology makes it possible for a firm to individualize the suppliers and create channels where the catering firms will communicate with them directly.

The system makes it possible for the supplier to interact with the supplier individually. This way, it becomes easy to develop a close relationship even though the number of suppliers may be high. When there is an issue with one supplier of a given product, the system will automatically identify an alternative supplier that can meet the gap left by the main supplier. As explained in the above section, the system also allows the suppliers to know what their clients- the catering company- needs at every moment, and how these needs change due to changes in the demand placed by the airline company. Through this industry’s best practice, airline firms get to concentrate on delivering high value in their production methods other than wasting a lot of time trying to find ways of sourcing for various products when given order within a short deadline.

Key Issues in Designing and Implementing the Practice

Technology-based strategic sourcing is a new strategy that promises to improved service delivery among catering companies. It promises a new era where orders will be met even if changes occur within an hour to the departure time. This means that there will be improved experience among the ultimate customers in this entire system- the travelers. They will get their desired meals ready when they are making their travels. The figure below is an image of a flight attendant serving food to the passengers onboard a plane.

Despite the promise, Lynch (2012) says that there are issues that may affect the ability to make use of this system in an effective manner. The biggest issue in designing the program is on how to make it possible for the firm to communicate to the catering service provider about the changes in their booking without revealing the flight number. In many cases, it would be easy for the employees in the catering company to know the flight number once they are aware of the time of the departure. However, technocrats in information technology are trying to come up with software that will eliminate the possibility of detecting the flight number.

When it comes to implementation, the biggest issue that is still affecting the use of this practice is the security threat. Many of the airline companies are unwilling to share important information about the number of clients on board their planes every time they take off. As Coyle, ‎Langley, and Gibson (2008) note, the issue here is nothing but security. If the issue of security can be addressed, then technology-based strategic sourcing can be one of the most effective supply chain practices in the modern world. The practice is still under review in order to find ways of enhancing issues of security.

Major Benefits, Risks/Cost of the Practice

In this section, it will be important to look at the benefits, risks, and costs of the practice. This will make it easy to determine its viability to most of the catering firms that may be looking forward to using it as a way of improving their service delivery and competitiveness in this industry.

Technology-based strategic sourcing as a supply chain practice offers a number of benefits. It eliminates the costs of making constant phone calls to the airline company and to the suppliers in order to address issues regarding changes in the number of products desired in each flight. This system will also ensure that suppliers will be delivered just on time for the preparations. It means that the products will be fresh from the farm; hence the meals produced will be of high quality. The figure below shows an assortment of delicacies meant to deliver a high experience for the ultimate consumers.

This system also enhances close alliance between the catering and the suppliers on one side, and the catering company and its organizational buyer on the other side. The alliance is facilitated by close communication and coordination meant to ensure that there is the maximum value delivered out of every business transaction that takes place.

The main risk when using this system, as mentioned above, is the threat of the data reaching the wrong people. Airlines are always very sensitive when it comes to protecting data about their flights. In a world where terrorism is becoming increasingly common, airlines are keen to ensure that its passengers are safe when they are flying to different destinations. Data about the number of people onboard a given plane or the specific names of people boarding a given plane may pose a security threat. This is specifically so if the passengers are prominent people that may be a target to a given rival group interested in destroying them. One of the ways such individuals can be destroyed is through planting explosives in such planes, shooting the plane while taking off or landing, or planting assassins in the plane to execute the plan. That is why the airline companies are keen on concealing the identity of their clients to third parties.

This is a cost-friendly practice that will help a firm to reduce expenses when using other strategies to enhance the capacity of its supply chain systems. The initial cost may be high in terms of hardware that will be needed at the premises of the catering firm, the airline company, and the major suppliers trusted by the first two stakeholders (airline and catering companies). There will also be a need to purchase the software that makes this happen.

