# private chef plus small scale catering



## tony williams (Feb 27, 2013)

Hello all!

So my girlfriend and I are looking to start up a private chef/small catering business this summer. We're both culinary school grads (me culinary, her baking/pastry) with years of line experience each in high volume a la carte and banquet kitchens-mainly fine dining country clubs. 

Seeing as how our jobs are primarily seasonal here in south Florida (read: snow birds), summer work is always slow and money can be tight. So we'd like to start a business together.

The concept is private gigs focusing on small parties, in-home cooking lessons and possibly small end catering. I want to do the bulk of the work (ie prep) at our house and bring it to them (the customer) the day of for final cooking and plating. 

The questions I have should be pretty basic:
1. Do we need licensing/insurance?
2. Do we need a proper "business"or can we freelance?
3. Aside from word of mouth, how can we best advertise and get our name out there?

Thanks all for your input!


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## petemccracken (Sep 18, 2008)

Tony Williams said:


> ...
> 
> The questions I have should be pretty basic:
> 1. Do we need licensing/insurance?


Licensing, i.e. business license, catering license, sales tax permit, etc., varies by jurisdiction, more than likely yes on all three.

Insurance is only really necessary when things go wrong /img/vbsmilies/smilies/lol.gif, I would get the insurance, should run $500-$1,000 for the year, at least it does here in California


> 2. Do we need a proper "business"or can we freelance?


Well, if you don't get caught, you don't need anything. I wouldn't risk not having the necessary licenses, permits, etc.


> 3. Aside from word of mouth, how can we best advertise and get our name out there?
> 
> Thanks all for your input!


When you find out, please let me know, after 13 years, I still do not know the answer /img/vbsmilies/smilies/crazy.gif


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## brandon odell (Aug 19, 2012)

Two words for marketing, "Google Ads". I use many different marketing avenues from door hangers and car flyers to package donations to charities, print ads and even a publicist. My Google ads have delivered far more return than any other marketing effort, OTHER than my website and organic search engine optimization efforts.


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