# Starting a Catering Business...



## jayskitchen (Mar 24, 2010)

/img/vbsmilies/smilies/chef.gifHi, my name is Jay and I'm graduating from culinary school this fall. I'm considering a catering business and eventually owning my own restaurant. I would like to get advise on what would be the best way to start. Would it be wise to do an externship first? I live in south Florida, please suggest some of the top places for the externship. I know that Walt Disney World has a program and I have also looked into going abroad for the internship. Please advise...I'm a little lost.


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## rabicamail (Feb 19, 2010)

I f you are looking forward to join  business and you already into  the business so you know how to manage things so i personally believe  that internship will be a waste of time .


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## chefbillyb (Feb 8, 2009)

Look at getting a job with an outside catering company. Off site catering is a whole different ball game. Chef Bill


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## mezzaluna (Aug 29, 2000)

Moving this to the caterers' forum......


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## marmalade (Sep 29, 2003)

ChefBillyB said:


> Look at getting a job with an outside catering company. Off site catering is a whole different ball game. Chef Bill


I absolutely agree with this. You might also see if you can get some per diem work with several caterers; busy season is coming up, so that might be pretty easy to swing. You'll get to see different ways to go about things this way.


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## caterchef (Oct 12, 2009)

JaysKitchen said:


> /img/vbsmilies/smilies/chef.gifHi, my name is Jay and I'm graduating from culinary school this fall. I'm considering a catering business and eventually owning my own restaurant. I would like to get advise on what would be the best way to start. Would it be wise to do an externship first? I live in south Florida, please suggest some of the top places for the externship. I know that Walt Disney World has a program and I have also looked into going abroad for the internship. Please advise...I'm a little lost.


First get a position at a large hotel or country club, as they do more banquets than restaurants
then get a position with a large catering company to learn off premise catering.That experience is something you can not get from books. Restaurants that do catering will gererally teach you bad habits like taking short cuts on the equipment you should have. Most successful caterers got their experience from big city experiences.


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## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

YES! externships.....talk to advisors at school or ACF/Chef d'Cuisine has juniors groups that can advise you about different options in your area.

Get on line and look at different websites, check out menus.....if you are interested in scratch cooking check out those caterers.

Walt Disney may be just the place to start out.


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## gerdosh (Feb 4, 2010)

Working for a caterer for several months is a good way to start. Buy this book: Start and Run a Catering Business by George Erdosh--it is by far the best for a small-business caterer, in its third edition. (It happens to be on eBay right now).


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