However, after meeting these initial costs, the subsequent costs will only involve maintenance fees. When installed and in use, a firm will eliminate the cost of constant phone calls, time wasted moving from one place to another, and the cost of delayed delivery, under-delivery or over-delivery of a given raw material. This is so because this system will inform the catering company in real-time what each flight expects in terms of catering services. The information will be filtered automatically and then sent to the relevant suppliers of specific products almost in real-time so that they can act upon it. If the number of passengers has increased, then the supplier will adjust the original order upwards. If the number is lower, then the supplier will know how to reduce the number of their supplies. This means that every time they make their deliveries, it will be based on facts, and this will ensure that the amount required is delivered on time.

Trends in UAE/GCC and Successful Usage of the Practice

In the Gold Coast Region, there have emerged major airline companies that are competing favorably with other dominant players in the aviation world. Emirates Airlines and Etihad Airways are some of the leading airlines in this region. This has boosted the catering industry meant for the airline industries. However, these major airlines have become more demanding in terms of the quality of meals they get and the delivery patterns.

These firms want catering companies that can respond to their demands on short notice. This has forced catering companies to come up with various strategies that can help in delivering high quality to the customers based on their needs. Technology-based strategic sourcing is a new supply chain practice that many firms have been using without their knowledge in different variants. In this section, the researcher will look at how Emirates Catering uses this technology as a best practice for other firms who may be interested in applying the strategy in their operations.

Best practices: Emirates Flight Catering

Emirates Flight Catering Company was founded in 2003 by the Emirates Group to offer catering services to its travelers. The firm is headquartered in the city of Dubai and now offers catering services to numerous airlines operating from Dubai International Airport. According to Bowersox, Closs, and Cooper (2014), when this firm started its operations, it was majorly serving travelers using the services of Emirates Airline. However, it expanded very fast, and by the end of the year 2006, the firm had established new facilities capable of offering catering services to over 115,000 travelers in a day. This was a higher number than what Emirates Airline was offering in a day. That is why the management decided to expand the scope of its market by targeting other airline companies that were using Dubai International Airport.

Emirates Flight Catering, just like many other flight catering companies around the world, has been struggling with the issue of supply chain management in the world where customers have become very demanding. The management of this firm has been struggling to manage the changing demand of its major client, Emirate Airlines. In some cases, orders would be canceled at the last minute when the materials have been delivered. In other cases, the airline would demand increased amounts of meal shortly before the flight takeoffs. The management found this to be very challenging (Berggren, Bergek & Bengtsson 2013, p. 78).

The company tried using various supply chain management tools in order to cope with emerging challenges. Just-in-time delivery proved to be the best supply chain practice that could enable it to address the challenge it was facing. However, the firm realized that there was still a challenge in making this tool for functioning effectively. It was necessary to have information about the required order within the shortest time possible.

This message had to be delivered to the supplier in real-time in order to have achieved success with this new tool. It was due to these new developments that Emirates Flight Catering embraced technology-based strategic sourcing. According to the reports released by the management, this practice has enhanced the productivity of this firm since it was reduced. The quality of products delivered to the customers and delivery methods have also improved. The figure below shows a customer taking a light but very nutritious meal onboard a plane.

Emirates Flight Catering found it easy to start using this practice because of the trust it had with the Emirates Airline because both were owned by Emirates Group. However, it has perfected the use of this practice, and other airlines now trust it with their data.

Managerial Recommendations

This report clearly demonstrates that technology can no longer be ignored by flight catering companies. According to Coyle, ‎Langley, and Gibson (2008), in the competitive business environment of today, it is only those firms with the best practice that can withstand stiff competition in the market. Technology-based strategic sourcing is one of the practices that flight catering companies are using to manage their supply chain. It is, therefore, recommended that any catering firm should consider this practice when defining their catering supply chain design. The following recommendations should also be put into consideration.

• The management of catering companies should consider embracing emerging technologies in order to improve their technology-based strategic sourcing
• The management should make an effort to ensure that there is trust between it and the two other stakeholders in this chain (clients and suppliers).
• The management should enhance its data protection system to ensure that important information about the customer does not leak to third parties.
• The management should engage the two other stakeholders in forums that will ensure employees managing these systems understand how to detect, deter, or counterattacks into the data system.

