How to Start a Personal Chef Company

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

How to Start a Personal Chef Company

If you like to cook and the entrepreneurial flame is burning, then you might want to consider opening a personal chef company. While you might relish the opportunity to create a great-tasting meal for your family, there are plenty of other people who don’t … or just don’t have the time. Although a penchants for cooking is important, the successful professional chef will also be personable, organized and creative. You’ll also need lots of energy to manage the multiple tasks associated with this type of business.

Step 1

Obtain training if you don't have adequate cooking skills. In addition, a personal chef must have knowledge about food safety, freezing food and creating menus. Training is available through culinary programs or by self-study. Trade organizations, such as the United States Personal Chef Association, also provide training and certification.

Step 2

Develop a recipe inventory. Customers will have a variety of tastes and needs. For example, some may require low-salt menus or desire kid-friendly entrees. In addition, meals must freeze and defrost well. Recipes that fit this criteria can often be purchased or found in specialty cookbooks.

Step 3

Establish a process to gather client information. When you meet with customers for the first time, you will need to document a client profile that includes food preferences and information about their kitchen setup.

Step 4

Choose a legal structure and name to register with the state secretary. A sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation or limited liability company are possible legal entities. Unless you are a sole proprietorship and market the business with your own name, you will also need file a fictitious name with the state secretary too. When selecting a name, choose a descriptive and catchy name that will be useful for marketing purposes.

Step 5

Set up an office. Administrative tasks, such as billing, marketing and menu planning, can be done at home. Note that most jurisdictions require that all cooking tasks occur at the home of a client and not in your own kitchen.

Step 6

Obtain licenses, permits and certification. The requirements vary be state. Food manager certification, required for commercial food preparation and restaurants, is generally not required if all food is prepared at the client's home and no food is taken from the premises. Regardless, an occupational license for the business may be required.

Step 7

Register to pay sales tax if required by the state, city or county. Many states require collection and remittance of a sales tax on prepared food.

Step 8

Buy equipment and supplies. Many states require that fresh food be purchased and transported directly to the client's location for preparation. Only condiments and incidentals, such as dried spices or cooking spray, can be purchased in advance and stored at the chef's house. With respect to equipment, requirements also vary about what utensils may be used from a client's kitchen. Although it is usually acceptable to use a client's appliances with their permission, most chefs will bring their own set of cooking utensils, pots and pans to the home.

Step 9

Obtain liability insurance to cover any accidents. Contact an insurance agent to obtain a policy based upon the volume and range of services provided. The USPCA provides insurance as part of membership.

Step 10

Establish pricing based upon the cost of materials and labor involved. Software is available to assist in calculating food costs. Experience will improve time estimates for labor. Some possibilities for pricing include by the meal or for an entire package. Check with competitors to see what rates are typical in an area.

Step 11

Advertise the business. A personal chef often enjoys an ongoing relationship with clients. Referrals from satisfied customers are integral to success. To get the ball rolling, let everyone know that you are in business. Send a news release, advertise, and participate in networking and social events.

Things Needed

Tip

Consider catering parties or providing cooking lessons in a home to increase exposure.

References (4)

About the Author

Marjory Pilley began writing business and lifestyle articles in 2009. Her articles appear on websites like Think+Up and Chron. She holds a Bachelor of Science in accounting from the University of Florida and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Central Florida.

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Easy Tips and Ideas to Start Business

Although anyone can start a business, many people fail because of a bad product or improper research. If you want to start your own business, you can improve your chances for success before you even begin. In order to make your business successful, start strong and make sure that your idea will hold out for the long haul.

Have a Good Product

Ensure that you plan to sell something useful. Although you may think that your product is important or special, that doesn't mean the general public will agree. Ask friends, family and strangers what they think of your product. If they don't seem that interested, ask them why. With their suggestions, you can either improve the product or scrap the idea completely. According to Brad Sugars of Entrepreneur magazine, most small businesses fail because they sold a product that didn't have an adequate market. This also applies to small businesses that provide a service. A lawn-care business might be useful for part of the year in a northern state, but it is in-demand year-round in the south. Consider whether people will actually want to use your service and get constructive advice from those not afraid to give their opinion.

Research Local Businesses

Research local companies before starting up your own business. This will not only give you an idea of the amount of competition you will have, but it will also help you price your product or service. If you're looking to start a wedding photography business, you may find during your research that the market is over-saturated in your area. If not over-saturated, you should contact each business and ask them for a price list. Alter your prices so you can stay competitive with the competition in town. Researching similar local businesses will also help you decide where to locate your business location. Try not to start up a store or office close to another business of your type. If your small business is located away from similar business types, this will cause locals to choose you over businesses that are farther away from where they live.

Get Professional Advice

You may know someone who has started their own successful business. Ask him for advice and listen to his stories of how he started his company. You may gain useful advice on the good and bad ways to start a business. Local entrepreneurs can also introduce you to local product providers or advertisers that you may not have met without their help. Accept any advice with open arms, especially if the advice is coming from someone successful in the area.

How to Calculate Business Start Up Costs

Starting a business in no easy endeavor. It takes a great deal of research, perseverance and hard work. While sweat equity will make your small business more successful, you will most likely need real capital to get the business started. Before you start raising capital and/or investing your own funds, the first thing you need to do is determine the total start-up costs.

Step 1

Determine your costs of sales. For most small businesses this means inventory, the cost of raw materials, manufacturing equipment, shipping, packaging, and warehousing. However, not all businesses sell products. In this case, the cost of sales is primarily the direct labor involved in making the sale. For example, to open a small shoe business entails purchasing enough inventory ($10,000) to stock the store.

Step 2

Determine professional fees. Planning your business structure, i.e., limited liability corporation or general partnership, means hiring an attorney. There may also be the need to pay an attorney for help with establishing trademarks, copyrights, and patents. In this scenario, that puts total professional fees at an estimated $20,000.

Step 3

Determine technology costs. Technology can greatly reduce the cost of labor for small business if used effectively. Most small businesses require computers, printers, cell phones, website development, Internet access, software applications, information security, data storage, and outsourced information technology (IT) consulting. If the cost of technology is $10,000 to start, add an additional $5,000 a year for maintenance (hint: maintenance is not included in start-up costs).

Step 4

Determine administrative costs. This varies with business types and may include items such as business insurance, office supplies, product packaging, parking, rent, express shipping, desks, chairs, fax machines, phones, or anything else necessary to operate the business daily. A good estimate for start-up administrative costs would be $5,000 for the first six months.

Step 5

Determine initial sales and marketing costs. Now that you have your product, you need to let folks know about it. Sales and marketing costs generally include marketing materials for presentations, printing stationery, business cards, advertising, trade show events, and public relations. These initial sales and marketing costs can add up to $3,000.

Step 6

Determine the wages and benefits needed to secure a staff. This includes employee salaries, benefits, workers compensation, and payroll taxes. Let's put the cost of wages and benefits estimated at $20,000 for the first three months of business.

Step 7

Add all costs associated with starting the business for a total. Be sure to only include business start-up costs that will be incurred in the first three to six months of operations. For this example, the calculation is: $10,000 + $20,000 + $10,000 + $5,000 + $3,000 + $20,000 = $68,000.

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Wednesday, June 19, 2013