1. Sort out the legal basics
Register your business, get the required food-handling and business licenses for your area, and secure a commercial or commissary kitchen (health departments rarely allow catering from a home kitchen). Liability insurance is usually non-negotiable for events and venues.
2. Define your menu and your niche
Start focused — weddings, corporate drop-off, or a specific cuisine — rather than trying to cater everything. A tight menu is easier to cost, prep and deliver consistently.
3. Price for profit from day one
The most common reason new caterers struggle isn't demand — it's underpricing. Learn the food cost formula, build prices up from cost, and know your margin on every quote before you send it.
4. Put systems in place before you're busy
The paperwork behind catering — quotes, costed menus, shopping lists, staffing, invoices, deposits — multiplies fast. Set up a system that ties it together early, so your fifth event isn't ten times harder than your first. One app that handles costing, proposals, invoicing and run sheets beats a stack of spreadsheets that don't talk to each other.
5. Win your first clients
- Cater a few events at cost to build a portfolio and get photos and reviews.
- List your business where couples and companies search — directories and local vendor lists.
- Make it effortless to request a quote and approve a proposal, so interest turns into bookings.
Do all of this in one app
Savrsoft costs recipes, plans menus, sends proposals, tracks stock and shows your profit on every event — with a 14-day free trial.
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