The above recommendations are meant to enhance the value generated by using the system in order to ensure that customers and suppliers trust its application.

Catering supply chain management is one of the most challenging tasks that many managers have to deal with. This is specifically so because of the nature of the products they have to deal with. Most of these supplies are perishable. The uncertainty that has become common in the aviation sector, in terms of the number of last-minute cancellations or bookings, has made the catering supply chain even more challenging. Firms such as Emirates Flight Catering have embraced technology-based strategic sourcing in order to address this challenge. This practice ensures that the catering firms get information about changes in the booking in real-time, and the information is sent to the suppliers immediately to ensure that the right amount of suppliers is delivered in time for meal preparations.

List of References

Barney, J & Hesterly, W 2012, Strategic Management and Competitive Advantage , McMillan, London. Web.

Berggren, C, Bergek, A & Bengtsson, L 2013, Knowledge Integration and Innovation: Critical Challenges , Addison-Wesley, Boston. Web.

Bolstorff, P & Rosenbaum, R 2012, Supply chain excellence: A handbook for dramatic improvement using the SCOR model , American Management Association, New York. Web.

Bolstorff, P 2012, Supply chain excellence: A handbook for dramatic improvement using the SCOR model , American Management Association, New York. Web.

Bowersox, D, Closs, D & Cooper, B 2014, Supply Chain Logistics Management , McGraw Hill, New York. Web.

Coyle, ‎J, Langley, ‎C & Gibson, B 2008, Supply Chain Management: A Logistics Perspective , Wiley, New Jersey. Web.

Grant, R & Jordan, J 2012, Foundations of Strategy , Wiley, New Jersey. Web.

Johnson, G, Scholes, K & Whittington, R 2011, Exploring Corporate Strategy , Prentice Hall, New York. Web.

Leon, A 2013, ERP Demystified , Tata McGraw-Hill, New Delhi. Web.

Lynch, R 2012, Supply Chain Management: Strategy, Planning, and Operation, Pearson, New York. Web.

Mitcham, C 2011, Advertising & Marketing Communications Industry Overview: Consultant’s Report & Recent Press Cuttings, Learning Dynamics, vol. 9. no. 1, pp. 1-20. Web.

Petter, G 2006, E – business Strategy, Sourcing, and Governance , McMillan, London. Web.

Tallman, S 2009, A New Generation in International Strategic Management , Prentice Hall, New York. Web.

Taylor, D 2004, Supply chains: A manager’s guide , Addison-Wesley, Boston. Web.

Cite this paper

Select style

• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

BusinessEssay. (2022, December 19). Design of Catering Supply Chain. https://business-essay.com/design-of-catering-supply-chain/

"Design of Catering Supply Chain." BusinessEssay , 19 Dec. 2022, business-essay.com/design-of-catering-supply-chain/.

BusinessEssay . (2022) 'Design of Catering Supply Chain'. 19 December.

BusinessEssay . 2022. "Design of Catering Supply Chain." December 19, 2022. https://business-essay.com/design-of-catering-supply-chain/.

1. BusinessEssay . "Design of Catering Supply Chain." December 19, 2022. https://business-essay.com/design-of-catering-supply-chain/.

Bibliography

BusinessEssay . "Design of Catering Supply Chain." December 19, 2022. https://business-essay.com/design-of-catering-supply-chain/.

