ForumsStarting a Business

I think the idea is a good one. The real challenge is finding a good cook and developing a great menu. Food services is a hard field but when done right it can be a great business to run.

Everything is going to revolve around the food. Great food will sell itself. I had a client with a bread basket business, and to generate customers she would drop off a small sample basket with a card to the offices in her area. Her business took off, she even ended up supplying breads for one of the best brunches in Milwaukee. It was amazing to watch that business take off. She even took a sample basket to the bank when she went to inquire about a loan. The bank became one her weekly customers and she got the loan.

I think folks are looking for good affordable food. If you can deliver that on a consistent basis, I say go for it. But do not be fooled, this is hard work.

In most locales, food that is prepared for sale to the public must be prepared in a licensed and inspected commercial kitchen - the average home kitchen can't qualify without major renovations. So in many cases, the opportunity you identified is definitely there, but you can't make the numbers work since many of the start-up and overhead costs are nearly as much for a small operation as a large one (yet revenues will be much less).

Individuals who are doing this successfully commonly take one of three approaches: (1) a regular catering operation, which generates revenue from sources besides the target market you mentioned (i.e. weddings, parties, etc.); (2) a mobile kitchen (i.e., preparing the food in and selling the food from a "lunch wagon" -- it's generally cheaper/easier to get one of those and obtain the necessary permits than to buy/lease a commercial kitchen); (3) offer breakfast and morning "break" food/service rather than lunch (breakfast type foods generally have a higher profit margin, and you can avoid some of the storage and handling issues that can add overhead costs to preparing/serving lunch).

Hope that helps. Good luck.

What you are talking about is actually what Paula Deen started with "The Bag Lady and Sons." You might want to check out the following http://cookingwithdenay.com/learn-from-denay/classes/online/course/view.php?id=13

This is the link to Cooking with Denay's Online Learning Center and it was a catering class for novice cooks/caterers. My neighbor took the course and loved it. I am not a cook so I don't know but you might want to contact the educational director and learn more.

Nancy