Transcript
Transcript is autogenerated and may contain typos, errors, omissions etc.
Speaker: [00:00:00] Hey there, I’m Chef Shelley, and if you’re trying to figure out how to price your personal chef event services, whether you’re doing a dinner for two or a sit down multi-course dinner for a group or even buffets, this video is going to make your life a whole lot easier because the truth is what worked even last year isn’t cutting it anymore.
You know, the personal chef specifically event landscape has changed, and as you know, prices for groceries are skyrocketing. If you don’t adapt, you’ll end up undercharging, overworked, and frustrated.
I learned this the hard way. In the past my pricing looked solid on paper, but after a few events, I realized I was basically paying my clients for the privilege of cooking for them. So my aha moment was creating the pricing strategy. I’m going to share with you [00:01:00] today. By the end of this video, you’ll know how to price smarter, stress less, and actually make good
profit from your personal chef events.
Let’s start with the part nobody really wants to talk about your true costs. It’s not just ingredients, okay? You’ve got the direct costs, like the food, and maybe you’re doing rentals, but then there’s the indirect costs, like your mileage, parking, gas disposables, cleaning supplies you bring in.
If you don’t add all these little things in, you are cutting into your profit before you even start. Then there’s labor. Now, of course, as a solopreneur, personal chef, I’m not talking about if you’re bringing someone in to help you and paying them, and we don’t have full-time employees and staff, right?
I’m talking about us. The hours you’re standing in the client’s [00:02:00] kitchen, PLUS your prep time before your shopping time, travel time, cleaning time, even the admin time, before and after. This all counts.
And finally there is that ingredient sourcing. Prices change from week to week. We don’t have big contracts with big commercial food suppliers like restaurants do, and there are special requests too that clients can make that wipe out your margins. If you’re not pricing right, you shouldn’t be pricing like a big caterer.
That’s why I always recommend. Building in even a little extra buffer for those unpredictable swings that are unpredictable yet always seem to happen. Now let’s shift from costs that you’re going to have to the value, because when you’re pricing for clients, it’s not just math, it’s [00:03:00] also a little bit of psychology.
If you are only doing cost plus profit, you’re actually leaving money on the table because clients aren’t just paying for groceries and your time. They’re paying for the experience they’re paying for having a professional personal chef in their home and that expertise, the convenience of not going out to a restaurant and all those other things, this is where psychological strategies like.
Anchoring and bundling can come into play. I’m going to admit this is more of an advanced technique. When you give people clear choices, like a basic package versus a premium one, you’re setting the frame for what feels like a deal, and suddenly the premium [00:04:00] option doesn’t feel expensive. It feels more like the smart choice to have the feeling and the experience they want to have.
If you really want to go the extra mile, don’t forget about upsells and add-ons. You can recommend wine pairings, you can recommend dessert upgrades or different courses or things in between. You can even, if you want to, if you are trying to use this as a strategy to get them into being a meal prep services client, talk to them about having extra portions for the freezer later.
These are some easy little ways that you can just add some bump up revenue with out feeling pushy or going for some weird hard sell.
All right. Let’s get into the exact framework that I’m talking about right now. I mentioned a tiered package approach. You can call this anything you want. Bronze, silver, gold, silver, gold, platinum, or [00:05:00] diamond, whatever you want, right? Basically what you’re saying is bronze is the essentials. Silver or the middle adds a few upgrades, and the top tier is the full experience.
This can make it easy for clients to self-select nine times out of 10 human psychology they’re going to land in the middle tier, usually it’s middle or higher. Then from here you can build in the flexibility factor because no two events are ever the same, right? No two clients are ever the same. You can adjust based on unique requests or travel, or last minute changes.
That flexibility can help keep you profitable when things don’t go exactly as planned.
So here’s the big kicker, though. The way you present your proposal matters just as much as the numbers. When your [00:06:00] proposal or your bid, whatever you want to call it, looks polished and professional, but most importantly, clearly outlines what they’re getting, clients are far more likely to say yes even at a higher price point.
Now the last piece is that future proofing your pricing, right? Markets shift. Competitors pop up, client expectations change and evolve. If you’re not reviewing your pricing regularly, you’re going to fall behind and then your profit falls behind.
That also means sharpening your communication skills, really having your business, your services, and how to talk about them down. The more confidently you can explain your style, your value, your pricing, the easier it is to close these deals [00:07:00] without discounting or doing anything like that.
So here’s your action steps this week.
Take your current pricing or create pricing for an event and run it through the framework I walked you through. Look at your hidden costs. Make sure you’re building in a little buffer. Create those tiers and see what you’re going to be your starter, and then your add-ons and. Polish the whole proposal process and how you would talk to a client about it.
Because when you price like this and you have the clarity and the confidence, you don’t just make more money, you’re going to attract better clients too.
If you found this helpful and you want more strategies for starting and growing your personal chef business, make sure you hit that subscribe button. If you want to get started with doing meal [00:08:00] prep services for paying clients, hit the link below and get my free guide that walks through step by step doing it.
If you have more questions, DM me on Instagram or Facebook at Chef Shelley. Instagram is at Chef Shelley B. I’m Chef Shelley. As you know, I just said my name a hundred times. Thanks for watching. I’ll see you in the next one.
Leave A Comment