• Caterpillar Company’s Organizational Behavior
• Coach Inc.’s Internationalization Marketing Competency
• Apple Inc.’s Products and Board Structure
• Emirates Airlines’ Organizational Structure & Development Plan
• Reebok Company’s Market Environment
• Balfour Beatty Company’s Innovation
• Strategic Management of Nestle: Nescafe Marketing Strategy
• McDonald’s Company International Expansion
• Reflektive, Inc.’s Company and Product Analysis
• Turkish Airlines Company Analysis

• American History (4,233)
• Biographies (1,169)
• Book Reports (3,862)
• Business (17,294)
• English (13,871)
• History Other (3,821)
• Miscellaneous (12,648)
• Music and Movies (1,106)
• Philosophy (1,165)
• Psychology (1,486)
• Religion (953)
• Science (2,671)
• Social Issues (7,924)
• Technology (1,924)
• Browse Essays
• / Catering Business

Catering Business

Essay by sadwika   •  September 9, 2015  •  Essay  •  306 Words (2 Pages)  •  1,189 Views

Essay Preview: Catering Business

When I was thinking of what to do after my btech many things came into my mind like music ,photography,dance but I love cooking my hobby is cooking so I started thinking to keep a catering business and I started it. catering means supplying food and keeping our creative knowledge into making a dish and making the person happy. caterer Is needed everywhere where the function exists  and where there is need for the food.the work of the caterer is to prepare food . when it comes to the preparation of food you have to check many things like measuring the ingrediants,checking whether you have the correct ingredients or not,after checking all these things make sure that the product is ready to serve or not and whether it reached customer specification or not.in this business not only food plays an important role serving also plays an important role.it is good if u have a keen taste and smell because u have to smell and taste food

In any business there will be pros and cons in the same way in catering business also they are pros and cons

You will meet the people who are very demanding with your service you have to be patient with these type of people keeping in the mind that they want perfect celebration for the function

You  will be definitely facing lot of hard works like buying the ingredients for your menu arranging the items ,checking the quantity

You will face a difficult situation when you are selecting the staff

You will be stressfull if your deadline is nearing and your clients are highly demanding, so you have to be patient enough

You must be ready to face whatever situation   may occur with gracefulness because they are unpredictable factors like accidents , bad weather ,due to these the food may spoil

Turn Your Curiosity Into Discovery

Latest facts.

9 Facts About National Train Day May 11th

12 Facts About National Coq Au Vin Day May 29th

40 facts about elektrostal.

Written by Lanette Mayes

Modified & Updated: 02 Mar 2024

Reviewed by Jessica Corbett

Elektrostal is a vibrant city located in the Moscow Oblast region of Russia. With a rich history, stunning architecture, and a thriving community, Elektrostal is a city that has much to offer. Whether you are a history buff, nature enthusiast, or simply curious about different cultures, Elektrostal is sure to captivate you.

This article will provide you with 40 fascinating facts about Elektrostal, giving you a better understanding of why this city is worth exploring. From its origins as an industrial hub to its modern-day charm, we will delve into the various aspects that make Elektrostal a unique and must-visit destination.

So, join us as we uncover the hidden treasures of Elektrostal and discover what makes this city a true gem in the heart of Russia.

Key Takeaways:

• Elektrostal, known as the “Motor City of Russia,” is a vibrant and growing city with a rich industrial history, offering diverse cultural experiences and a strong commitment to environmental sustainability.
• With its convenient location near Moscow, Elektrostal provides a picturesque landscape, vibrant nightlife, and a range of recreational activities, making it an ideal destination for residents and visitors alike.

Known as the “Motor City of Russia.”

Elektrostal, a city located in the Moscow Oblast region of Russia, earned the nickname “Motor City” due to its significant involvement in the automotive industry.

Home to the Elektrostal Metallurgical Plant.

Elektrostal is renowned for its metallurgical plant, which has been producing high-quality steel and alloys since its establishment in 1916.

Boasts a rich industrial heritage.

Elektrostal has a long history of industrial development, contributing to the growth and progress of the region.

Founded in 1916.

The city of Elektrostal was founded in 1916 as a result of the construction of the Elektrostal Metallurgical Plant.

Located approximately 50 kilometers east of Moscow.

Elektrostal is situated in close proximity to the Russian capital, making it easily accessible for both residents and visitors.

Known for its vibrant cultural scene.

