Tips for success
Get your name known: In this crowded market advertising is crucial. Get your name listed in the Yellow Pages and use every space on your vans and food packaging to promote your business. Consider buying space in suitable magazines (wedding magazines) and network local businesses.
Maintain a high standard: Consistency is the key in this business. Do a good job and your clients will come back for more. Let them down and they will switch to one of the hundreds of other catering companies out there.
Encourage word of mouth: The best way to get business is through personal recommendation. This will come naturally if you do a good job, but also ask clients for feedback and leave your business card at events when appropriate.
Reassure potential clients: A wedding is the most important occasion a family will have to organise, and the organiser will feel more confident in using you if you can produce a portfolio of satisfied customers to testify to your service.
Focus on your market: Different types of event require a different service. If you can focus on a particular sector, such as weddings or business lunches, and specialise in being the best in that sector, you’ll have a good chance of success.
Useful contacts
British Hospitality Association
Tel: 0845 800 7744
www.bha.org.uk
Catering Equipment Suppliers' Association
Tel: 020 7793 3030
www.cesa.org.uk
Food Standards Agency
Tel: 020 7276 8829
www.food.gov.uk