Hey all. I am in the process of starting a private chef business here in Winter Park. The company I work for in Aspen charges a per person fee depending on the food the client chooses and then charge $40 per hour for the chef labor. Does this sound like the way to go or do you think I should just charge one straight fee per person which includes my time. Winter Park is alot different from Aspen and I don't want to scare people off. I did a cocktail party for free last weekn for some very important local people(mayor, chamber employees, real estate people etc) that went over very well. The newspaper was there and did an article which included a few paragraphs about my new service and included rave reviews of my appetizers. It also had four pictures of me with various people and my phone number to call to hire me. What a way to start off huh. You gotta love free advertising. CV

By Foodpump (Foodpump) on Thursday, April 07, 2005 - 09:27 pm: Edit

This is basically the nuts and bolts of your business, pricing stratedgy. Are you in for a short, sharp, shock, make a wad of cash, and dissapear? Or do you want to lay the groundwork for a business that would support you for the next few years?

Most people get cranky when they find alot of extra charges on the bill, so in most cases a blanket fee is charged--just like a restaurant bill, the only extras are special requests and tipping.

Think carefully about what type of catering you want: Glorious, albeit sporadic gala cocktails; daily, boring, albeit regular paying corporate catering; splashy albeit nerve-wracking weddings; or nickel-shaving wholesale catering? What's your game? Then plot your pricing structures, menus, and plan of attack to expand your client base.

After that, it's just a matter of giving a fare-well party to all of your friends, canceling your cable T.V. subscription, and giving away all of your fiction books....

By Chefgibz0 (Chefgibz0) on Sunday, April 10, 2005 - 03:02 pm: Edit

what sort of fiction books were those??

By Foodpump (Foodpump) on Sunday, April 10, 2005 - 07:06 pm: Edit

Huh? It's been a while. Letsee, most of Steinbeck's stuff on Penguin paperbacks, Lecarre's spy stuff, gave some of my favorites like Clockwork Orange and Brave New World to a friend for safekeping- that was back in '97. Don't miss the cable TV at all, even more so now that hockey's gone.