The Real Numbers for Starting a Catering Business
This plan picks up where the free guide leaves off. It walks through the commissary-kitchen licensing route in detail, the FDA Food Code danger-zone temperatures that keep you compliant, the food-cost-divided-by-0.30 formula for pricing every job, and the equipment budget it actually takes to get started — plus four working worksheets to run your first events with.
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Built From Real Numbers
This plan covers what the business actually is, who pays for it, and the smallest version you can charge for before you scale — then goes deep on the commissary-kitchen route, the four-hour cumulative rule for holding food safely, and pricing every job off food cost instead of guessing.
It also covers how to research your local market, cold-call scripts for landing your first clients, funding caveats if you're using VR&E or other education benefits, and a 90-day plan to go from idea to your first booked event.
What's Inside
- Equipment & startup cost breakdown ($2,000–5,000 starter kit, $15,000–40,000 total range)
- Per-person pricing tiers — budget, mid-range, and premium menus
- Contract, deposit, and cancellation terms that protect you
- Event Quote Calculator worksheet
- Event Temperature Log worksheet
- Commissary Kitchen Comparison worksheet
- Event Readiness Checklist worksheet