Elektrostal is home to several cultural institutions, including museums, theaters, and art galleries that showcase the city’s rich artistic heritage.

A popular destination for nature lovers.

Surrounded by picturesque landscapes and forests, Elektrostal offers ample opportunities for outdoor activities such as hiking, camping, and birdwatching.

Hosts the annual Elektrostal City Day celebrations.

Every year, Elektrostal organizes festive events and activities to celebrate its founding, bringing together residents and visitors in a spirit of unity and joy.

Has a population of approximately 160,000 people.

Elektrostal is home to a diverse and vibrant community of around 160,000 residents, contributing to its dynamic atmosphere.

Boasts excellent education facilities.

The city is known for its well-established educational institutions, providing quality education to students of all ages.

A center for scientific research and innovation.

Elektrostal serves as an important hub for scientific research, particularly in the fields of metallurgy, materials science, and engineering.

Surrounded by picturesque lakes.

The city is blessed with numerous beautiful lakes, offering scenic views and recreational opportunities for locals and visitors alike.

Well-connected transportation system.

Elektrostal benefits from an efficient transportation network, including highways, railways, and public transportation options, ensuring convenient travel within and beyond the city.

Famous for its traditional Russian cuisine.

Food enthusiasts can indulge in authentic Russian dishes at numerous restaurants and cafes scattered throughout Elektrostal.

Home to notable architectural landmarks.

Elektrostal boasts impressive architecture, including the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord and the Elektrostal Palace of Culture.

Offers a wide range of recreational facilities.

Residents and visitors can enjoy various recreational activities, such as sports complexes, swimming pools, and fitness centers, enhancing the overall quality of life.

Provides a high standard of healthcare.

Elektrostal is equipped with modern medical facilities, ensuring residents have access to quality healthcare services.

Home to the Elektrostal History Museum.

The Elektrostal History Museum showcases the city’s fascinating past through exhibitions and displays.

A hub for sports enthusiasts.

Elektrostal is passionate about sports, with numerous stadiums, arenas, and sports clubs offering opportunities for athletes and spectators.

Celebrates diverse cultural festivals.

Throughout the year, Elektrostal hosts a variety of cultural festivals, celebrating different ethnicities, traditions, and art forms.

Electric power played a significant role in its early development.

Elektrostal owes its name and initial growth to the establishment of electric power stations and the utilization of electricity in the industrial sector.

Boasts a thriving economy.

The city’s strong industrial base, coupled with its strategic location near Moscow, has contributed to Elektrostal’s prosperous economic status.

Houses the Elektrostal Drama Theater.

The Elektrostal Drama Theater is a cultural centerpiece, attracting theater enthusiasts from far and wide.

Popular destination for winter sports.

Elektrostal’s proximity to ski resorts and winter sport facilities makes it a favorite destination for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter activities.

Promotes environmental sustainability.

Elektrostal prioritizes environmental protection and sustainability, implementing initiatives to reduce pollution and preserve natural resources.

Home to renowned educational institutions.

Elektrostal is known for its prestigious schools and universities, offering a wide range of academic programs to students.

Committed to cultural preservation.

The city values its cultural heritage and takes active steps to preserve and promote traditional customs, crafts, and arts.

Hosts an annual International Film Festival.

The Elektrostal International Film Festival attracts filmmakers and cinema enthusiasts from around the world, showcasing a diverse range of films.

Encourages entrepreneurship and innovation.

Elektrostal supports aspiring entrepreneurs and fosters a culture of innovation, providing opportunities for startups and business development.

Offers a range of housing options.

Elektrostal provides diverse housing options, including apartments, houses, and residential complexes, catering to different lifestyles and budgets.

Home to notable sports teams.

Elektrostal is proud of its sports legacy, with several successful sports teams competing at regional and national levels.

Boasts a vibrant nightlife scene.

Residents and visitors can enjoy a lively nightlife in Elektrostal, with numerous bars, clubs, and entertainment venues.

