Do you run a catering business and you want to expand into corporate catering? If YES, here are 7 insider tips you must know to succeed as a corporate caterer. If you are in the catering business and you intend to take your catering business to the next level where you will make more money, then you should consider going into corporate catering.
The truth is that if you are into corporate catering, you can handle more than one catering deals per time. If you are good enough to land a deal with some of the blue chips companies around you, then you can be rest assured to always smile to the bank at regular intervals.
Even if you are tinkering with starting your own catering business, you can decide to start with corporate catering services – truly that is just the way to go if you know you have all it takes to handle corporate clients. This is so because if you are dealing with corporate clients, you must always be on top of your game to remain their choice caterer.
Duties and Services of a Corporate Caterer
There are many areas you can serve as a corporate caterer. If you win the bid to serve as a corporate caterer to any organization; it means that you would be responsible for offering catering services during all of the company’s events.
The event could be boardroom meetings, Annual General Meeting, Special Ceremonies, Luncheons, End of Year Parties and Award Nights et al. and most importantly, you will be responsible for managing the company’s canteen. Now if you are set to take you catering services to a corporate level, then you should arm yourself with this very useful information;
Succeeding in Corporate Catering – 7 Insider Tips You Must Know
1. To Be Effective as Corporate Caterer You Must Have a Workable Business Plan
If your intention is to start a corporate catering business, then you should first and foremost sit back to draft a workable business plan. The fact that you want to deal with corporate clients requires that you must be corporate in your outlook and part of what might help you to achieve this is your business plan.
So, ensure that you capture all the important aspect of your business in your business plan so that you will be well guided in administering and managing your catering business. Here is a sample catering business plan template you can use for FREE.
2. You Business Must Be Duly Registered
In case you didn’t know, you can’t do business with a corporate body if your business is not legally registered. Since your idea of running your catering business is to work with corporate clients, you must endeavor to register your business with the government of your country.
Once you are able to register your business, then you can apply and obtain your Tax Payer’s ID and also obtain all the required license and permits to able to operate a corporate catering business in your State or Country. The truth is that, if your catering business is not registered, you may not be able to open a corporate bank account and it is only via a corporate bank account that you can receive payment from corporate clients.
3. You Should Have an Office Address
You can operate a normal outdoor catering business with any serious office address, but if you want to make good money from catering business and you want to do business with corporate clients, then you must endeavor to get a location for your catering business.
The location you choose may serve for both your administrative work and your core catering jobs (cooking, packaging and storing). As a matter of fact, before some corporate clients can sign any catering deal with you, they will first send their Health cum Nutrition Officer to come inspect your facility to be sure it meet their standard.
4. Winning Corporate Catering Deals Requires a Good Business Proposal
It is not a problem if you don’t know how to write a winning business proposal, you can always hire experts to help you handle that aspect of your business. The bottom line is that if you intend offering catering services to corporate clients, then you should make provision for writing and submitting good business proposals when the need arises.
As a matter of fact, once an organization advertises for a caterer, loads of caterers will definitely apply for the job, and one of the key ways of screening is through the proposals submitted. No doubt if you submit a winning proposal, you are likely going to be shortlisted for the next stage.
5. You Should Have Assorted Dishes on Your Menu List
If you are planning to go into corporate catering business, then you must endeavor to learn how to make various local and intercontinental dishes. For instance, if you win the bid to offer catering services to a company that has expatriates, it means that you should be able to accommodate these expatriates in your canteen and you can only achieve it if you know how to prepare the dishes they eat.
The hallmark of being a successful corporate caterer is to know how to prepare numerous meals that cut across countries and cultures. So, if your intention is to run a corporate catering business, then you should endeavor to learn how to make various dishes and you can easily learn with the aid of videos and books.
6. Your Employees (Chefs, Waiters and Waitress) Must Be Well Trained, Neat and Should Dress Well At All Times
Dealing with corporate clients as a caterer goes beyond knowing how to prepare delicious meals but also good customer service. Hence, it will be to your best interest to always train and re – train your staffs on customer services, interpersonal skills and personal hygiene et al. It is also important to ensure that your workers are well dressed at all times if you want to continue to retain your clients.
7. You Should Have an Effective Marketing Strategy in Place
You don’t have to know how to market before you become successful as a corporate caterer. You can hire good marketers to help you market your business but if you have a good marketing skill then it is a plus to you. Do not relent at this aspect of your business as this is one sure way to guarantee new clients.
Finally, there is no doubt that you would face loads of competition along the line. However, you must be optimistic that in the face of this all, you would indeed succeed.