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Niche Business Idea | Vegetarian Catering Business

Niche Business Idea | Vegetarian Catering Business

Description

Catering is a popular business. Starting a niche catering

business will guarantee you a segment of the market. Presently

there are more than 50,000 catering businesses in the US alone.

Carving a niche in this market can be profitable as it will make

you stand out from the competition. Starting a vegetarian

catering business will be slightly more profitable than most

catering businesses simply because you have cut one major cost,

the cost of meat.

A caterer purchases, prepares, delivers, and serves food for

special events. If you have the cooking know-how, some good

business and communication skills, you can start an enjoyable

enterprise.

To Get Started

The first thing you will need to do is check with your local

state health department to find out what licenses, permits, or

certifications you will need to operate your business. If you

will be preparing the food, you will probably need to get your

own kitchen inspected and certified or you will need a certified

commercial kitchen to work from.

Access to a commercial kitchen can become expensive in overhead

costs. You might get around this buy renting a certified kitchen

for your events.

Supplies Needed

Startup costs could easily reach $5,000 to $20,000.00 depending

on how well you budget. You will need a variety of supplies for

your business including but not limited to:

pots and pans

cooking and serving utensils

delivery and service tools

source of food

Other Costs

Other costs could include insurance payments, legal fees,

licensing fees, inspection fees, marketing materials,

advertising costs, travel expenses, hired help, etc.

Marketing Your Business

Your customers would include individuals who like to give

parties, companies needing to feed employees or giving corporate

parties, groups and associations for meetings or seminars or

conventions. You could even market to film crews when in your

area. To be successful you will have to devote a lot of time to

marketing your business by meeting potential clients on a

speculative basis. Try to stay away from traditional menus and

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explore new exotic menus.

Don't forget that social catering involves weekend and evening

work so be prepared to give up those times when needed. It's

also a seasonal business and can require much longer hours

during holidays.

Show Me the Money

Your potential earnings are unlimited. Traditionally a caterer

can make anywhere from 40,000.00 to 100,000.00 per year

depending on their clients. Average fees run from $750.00 to

$15,000.00 per event depending on the number of people being

served and how.

Catering Business SIC Code: 5812-12

Happy Catering!

About the author:

Rebecca Game has been an entrepreneur for over 30 years and is

the Founder of Digital Women®, an online community for women in

business providing business resources and tools including loans

for women, grants for women and business networking tools. You

can visit her site at Digital Women: "Women with their modems

running..."

http://www.digital-women.com