As a catering company owner or manager, have you thought about what you can do to not only deliver quality food, but also a fantastic customer experience? Your behind-the-scenes processes can make or break your catering company, and you could drive your business to new heights by setting high standards for your internal workflows. Use these five tips for more efficient and successful catering company management.
New to the catering industry? Check out our complete guide to starting your own catering company.
Relying on handwritten orders or an outdated Excel spreadsheet won’t cut it for caterers looking to grow and expand their business. Although being organized sometimes feels like it adds never-ending administrative tasks to your list, spending time getting proper systems, processes and software set up can pay off handsomely in the long run. You and your catering business can save hours of time with automated processes, resulting in happier customers because you can focus more on catering and creating memorable experiences and events.
Many professionals, not just caterers, shy away from networking. But by joining the right associations, business groups or even professional groups on websites such as LinkedIn, you can make meaningful connections that lead to future opportunities.
There are numerous associations, both local and international, that every type of caterer can join. This will gain you access to regional meetings, conference and convention attendance, industry resources and news, as well as provide a platform for networking. This can drive more awareness of your catering operation, resulting in more customers, and ultimately more sales!
Whether it’s deciding on an event staffing model, choosing a new sector to expand catering operations into, or even just what recipes to develop next, using real data to base your business decisions on is always advised. Adding analytics into your business operations can help you be more successful when expanding and master your catering company management style. Using software such as FoodStorm, which provides real-time reporting and a user dashboard to see trends in your catering operation, can simplify these decisions for you.
Not everyone needs to be a master marketer, but leaving out marketing from your business operations can snuff out your momentum very quickly. Aside from having a website where customers can learn who you are and what your catering company does, having your menu online, or better yet, having online ordering capabilities will set you ahead of competitors.
Depending on what type of catering you offer, your marketing tactics could change:
Event caterer? Focusing on social media marketing can prove to be successful. Brick-and-mortar restaurant that offers catering? In-store marketing could be best. Corporate caterer? Direct email or mail marketing could get you noticed, along with Google Maps listing.
This tip is a given, but needs to be repeated! Don’t get caught up trying to please every customer and every request. Although flat out denying custom or specialty orders could prove harmful to business, staying in your wheelhouse in terms of flavor profiles and comparable dishes can help you please all customers. Most importantly, focusing on the food and dishes that started your passion for catering and making sure you do those better than competitors will ensure your customers keep coming back for more!
Bringing your catering operations online and automating your processes will require some upfront work, but it can pay off substantially in the near and long-term. Being a caterer is equal parts creativity and business acumen, so why not partner with the world’s leading all-in-one software to help?
Contact us today to learn how FoodStorm Catering Software can benefit your business and help you do more catering, less work.
