Do you have a small catering business? Catering can be a tough business to market with everyone from independent home based caterers to large, well staffed restaurants getting in on this profitable business. Naturally, you have to have good food to keep people coming back for more, but how do you get their attention in the first place? If you’re an independent caterer, you don’t have the luxury of a restaurant storefront to draw in business. You have to be a bit more creative with your marketing. Here’s how to market a catering business:
Market a catering business: Weddings
Weddings are an excellent source of business for the independent caterer. To reach budding brides and their wedding parties, join forces with local wedding planners and studios that sell wedding attire. Ask if you can display your cards in their storefront. Offer to give their customers a small discount on their catering costs as a good will gesture. Another way to capture this market is to attend local bridal shows in your areas and advertise in local bridal publications.
Market a catering business: Corporate functions
Catering corporate functions can be quite lucrative as businesses are usually willing to pay top dollar to make their employees are happy. Send a professional brochure to local businesses along with a link to your website where you display sample catering menus. Follow up by contacting the business two weeks after sending the brochure and let them know you’re available to cater their employee functions. Be sure to send a follow up brochure in a few months. Persistence will usually pay off. Another way to network with the owners of local businesses is through meetings sponsored by your local Chamber of Commerce. Be sure to bring lots of business cards.
Market a catering business: Private parties
Private parties can be a nice source of revenue for your catering business. These include birthday parties, bachelor and bachelorette parties, beach parties, bar or bat mitzvahs, picnics, private parties on boats, barbecues, debutante parties, anniversary parties, holiday parties, and a variety of other private events held in people’s homes or outdoors. To reach this audience, post brochures on as many bulletin boards in your area as possible. Be sure to include your website address so they can visit your site and salivate over the photos of tasty food you can prepare. Another way to break into the market is to offer to cater a party in your neighborhood free of charge. Give out lots of business cards at the event and your business name will spread by word of mouth if your food and service are good. You can also advertise in local community newspapers to reach private individuals. It may be worth paying for a small yellow page ad since many people turn to the yellow pages when looking for a caterer.
Market a catering business: Market to drug reps
This is a potentially lucrative market for your catering business. Drug reps call on doctors on a daily basis to keep them informed about new prescription drugs. They usually bring along a catered lunch for the doctors and staff to enjoy while they talk about their products. If you can network with drug reps in your area, they can be a regular source of business. One way would to do this would be to sit in the parking lot of a local medical clinic and hand the drug reps a card as they walk towards their car. A busy medical practice may have ten to fifteen drug reps a day moving in and out. A good time to reach them is around the lunch hour when they frequently visit medical sites.
Marketing a small catering business is a challenge but with a little ingenuity and a few creative ideas, you can spread the word about what you have to offer.
Reference:
- www.freshtastic.com (information on starting a catering business)
