Have you ever dreamed of having a home based catering business?  If you have a love of cooking this would be a great career.

In many homes nowadays both parents are working.  Economic pressures require a double income.  Schedules are hectic and it is very difficult to prepare wholesome, nutritious meals.

A catering business can be very lucrative in providing daily meals for these families (singles or couples).  You would not only be preparing delicious meals but eliminating the stress that these people feel when they under the pressure of shopping and cooking.  They would have more time to enjoy each other and do the things they enjoy most.

Before you jump into your apron, here are some things you want to consider:

What will be the name of your business?

Are you doing this by yourself or will you have a partner?  If you have a partner will you both be responsible for the cooking, or will one take care of the administrative duties?  In the future you may find the need to hire a cook.  Dependability is a required.

Create a business plan that you can use if you need to get financing.

Check with your local food administration authorities about the laws governing your type of business.  Find out the appropriate licenses and permits you will need.  Check into these details first so you will not have problems in the future.

Decide on what types of meals you are going to provide.  You will want to include two or three choices daily.  Once you establish your clientele you can give them an order form of the various meals available on certain days.  You can establish the time frame you want to maintain.  A week or two ahead have the forms returned to you. You can come up with a computerized form that you can email your clients and they can email you their choices. Do whatever you can to automate your business and eliminate unnecessary legwork. You will have to decide what works best for you.  You will want a week’s notice for shopping and preparation purposes.

If you want to specialize utilizing your specific cooking/baking talents, your catering service could be for special soups, desserts or birthday cakes.  This is your choice.

Pricing your meals will be more of a challenge.  You will want to keep your costs as low as possible in order to have a desirable profit.  Call other catering businesses to get an idea of what your completion is charging.  You do not want to price your meals so high that you will price yourself out of the market.  Allow for a fluctuation margin in market prices.

You will want to buy in bulk.  Get a membership at your local wholesale club.  This will save you quite a bit.  You still want to be a savvy shopper as there are times when your local supermarket’s prices are lower than the wholesale club.

Bulk shopping will necessitate your knowledge of the shelf life of the foods you are storing. When in doubt of how to, and how long to store food items, the internet holds a wealth of information at your fingertips.

How are you going to advertise your business?  Of course, word of mouth continues to be one of the best forms of advertisement.  You should consider flyers, or posters that you can leave at various businesses in your area. You will be able to create and print these on your computer. This will cut printing costs. Newspapers and mail coupon services can get the word out to many, but will be more costly.

You may want to consider designing a web page so that you can create an internet presence. Print up business cards including your web address. Get permission to leave this in places such as the doctor’s office, dentist, or hairdresser. Design your website so you have your weekly choices listed and your contact information.

If you go this route, you will want to find a web hosting company that also provides you internet marketing tools.  I know of one company that has a bulk emailing program, with an auto responder where you can set up various campaigns. It also provides a video producer with templates that you can create for your specific business.  The best part of this company is that they have training by professionals in the industry.  If you are a cook, more than likely, you are not overly versed in computers!!

How are you going to get the meals to your customers?  They can pick them up from your home or you could deliver to their place for a set fee.  You will need to put great thought into planning your cooking and delivery schedule.  As a suggestion, allow yourself about one hour to an hour and a half.

What type of containers are you going to use to pack your meals? As there is a possibility that the food may need to be reheated, you will have to take this into consideration when purchasing containers. Look into microwavable items. A wholesale club usually has great prices on food containers.

Be a good planner.  The internet will provide you with an endless supply of recipes and ideas for different meals.  If you are cooking for a family with children, take this into consideration. Spicy does not always work with little ones!

When you purchase your fresh produce make sure it is cleaned properly and when possible cut and ready for use.

Keep a cautious eye on your costs.

You want to develop a good relationship with your clients.  When possible, satisfy special requests. Always be the type of person that you would want to work with.

As suppliers are an important element in your business you want to develop a good relationship in this area.  This will go a long way in getting better service.

It is up to you to decide on how large of a business you want to create.  A small business will be easier to handle.  Once it grows it will necessitate hiring additional staff members. But then again this would translate into greater revenue.

As an added suggestion, be sure to keep your recipes either on the computer or in a binder in protective sheets.  Who know, someday you can add to your business profits by publishing a cookbook of your catering recipes.

I hope that your love of cooking will be the first step to initiating a profitable home based catering business.  I wish you all the best and a kitchen filled with aromas of happiness and success!

Happy Cooking,

Judy Conway

PR: wait… I: wait… L: wait… LD: wait… I: wait… wait… Rank: wait… Traffic: wait… Price: wait… C: wait…

In celebration of my daughter’s 40^th birthdday yesterday we went out to dinner at a new (to us) restaurant.  It is called, Sugo Restaurant & Tapas and is located at 625 West Crossville Road in Roswell, Georgia.  This was such a remarkable experience I decided it is a restaurant worthy of commendation!

