Posted by carl jones on September 15, 1997 at 18:22:23 :
In Reply to: contracts posted by ron on August 07, 1997 at 16:50:18 :
: looking for pro in the business for ideas on a hard
: contract with clients. i have been catering for 17
: years and have experienced probably all the disasters
: you can imagine. am trying to minimize future loses.
: rather stressed out after all these years but want to
: keep going, can share ideas with experienced
: pros in the same situation.
: thinking about writing a book of experiences.
: located in southern maine, winter in sarasota fla.
contracts are very helpful in caterings, especially with first time clients.
most of the time, they are simply agreements showing what you are providing and what the client is suppose to do.
in my agreements, i include information about deposits, payment due date. first time clients pay $500 or 25% upon booking....the balance is due 48 hours prior to the event, or we don't do the event.. (never happened)
any additional charges are due the next day....
i am more leanient with corporate clients... but beware that some companies book caterings, have an event, go out of business and stiff the caterers as well as most everyone else....
i bill most regulars....
another issue is the guarantee number..... make certain that this is in the agreement and that they UNDERSTAND it.....80% of the events i have catered had less show up than guaranteed.... something i have started doing is tell the client we will use 300 guests as the number, prepare for say, 330 guest, but will protect them against low turnout by making them commit to paying for only 270(basically 10% each way....) most clients appreciate this and this has been a large factor in my getting the job...