Promotes cultural exchange and international relations.

Elektrostal actively engages in international partnerships, cultural exchanges, and diplomatic collaborations to foster global connections.

Surrounded by beautiful nature reserves.

Nearby nature reserves, such as the Barybino Forest and Luchinskoye Lake, offer opportunities for nature enthusiasts to explore and appreciate the region’s biodiversity.

Commemorates historical events.

The city pays tribute to significant historical events through memorials, monuments, and exhibitions, ensuring the preservation of collective memory.

Promotes sports and youth development.

Elektrostal invests in sports infrastructure and programs to encourage youth participation, health, and physical fitness.

Hosts annual cultural and artistic festivals.

Throughout the year, Elektrostal celebrates its cultural diversity through festivals dedicated to music, dance, art, and theater.

Provides a picturesque landscape for photography enthusiasts.

The city’s scenic beauty, architectural landmarks, and natural surroundings make it a paradise for photographers.

Connects to Moscow via a direct train line.

The convenient train connection between Elektrostal and Moscow makes commuting between the two cities effortless.

A city with a bright future.

Elektrostal continues to grow and develop, aiming to become a model city in terms of infrastructure, sustainability, and quality of life for its residents.

In conclusion, Elektrostal is a fascinating city with a rich history and a vibrant present. From its origins as a center of steel production to its modern-day status as a hub for education and industry, Elektrostal has plenty to offer both residents and visitors. With its beautiful parks, cultural attractions, and proximity to Moscow, there is no shortage of things to see and do in this dynamic city. Whether you’re interested in exploring its historical landmarks, enjoying outdoor activities, or immersing yourself in the local culture, Elektrostal has something for everyone. So, next time you find yourself in the Moscow region, don’t miss the opportunity to discover the hidden gems of Elektrostal.

Q: What is the population of Elektrostal?

A: As of the latest data, the population of Elektrostal is approximately XXXX.

Q: How far is Elektrostal from Moscow?

A: Elektrostal is located approximately XX kilometers away from Moscow.

Q: Are there any famous landmarks in Elektrostal?

A: Yes, Elektrostal is home to several notable landmarks, including XXXX and XXXX.

Q: What industries are prominent in Elektrostal?

A: Elektrostal is known for its steel production industry and is also a center for engineering and manufacturing.

Q: Are there any universities or educational institutions in Elektrostal?

A: Yes, Elektrostal is home to XXXX University and several other educational institutions.

Q: What are some popular outdoor activities in Elektrostal?

A: Elektrostal offers several outdoor activities, such as hiking, cycling, and picnicking in its beautiful parks.

Q: Is Elektrostal well-connected in terms of transportation?

A: Yes, Elektrostal has good transportation links, including trains and buses, making it easily accessible from nearby cities.

Q: Are there any annual events or festivals in Elektrostal?

A: Yes, Elektrostal hosts various events and festivals throughout the year, including XXXX and XXXX.

Was this page helpful?

Our commitment to delivering trustworthy and engaging content is at the heart of what we do. Each fact on our site is contributed by real users like you, bringing a wealth of diverse insights and information. To ensure the highest standards of accuracy and reliability, our dedicated editors meticulously review each submission. This process guarantees that the facts we share are not only fascinating but also credible. Trust in our commitment to quality and authenticity as you explore and learn with us.

Share this Fact:

• Phone: +90 (212) 875 19 08
• E-Mail: [email protected]

• Company Profile
• Company Policy
• Mission and Vision
• Certificates
• Aluminium Windows
• Aluminium Doors
• Aluminium Sliding Elements
• Aluminium Curtain Walls
• Aluminium Skylight Elements
• Aluminium Frames for Safety and Security
• Aluminium Conservatories
• Metal Panel Sheet Claddings
• Aluminium Entrance Frames
• Glass Structures
• Complementary Items
• Lightweight Steel Structures
• Human Resources OPEN

Project Description

Project name:, year of construction:, completed work items:.