What kind of skills do you need to acquire,to become a Caterer?

I know you need college,but what will they teach you exactly?What kind of skills do you need to acquire,to become a Caterer?
College certainly helps you master the art of cooking, and in turn, makes you a better chef and that is ultimatly what people will hire you for- but this is not always a "rule". Some people have been mastering the art of cooking their entire lives and some self taught cooks are better than school credited ones. I suggest you get a job with a caterer in your area and learn all aspects of the business before you decide what you want to do. Or just start working at a restaurant or start making dinners for your friends, including appetizers, desserts, ambiance, clean up, etc. It takes a lot more than food to have a superb dinner.
If you can find a local caterer to work for, you will learn a lot more than paying for a school course and get paid to do it. Caterers are always looking for part-time help since the jobs are often one time deals.



Most of what you need is a good kitchen to work in and the right equipment to move it all. If you can start with jobs that provide the equipment you can at least get your foot in the door.



You can rent almost anything you would need to cater if you're in a city. One thing is you will need a good crew to do all the set-ups and breaking down.What kind of skills do you need to acquire,to become a Caterer?
you need to be able to cook. And not just cook for one or two... You need to learn how to cook for over 250! This is more difficult. Not to mention accounting skills, marketing and just have a head for business.
Trust me on this one. You need to be a great baker, chef. And

some managerial skills.
You do not need college,



Business sense can be acquried through college, but you need to learn how to cook in massive quanities and learn a technique call percentage food cost. If you want to make it in catrering, you want ot get you percentage food cost as low as possible. In most restaraunts, food cost will vary between 15-45%, catering is on the low spectrum because of buying in bulk. But making food taste good is number one, you will never have repeat business without it. Start out samll with doing a partyt of ten, then expand. If you visit your state website, there are numerous resources for small businesses.



I do a little catering myself,

Forest D. bynum
just geyt ****** properl
Catering is a Service business in which you provide some combination of many of the following things:

* linens

* plates/cups/saucers/bowls

* utensils like spoons, knives. %26amp; forks

* serving dishes

* server staff (waiters, bussing staff, cooks, and chefs)

* tables and chairs

* setup staff

* clean-up staff

* delivery staff

* and usually food



I should point out that food while an intgral part of the service is really only 1 aspect of the Service.



The ability to plan, coordinate, deliver, talk with clients, and identify what your clients needs are are for more critcal than the food component of the Service.



To be a good caterer you need to be able to make it easy and simple for your client to identify what their options are and what they need to considder when they obtain your services. For examplae a caterer than does not make sure that they and their client know who is providing the chairs for a wedding reception will fall short if the guests have no place to sit.



A caterer must be able to calculate accurately what their labor costs and materials costs are and will be for every contract.



A caterer much be able to write a contract which identifies both what the caterer is providing and what their client (or the clients other subcontractors) are responsible for providing so that it will be very clear where all of the responsibilities which comprise an event are distributed. The list of responsibilities is very long. For example there are events where a caterer much bring a generator and several microwave ovens or refridgeration units to suppliment the equipment which is available at a site for the food portion of the event to start and end in an alloted time frame. and to keep things fresh if some portion of the event runs too long.
good day,

so you want to be a carter??? I would suggest you work for restaurants and local carters in all the fields... front of house- for people skills- back of house- order skills- cook- line times and culinary skills. Do you have a god given talent for food..???

After couple of years, do a market study- what does your area

need? what will set you apart?

Do a business plan: and good luck
What kind of skills do you need? Well you need to be able to cook! Without the ability to cook and make the food taste great, you wont last long.
You need to know basic marketing and accounting. These are the skills needed for running any small business. I'm assuming you are going to culinary school to learn to cook and you will have to pass all the state requirements for food preparation and service.
You should know the basics of cooking. You dont need a college degree but you should knwo something about business. You need to get a license in your state/town. You will have to have a place to prepare your food that has been inspected and approved by the local health department. Good Luck.