Sugo’s is located in a large shopping center with lots of parking.  It has an inviting outdoor, patio-style, eating area.  As the temperature was in the 30’s this was not an option!  Upon entering the restaurant you feel like you have been transported to an establishment in Italy.  The décor is tasteful and inviting.  The dining areas are spacious and you do not feel like you are part of your neighbor’s conversations. The wonderful aromas awakened our appetites.

We were promptly seated and our noteworthy service commenced from that point on. I want to commend Kevin for absolutely impeccable service.  He told us all about the evening’s specials, which was quite an extensive list without anything written down to prompt him.  Having waited a table or two in my lifetime, I am always impressed by waiters/waitresses that do their job well. After we had looked over the extensive menu Kevin took our order.  (again not writing anything down) There were five of us and we wanted to try various tapas in lieu of regular dinners.  That proved to be a good decision.  The children had sodas and we three adults enjoyed a bottle of  Farnese, Montepulciano d’Abruzzo.   Sugo’s offers a good selection of wine that will please your fancy.

Just to give you an idea of the tapas available, we ordered the following:

Gnocchi – Traditional potato dumplings with porcini mushroom cognac sauce. (These were a big hit with the children) …and enjoyed by all.

Baked Stuffed Calamari – stuffed with sautéed onions, spinach and artisan cheeses.  This is served atop tomato basil sauce.  Delicious!

Chicken Vin Cotto – roasted dark meat chicken with marsala wine sauce, wild mushrooms, and dressed with vin cotto. Awsome!

Crunchy Potatoes – roasted crisp and fired twice then tossed with aged pecorino and servered with paprika garlic aioli.  Great compliment to all of the above!

Euro-Quattro Formaggi Antipasto – vine ripe tomatoes with fresh mozzarella, barrel aged Mt. Viko’s feta and specialty artisan cheeses of the day.  Served with mixed field greens, assorted and seasonal condiments.  Finished with an aged fig balsamic vinegar and extra-virgin olive oil.   One of the best antipasto salads I have ever had!

Desserts were made in heaven … We also ordered an assortment here and shared!

Cannoli – Italian crème and chocolate chips

Chocolate Mouse Cake – a fabulous creation of triple layered chocolate fudge cake, chocolate mouse and chocolate frosting.  If you love chocolate you will definitely want to try this one.  Yummy!

Tiramisu – Expresso soaked ladyfingers with Mascarpone cheese and Zabaglione cream and then dusted with rich cocoa powered.  Fabulous!  Kevin was thoughtful and this arrived with a birthday candle glowing in it for my daughter.

Coffee, of course was superb!

You could also order various types of Pizzas, salads, and many Sugo Family Specialties.  Just reading the menu is a delight in itself.  Some of the items listed were:

Roman Chicken Cacciatore – all dark meat chicken on the bone, slow cooked for 5 hours.  Served with porcini mushroom ravioli, fresh tomato basil sauce, grilled Italian peppers and Sugo’s signature sausage.

Aunt Lena’s Chicken – breast of chicken dressed with Prosciutto di Parma, walnut pesto, and fresh mozzarella.  Served atop strozapretti pasta in a pink crème sherry sauce with artichokes and organic spinach.

Bistecca Di Joseph – All-natural 12 oz. Montana Ranch Piedmontese Boneless Ribeye char-grilled then  topped with a porcini mushroom cognac sauce.  Accompanied with mushroom raviolis and roasted red pepper.

Frederico’s Pork Braciole – Center cut of pork tenderloin stuffed with walnut pest, sausage, pecorino romano cheese and carmelized onion.  Then rolled and dressed with carmaelized dates, and Mozzarella cheese.  Sliced and placed atop a bed of wild mushrooms, roasted tomatoes, and crispy long stem aritchokes.

Sugo’s Hide Tide – Pesto encrusted 8 oz. filet of salmon and sautéed Mediterranean mussels served atop artisan pasta tossed with a fresh tomato puttanesca sauce, organic spinach and shitake mushrooms.  Finished with roasted garlic and sweet vermouth.

Sugo’s also has a “Piccolo Bambinos” menu for your children.

In addition Sugo’s has specialty menus for vegetarians and people on gluten free diets.  I personally am on Step One of the Metabolism Miracle diet program, and had no problem  finding items to satisfy my appetite.  Unfortunately, I did have to forego the desserts, but everyone assured me they were all delicious.  When I reach my weight goal, this is where I am going to celebrate!

The menu held a tantilizing list of items that will necessitate our visiting Sugo’s many more times.  And then we will have to revist to be sure we really liked everything.  Yes, the food, service, prices and overall ambiance is an experience to remember and enjoyed over and over again.

Sugo’s received the OpenTable.com, Diners’ Award for 2009, as well as other awards you will find listed on their web page.

I hope this information has whet your appetite (literally) and you will put visiting Sugo’s on your “Bucket” list.  You will not regret it.  You can also find more information about Sugo’s on their website at http://www.SugoRestaurant.com.  Their web site will also speak volumes of the type of service and quality you will find when visiting Sugo’s.

Blessings,

Judy Conway
Email: judyconwaymarketing@gmail.com
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