# Starting Your Own Personal Chef Business



## chefsaralee (Mar 28, 2013)

Hello everyone, I am currently unemployed and seeking to begin my own business as a personal chef. Now, I am nowhere near ready to set sail, I know there is an extensive amount of work, research, dedication, money, etc that goes into this, so please, I do not need to know how difficult this path will be, I need advice. I am 200% dedicated and motivated to getting this off of the ground once I have my foundation. I am just starting out, so I will need to build a clientele as well as purchasing some minor equipment. I am aware of the liabilities and insurance that I need in order to be in compliance with state and federal laws here in Florida, but I want to know everything, right down to the nitty-gritty! If there is anything you can share with me it is greatly appreciated! /img/vbsmilies/smilies/biggrin.gif

-Sara Lee


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## ed buchanan (May 29, 2006)

Have a good resume and a good reputation.  And be a people person


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## brandon odell (Aug 19, 2012)

Join either the APPCA (http://www.personalchef.com/) or the USPCA (http://www.uspca.com/). They are professional organizations for personal chefs. I believe the dues for one of them include liability insurance and one of them includes access to a scalable database of recipes and customer management tools. One or both of them have training materials too. I have a personal chef service with 3 chef employees and I do not belong to either, but I had the ability to create my own tools. I am still considering joining one of them anyways.


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## nikolasrb (Mar 22, 2013)

be prepared to alot of stress.


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## planethoff (Apr 25, 2011)

I totally agree with Brandon that you should get involved with one of the personal chef networking organizations.  They also have recipe and planning software that makes the business side way easier, but like Ed said the biggest thing is to be a people person.  To be a good personal chef, sales and people skills are needed more than cooking skills.  Obviously your cooking chops need to be up to snuff, but to make it, it is all about sales and schmoozing.  To get your foot in the door with people the best thing is to get booths at fairs/festivals/concerts and give out small tastings and menu info.  If you can also do a smaller "packaged" to go meal for them to take home to try that is a big plus.  Have little bites at the table with pictures and menus and if someone seems especially interested, have a cooler under the table with a few different entrees that you specialize in that they can take home.  Best of Luck!


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