How To Make Your Catering Business Plans A Reality (8 Tips)

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Do you dream of owning your own catering business? This post takes a look at how to set up a catering business from home and make your catering business plans a reality.

Whether you make the best wedding cakes in town or want to cater dinner parties for the rich and famous in your local area, there are a lot of upsides to having a home-based business.

You can choose your hours, work around children and step away from the grind of a 9 to 5 job.

Making your catering business plans a reality is a huge step and is something that needs to be given a lot of consideration.

I started training as a chef when I was eighteen and worked in the catering industry until 2017 when I left to have a baby – the long hours and heavy lifting would have made life extremely difficult during pregnancy and the unsociable hours weren’t suitable for family life.

However, starting my own catering business is something I’ve given a lot of thought over the years and it’s something I’ve looked into in detail on more than one occasion.

Having a catering business in your own home takes away the costs associated with needing business premises, so could be a viable option for a lot of would-be business owners – especially those who only want to produce a small amount of stock such as homemade jams and marmalades or individual birthday cakes.

Turning Your Catering Business Plans Into Reality – How To Set Up A Catering Business From Home

1. Choose What To Make, Cook & Sell

The first and biggest decision you will need to make is what you want to sell in your catering business.

I think most people will already have an idea based on their current skill set

However, niching down to something really specific that no one else is offering in your local area can be a great way to fill a gap in the market .

You can always expand your business at later a date once it’s well established.

Ideas for a home catering business could include:

• Cake Making and Decorating – anything from birthday and wedding cakes to cupcakes or traybakes

• Desserts – such as cheesecakes and brownies

• Catering for Small Buffets/Parties

• Catering for office blocks – lunch items like soups and sandwiches

• Catering for Dinner Parties and Small events

• Making produce to sell, Such as Jams and Chutneys

• Sweets such as Marshmallows and Fudge.

Just as a little side note, there is a lady in my hometown who makes and sells cheesecakes. She used to sell at the weekly market in town but had to stop due to having another job.

She now sells and delivers slices of cheesecake (x4) on the weekends via her facebook page and they sell out within minutes.

2. Get A Food Safety Certificate – This Is Essential

A Level 2 Food Safety Certificate is essential for anyone starting their own catering business.

These are usually a one-day course at a local college or training centre, although there are companies that offer one-on-one training or will teach a small group at a location of your choice.

If you’re struggling to find a course locally, it’s worth ringing your local Environmental Health Officer who should be able to point you in the right direction.

You’ll take a short exam at the end of the day course while all the information is fresh in your mind. The majority of people pass first time as much of it is common sense.

You will also be given information booklets which I find are handy to refer back to at a later date if you need to check anything.

While no other qualifications are necessary, it may be worth seeking an NVQ course of some description as evidence of your skillset.

There are also kitchen essentials that are needed to prevent cross-contamination while food is being prepared.

Using these is best practice and should be factored into your catering business plans as part of the start-up costs.

• Colour coded chopping boards (to minimize the risk of contamination) – Wooden chopping boards should be avoided

• Digital food Probe and Probe Wipes

• Thermometers for your Fridge and Freezer

• Separate clingfilm and knives to use on raw food

• Antibacterial spray and blue roll (the use of clothes is discouraged due to them spreading bacteria)

The exact items needed will, of course, vary from business to business.

For example, a cake-making business would only use one raw ingredient, eggs, so is much lower risk than someone making sandwiches for an office, as these are ready to eat and as they usually contain protein they are high risk.

3. Registering With The Council Is A Must

In the U.K you will need to register with the local council a minimum of 28 days before you intend to start trading.

This gives the local EHO time to get in touch with you and inspect your kitchen if needed.

If you have any concerns relating to the health and safety side of your catering business get in touch with Environmental Health they will be able to talk things through with you and advise what the best practices are going forward.

The majority of councils in England use the Safer Food Better Business pack which helps businesses to detail and record their health and safety practices day to day.

