Wednesday, May 8, 2013

How To Succeed In The World Of Corporate Catering

By Alison Wilcox


The hospitality industry has great potential for income generation. From running hotels, corporate catering services and everything in between. With the right information, it can be very easy for an entrepreneur to make a fortune.

One would be forgiven to think that he or she must have gone to catering school in order to reap from this trade. Far from it. This is a commercial activity like any other which is open to all entrepreneurs so long as they have the required capital for the activity. All one needs to do is to get a team of dedicated and qualified staff from the hospitality industry. These professionals will provide the expertise needed to run the business, while the entrepreneur provides the financial resources.

As a new comer in this business, it is vital that an investor makes a name for him or herself in the corporate circles. He or she needs to approach heads of these organizations and talk to them about his or her business. The main objective in doing this is establishing a loyal clientele. There are several advantages of having loyal clients in this industry. The first of these is that the organizations, who happen to be the clients, usually have many events for which they need caterers. If the organization is loyal to one catering service providers, he or she will be called in for all these events. This means that the caterer will always have repeat business which is really the lifeline of all commercial activities.

The benefit of having loyal clients is two-fold. A loyal client base can only mean that the caterer is assured of repeat business. Whenever the firm s requires catering services, it will not contact any other caterer. The entrepreneur will therefore smile all the way to the bank. Again there is the benefit of getting good reviews from loyal clients who will spread the word about the caterer to others who find themselves in need of the said services. Loyalty can therefore be important in attracting new clients through the already existing ones.

An investor also needs to find ways to reduce the operations costs of his business and maximize on the profit. For caterers, hiring of tents and chairs is known to be a major expense that narrows the profit margin at the end of it all. It would be wise for the investor to acquire his or her own chairs and tents such that there will be no need to incur any expenses in hiring them later on. It is indeed an expensive undertaking, but the expense proves to be worth it in the long run.

An entrepreneur should also look for ways to curb travel expenses which can be quite overwhelming. If the entrepreneur has to pay someone to transport catering equipment every time, he or she stands to make great losses. If it is possible to get a personal means of transport at a reduced cost, this avenue should be explored.

It goes without saying that caterers have to be very hygienic. Failure to observe hygienic standards can have grave consequences on the health of the clients. Corporate entities can never be pleased with poor hygiene in a caterer.

Corporate catering services can be a cash cow. One only needs to cut his or her own niche. Think about it.




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