Do you love cooking and serving people? Have you always been the one who competently whips up a full course of hearty meals for a big bunch of family members and friends during birthday parties and gatherings? Most important of all, do your foods always fulfilled your guests’ appetite and taste buds, and received thumbs up every time? If your answers are ‘yes’ to all the above, perhaps you can start a catering business! 
A catering business is a service oriented business. As a caterer, your responsibilities include providing food, and sometimes supplies and service for social events like birthday parties, weddings, anniversary parties and just about any other gathering.
The most important ’skills’ you should have if you want to run a catering business would be the love for food and the passion to cook. And certainly, cooking for 100 or perhaps 200 guests is totally different from cooking for 20 or 30 family members and friends. It involves sweats, and sometimes tears may be, haha. Therefore, in order to run a successful catering service, you will need to be able to work well under pressure, keep your cool and be reliable.
In a catering business, your product, i.e. food, actually comes next to your dependability. You need to deliver what you promise, and on time. Your food may not score 10 or satisfied every guest’s taste buds, but your accountability and service attitude will determine if your customers will come back for your catering service or recommend it to others.
If you are just starting a catering service you might want to save on start up costs by renting cooking equipment instead of purchasing it. When business is running with a few contracts in hand and some cash flowing in, then you can probably start investing in equipments.
Expect to be working solo in the beginning. You will need to do all the cooking, you’ll be packing up the foods for transporting, and you’ll to warm the dishes before serving them. When business is steady and ready to expand, you can then get a helper.
Before you start your catering business, you might want to first hold a ‘pretend’ catering event. Have your friends and family be the guinea pigs. Find out what cooking for a large group of people is like if you haven’t done it already. Having a ‘pretend’ party will give you first hand experience with the planning, cooking and pulling off the social event.
If things go well and you are still ready to move forward and start this catering service, you need to choose a name. Even before choosing a name it might be a good idea to check into the legalities of starting a home business. Check to see if you need a permit, find out what your country laws are in regards to starting your own business.
Once that is done, you now need to market yourself. Print some flyers and distribute it around your neighbourhood or other nearby vicinities. Send out a brochure to area companies that could possibly use catering services for social events. Have business cards made up so that they are handy to give out.
If you have a love for cooking especially in large amounts and providing a service to others, starting a catering business might be right up your alley. Research other caterers in your area - what are they offering in their menu, what’s their price, etc. You will want to offer reasonable prices and find ways that you can make yourself unique.
With time, dedication and perseverance, you can become a successful catering service provider!
Thanks for writing, I really enjoyed reading your most recent post. I think you should post more often, you evidently have talent for blogging!