It only takes a few minutes each day to fill in and is proof that you are doing all you can to make the food you are producing in your business safe to eat.

Most people will be aware that food and catering businesses are rated on a scale from 0-5 stars on inspection – with 5 being the highest rating possible.

Even with a 5-star rating, an Environmental Health Officer may suggest improvements that are needed, not immediately, but before the next inspection.

With lower scores improvements will be needed sooner and an EHO may choose to re-inspect within a matter of months or even weeks.

Visits are always unannounced.

The last kitchen I worked in was inspected three months before I left and was awarded the full 5 Stars. Paperwork being up to date is a huge part of this, as well as overall cleanliness and staff training being up to date.

4. Make Sure Your Home Kitchen Is Safe To Produce Food In

A few things to consider when assessing whether your kitchen is up to standard:

Is your home kitchen in good repair?

Your Kitchen doesn’t need to be entirely stainless steel but it needs to be free from damage and clean to a good standard.

Are you able to make your kitchen pet-free?

Your kitchen needs to be a pet-free zone – no animals should be allowed in there at all, especially not to be fed or to sleep.

This is often a big obstacle for those wishing to set up a catering business from a home that does not have access to a separate kitchen.

For larger operations, you will need two sinks

One for food preparation and one for washing dishes, although a dishwasher can count for this in some instances.

Extra/Separate Fridges and Freezers

If I was setting up my own catering business I would invest in a separate fridge and freezer.

With business food, you need to be much more careful than you would with your own food.

Plus, temperatures need to be taken daily and use-by dates adhered to much more strictly.

This will also make it clear which food is yours and which is the for business – no risk of things getting mixed up or cross-contamination.

While this may sound like a big list of requirements, a lot of things in catering quickly become second nature and you may well find yourself becoming stricter with your food practices at home.

5. Get Yourself Insured

When firming up your catering business plans, factoring in the cost liability insurance is an absolute must.

This will have you covered should anything happen – such as someone suing you for illness or allergy allegedly caused by your food.

Insurance will also cover equipment, especially if you need to take it with you to and from events and can be flexible to cover any temporary staff you may have at different times of the year.

6. Think About Transportation

Depending on the nature of your catering business plans you may need to give some considerable thought to transportation.

High-risk foods, such as sandwiches, can only be left out for a certain amount of time, so a refrigerated van may be needed.

If you plan to transport delicate food such as a wedding or birthday cake you may need to look the best way to do this and be prepared to construct at the venue if necessary.

7. Consider Selling Costs & Ongoing Costs

If you sell homemade produce such as jam or fudge you’ll want to factor in selling costs at places like summer fetes, wedding fayres and so on.

You could even look at car boot sales.

Then there are ongoing costs, such as training (Food safety needs updating every three years, but any staff working for you will need one too) and uniforms.

It is also rare now that businesses don’t have a website – another cost to consider, especially if you’ll need a web designer to build it for you and then the ongoing costs of web hosting, domain name and maintenance.

8. Double Check The Numbers For Your Catering Business Plans

Accurately costing everything needed in your initial catering business plans is an essential prelude to a successful start-up.

As well as business costs such as ingredients, packaging and equipment it’s worth considering marketing costs too, especially at the beginning when you’ll be wanting to get your business name out there and promoting like crazy.

While social media is an excellent free tool for this, flyers and business cards are often a necessity.

It’s worth doing your sums checking them and double-checking them – after all the costs are you actually going to be making a profit?

Will the business give you a decent return on the hours you’re putting in?

While it may take some time for your business to become established it’s worth setting a goal – such as six or twelve months – that you want to make a regular profit by.

Don’t forget to include tax and NI contributions too (although if your side hustle business is earning under £1000 per year you don’t need to register as self-employed – more here: Side Hustles and Tax)

People are often shocked at the price of homemade items, but when you consider what goes into making them – the skill and everything I’ve mentioned above to keep a small business running and in profit, the price is usually more than justified.

Related Post: 4 Tips To Make Your Catering Business More Profitable