Catering business requires much more than serving tasty food to a crowd of guests during an event. There is a range of factors that make or break your catering business other than a large menu of sumptuous food items. It takes a combination of hard-work, professional training and carefully honed skills to succeed as a caterer. Whether you are already running a catering service or planning to launch one make sure to hire shared commissary kitchen so that you can take care of all the extra bills like electricity, contractors, security, sewage, pest control, building codes, and more. The following tips will help your business grow faster.

Serve clean – You might think that you need to serve tasty food in order to build your brand image as a great caterer. But, cleanliness and hygiene are as important as the taste of the food. You don’t want your guests to get food poisoned after eating the food served by you. So, make sure the cleanliness standards are maintained throughout the process of preparing, handling and serving the food. ExpertRepairs.com.au is the site where you can get the cleaning and maintaining tips for your commercial catering equipment. Make sure all your staffs understand the importance of hygiene and follow the rules regularly. Moreover, you can ensure they all undergo food handler training; this will teach them the proper procedures for handling food so that they can reduce the risk of foodborne illness.

Understand customer’s taste – Each client is different and each event is unique. You might be a master of your niche but this does not give you the right to impose your taste on customers. If you want to excel in your career as a caterer, you need to develop the habit of listening and understanding your client’s taste. Each client wants to be served differently. And, it’s your duty to understand your client’s preferences and give your service accordingly. Unless you are committed towards your clients’ experience, you won’t be able to develop a solid loyal customer base for your business.         

Flexible cooking methods – As discussed earlier, each client have their unique preferences. So, you need to have flexible cooking methods. You cannot stick to the recipe you learned during your training period. You must have the ability to alter the recipe and customize the menu for adjusting allergies or religious preferences of your client. You cannot say that you don’t have the recipe for preparing a certain food for the vegan guests of your client. You’ll need to serve halal foods if your client’s religious belief needs them to consume that. You need to put all your creativity to transform each item in your menu as per the demands of your clients.

Be a master of planning – A caterer’s job ranges from planning to execution. And, if you don’t know the art of creating solid plans, everything can get messed up. Each event is different and there’s no way you can create the one-size-fits-all type of master plan. So, you need to create plans individually for each of the events you contract. It is best to sit with your client to make the first draft of your plan so that you can get inputs about your client’s preferences. Sit with your important teammates to create the second draft as they will be the one executing the plan with your direction. Once the plan is ready, make sure everything happens according to the plan. But, stay prepared for any last minute changes required by your clients.

Know how to choose the best furniture –For most of the events, you’ll need to supply furniture. And each event needs a different kind of furniture. You cannot use the same chair for a birthday party and a corporate event. It is best to rent furniture as per the event and taste of the client rather than keeping a set of chairs in your inventory and use the same in every event. You can build your solid reputation by providing furniture that gives the feel of being customized especially for the event. Understand the types of guests who would be attending the event and rent furniture that can impress those guests. You can get more clients by impressing the guests of the client you are presently serving.

Always have buffer stocks of foods – Whatever is the event, most of the guests focus on eating to their heart's content. It is good to be confident about your estimation. But, accept the fact that any estimation can fail. So, always have a buffer stock of food to help you deal with the situation when foods get short. Having some platter in addition to the main menu that helps guests nibble and graze is always a good idea to avoid the chance of food shortage from the main menu. Nuts, fruits, cheese, and crackers are some good options that take away some pressure from the main menu.

Remember these and keep learning from your experiences and you’ll certainly be a great caterer if you wish to be one!