Have you ever wondered what it would be like to share your mouth-watering dishes with people? To provide help to families and organizations by preparing food for them?
The catering business can be an amazing way to reach out to people and connect with others- through the language of food! In Australia, the catering market size is a whopping $8.9 billion.
So if you wish to start your very own catering business, here are some of the steps that you have to keep in mind.
- Invest in skills and knowledge required
First up, for any kind of catering business, you’ll need to have a good knowledge of food and cooking. Being able to cook on a large scale is also a necessity here because a lot of cooks often fail in the scaling-up process.
Some of the other essential skills that you’ll have to know are time management, marketing skills, and good communication skills so that interaction with your customers is as smooth as possible. Since each state has different food regulations, make sure to check with the local authorities in your area.
- Classify your business
Every Australian state and territory has its own classification system of food. Depending on where you live, you should get in touch with the local regulatory authorities. Some of the business classifications are listed down below-
- Australian Capital Territory- ACT Health Protection Services
- Victoria- Victoria Department of Health, Food Safety and Regulation
- South Australia- South Australia Department of Health
- Northern Territory- Northern Territory Department of Health
- Buy the required equipment and materials
Any catering service requires a lot of cooking equipment and raw materials. While you can have an endless list of utensils, crockery, and cutlery, there are some essential items that you just can’t miss out on. These include ovens and freezers, pots and pans, glasses, and a Bratt pan.
For these materials, you must get in touch with a wholesaler that will provide you with fresh items. If you don’t know where to begin, start your search from https://onestopwholesaler.com/ – they have some really good commercial equipment for everyone wanting to start a catering business.
- Double check food safety
Food safety is an extremely important factor to consider, not just to ensure that people develop trust in your business but to keep your customers safe. Your business needs to comply with HACCP guidelines and other food safety protocols.
All your employees need to be familiar with basic hygiene and have to mandatorily follow the required protocols. Conduct a safety training before you assign your team any work. You may even hire a food safety supervisor who will overlook things.
- You can also consider a degree
It’s not always necessary to have formal training as a chef to start your catering business, but it does help. Alongside formal training, you can obtain certificates in cookery or catering. These certificates can start right from the basic level (Level I) and go up to Level IV.
There are courses available in both online and offline modes, so you can choose at your convenience. Besides these courses, make sure you have completed a course in food safety and hygiene because it will show your health inspector that your business is safe.
- Register your business
When it comes to registering your business officially, there are different kinds of regulations for each kind of establishment. For example, food licenses can include restaurants, hotels, pubs, cafes, charity organizations, or mobile food units under their belt.
Other kinds of food-related businesses that also need an official registration certificate are aged care facilities, tour operations that make snacks for tourists, child care facilities, and food processing companies.
- Consider other business structures
There are many ways in which you can structure your business. Some of the common ones include:
- Sole trader- One single person is responsible for the entire business. This person is accountable for any profits or losses.
- Partnership- This involves two people who start the catering together, usually on equal terms. This model is mostly meant for friends or couples.
- Company- This lets you treat your business as a separate entity. If the company becomes public, you can even sell shares of it.
Over to you…
These are the seven essential steps that you have to know before you start with your catering business. In the start, try to keep your menus concise and short. Research some of the popular dishes in your area and add your own twist to them. You can even apply for a bank loan in the beginning if you don’t have enough funds.