You’re up and running and your catering business is now starting to take off but there are still teething problems. This chapter deals with: One satisfying part of your business is solving catering problems for your customers. You offer them a solution and if it works well it will earn you bonus points when they need the services of a catering company for future events. Of course you won’t be able to satisfy every customer’s needs. You won’t always be the right company for them.

If you are not able to solve a particular customer’s needs (for example, you were unable to supply a company a Thai buffet lunch for 30 at short notice), ask yourself why and if you can address their wishes in the future. Perhaps next time you could offer different food, or offer the whole package from food, staffing, marquee and equipment hire to flowers, the band and finding a good toastmaster? Remember, however, that although you don’t want the business to go to a competitor, you can’t always give every customer what they need. Accept your limitations.

Keeping Your Customers

When a function is over, talk to your customer. Ask them if there are any improvements that you could make, especially if you do business with them on a regular basis (daily, weekly) or you are in contract catering, providing a daily in-house catering service for a business, for example. If you take the time to talk, they may also suggest other businesses or private customers who are looking for a good, reliable caterer.

Questions To Ask Existing Customers

• Do you have other events coming up you need catering for?
• Can we give you a quote?
• What other services can we offer you? What else are you looking for?
• Are you pleased with our standards or can we improve on our existing service to you?

Effective Time Scheduling

Some one-man band businesses fail because they can’t work out how to use time effectively. Try the following to help you manage your time.

• Prioritise your workload in a sensible way. Do the jobs you need to do first. Don’t put them off because you can’t face them.
• Make a list which includes most important, and least important.
• Work through your list of food preparation effectively. For example, if something takes a long time to bake then start preparing other smaller dishes that need less time while that item is baking. If you use the oven a lot, make a list of items that need to be baked first.
• Do as much shopping as you can in one go so that you can work through a lot of food preparation without having to go out to buy missing items.
• Keep up to date with invoice payments so that you don’t run into a cash-flow problem.
• Communicate well with your employees, and with your family, so that efficiency and good relationships reign.

Solving Business Problems

Catering throws up daily problems which can affect the growth of your business as well as your satisfaction and success. It is part and parcel of being in this business and dealing with problems is, without doubt, a skill you need. Think about how you would deal with the following:

• Your refrigeration stops functioning and you need to sort it out - fast.
• A key staff member has to go to a family funeral at short notice, on the day of a large function.
• The 60 chicken breasts you ordered are preposterously small - our new supplier has let you down with only 24 hours to go until the party.
• You lose a catering job you thought you had.
• A customer is dissatisfied with the wine you supplied.
• You are late for a function due to a faulty vehicle.
• There are ten extra guests and no extra food.
• The hired-in tablecloths haven’t been laundered properly and there are holes in several of them.
• Your landlord is demanding a rent increase.
• Your customer’s personal assistant is undermining you and creating a division between you and the client.

 

Problems arise for many reasons: bad management or a short-sighted view of your business, or things out of your control such as staff absence or mechanical problems like fridge breakdown. It’s all part of the human condition and some things are not instantly solvable but, with practice and experience, you can get around them temporarily.

Whatever the situation, keep a cool head as stress will only compound the problem. You must learn how to deal with problems logically, rationally and with the utmost good humour even in trying circumstances. Trust your intuition. It comes from your knowledge, experience and reality.