Transcript
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Speaker: [00:00:00] Holiday season is one of the busiest and most profitable times of the year for personal chefs, but here’s the truth. Most passionate cooks who are starting their personal chef business and getting into it with catering, either over complicate it from beginning to end, under charge for their services, or even avoid catering altogether because they think it’s going to be too overwhelming.
In this video, I’m gonna give you the ultimate guide to Holiday catering for personal chefs because as of the time this is being published, it is the beginning of October and it is time to get ready to pick up those lucrative catering jobs. As a personal chef, we’re going to break down exactly what to offer, how to price it, how to find clients, and a system that makes it all stress free so that you can cash in on the holidays instead of burning out.
Hey, chef Shelley here. I help passionate cooks start their own personal chef business so you can finally get paid to cook and do what you love. But on your own terms, no [00:01:00] restaurants, no commercial kitchens, no staff. Just you, your cooking and clients who love your food. And in this video I’m diving deep into holiday catering because this again, is where a lot of passionate cooks get started.
And you can make big money fast and really enjoy creating experiences that clients will never forget. By the end of this video, you’re going to have a step-by-step plan to your holiday catering for your personal show business and stick around because I’m actually going to share a catering equipment checklist for you so you can keep your events smooth, professional, and less stress.
I won’t say stress free. First, let’s decide what kind of events you even wanna offer. That is huge because this is what a lot of passionate cooks do. Wrong. They do anything pretty much that someone asks them to do. Sit down dinner. Sure buffet. Absolutely. Cocktail party. Love to brunch. [00:02:00] See you Sunday. Two people, 30 people, whatever.
And this is exactly how you end up exhausted, underpaid, and. Feeling unorganized and like you just cannot get it together With catering. Now, as a personal chef, you don’t need to do all the things. Your sweet spot is small, intimate gatherings that you want to do with the food you want to cook. Things to consider would be like.
Holiday seated dinner parties. What can you do for two, for four people, for six people, maybe up to eight guests by yourself? And then how many courses are you comfortable doing or would you prefer not to serve courses and to keep it family style? That’s important to know on the upfront. You don’t wanna try to figure that out while you’re talking to a client who’s trying to decide whether they should hire you or not.
So. What can you do on your own, and then do you have a friend or family member that would help you? Then how many people would [00:03:00] you accommodate? That wouldn’t be a challenge. That’s not what you want to do when someone is paying you is try to do something that might be above where you’re ready. Over time, you can build up to more.
In the beginning, you wanna start where you know you can be successful for your client. So then that’s seated dinners. Think about buffets. Do you want to do dinner buffets? Does that sound easier than a seated plated dinner party? Possibly. do you wanna do dinner buffets? Do you wanna do cocktail party buffets, brunches?
Think about the menu that you would wanna do for that. How many of each item would you need to make if it was a bay for 10 people versus 15 people versus 20 people, right? Think about that. Do a menu. Think about how many people, how much food you would need to be making for it, and then how much could you.
Comfortably successfully handle. So again, cocktail parties could be a buffet, and then maybe you can also pass [00:04:00] some hors d’oeuvres or your signature hors d’oeuvre or have someone help you do it too. Anything like those, that’s it. Small, high quality events where your food and your presence as their personal chef creates an experience.
And here’s a pro tip, create two or three set menu packages. Don’t try to custom create and build a brand new menu for every potential client that you talk to. It is a total waste of time when you spend a whole bunch of time on it for someone and then they end up not hiring. You have some things preset, and then you and the client, when they decide they’re seriously going to hire you, get a deposit.
And then you can adjust their menu for what they’d like together. For example, let’s say you wanna do a classic holiday dinner, right? Beef tenderloin, twice baked potatoes, roasted veg, and a chocolate tort. Price out that menu for. [00:05:00] Four people, six people, eight people. a festive cocktail party menu, maybe four to six different hor d’oeuvres and a dessert if you wanna do a holiday brunch, an egg dish, a salad, a pastry, a fruit, and a festive mocktail.
Whatever types of menus you wanna do for whichever type of seated dinner, buffet , cocktail party-ish thing you wanna do? Clients love having clear options, and that makes it easier for them to say yes, and you love not reinventing the wheel every single time. Now, let’s talk logistics. One of the biggest myths I hear all the time is, don’t I need a commercial kitchen to do catering?
I can’t make it all in my own home. Well, no, you don’t need a commercial kitchen because if you’re working as a personal chef, it’s like being a private chef. You’re cooking in the client’s home in their kitchen, and that is not something that is regulated by the health department. It’s just like doing weekly meal prep services, in the client’s home.
Now, just because you don’t need a [00:06:00] commercial kitchen though, there are a few things that you need to check ahead of time. Do they have. The oven space you might need. Do they have four working burners? Do they have refrigerator space? Do they own enough serving platters, glassware, and plates and utensils for however many people they’re expecting?
Do they have table space? If they want it set up as a buffet, I mean, just imagine. Doing a holiday party without checking and showing up to their home and finding nothing but a toaster oven and no serving platters. It makes me wanna die a little bit. Just imagine trying to cook a nice seated dinner for eight people in a toaster oven.
You know, it sounds funny, but we all have that friend, right? That friend who has one crappy cutting board and like no tongs and stuff. These are the things that you need to discuss with the client ahead of time and definitely check out their space before the event. So that you can do your planning.
Speaking of this, in these [00:07:00] details, always use a contract. I don’t recommend that you have to have this when you’re doing weekly meal prep services because you have a long term ongoing relationship. But when you are doing a one time event where it is make or break for the client, you need to have details spelled out, guest count.
Time of event and when you’ll be there. Two different things. The exact menu so that you’re both on the same page. What’s included? Like your shopping, your setup, if you’re serving cleanup, and then what’s not included? Do they need rental? If you don’t have a liquor license, you can’t do alcohol. are they expecting servers do they have enough glassware, flatware plates, or do they need rentals?
Having these details written up is just another step that sets you apart as a professional and not just someone that they hired off of Facebook. It avoids nightmare conversations where clients say at 6 59, when the [00:08:00] party’s at seven, oh, I thought you were bringing wine glasses for 20 people.
Alright, let’s talk. The one that gets a lot of people hung up and that’s. Pricing. This is where so many passionate cooks go wrong. They undercharge because they’re scared that clients won’t book them. And it sounds expensive, but here’s the thing. Holiday catering clients who want to have a personal chef in their home for their guests expect to pay a premium.
Otherwise, they’d be picking up party trays at Costco. Right? Not a bad thing, just a different experience. You are not just making food, you’re giving them the priceless ability to be able to actually enjoy their own holiday, to have a truly exceptional experience and share that with their guests, and that is worth all the money.
When you’re creating a menu that you’re going to use, as an example, decide your pricing. Consider your time planning shopping. [00:09:00] Prepping, cooking, cleaning, everything. Of course, in addition to all your time, you wanna take into consideration your actual food costs. File mignon is very different than chicken tenders.
You wanna consider any add-ons like rentals, extra staff? Are they thinking they need servers or bartenders or anything like that? Uh, mistakes that you’re gonna wanna avoid are things like charging by the hour. That is just a race to the bottom charge per event. But again, don’t forget to factor in things like your travel time.
If it’s a premium date, like actually on Thanksgiving or Christmas Eve, holiday catering is a premium. It is a busy time. Price it like that. Remember, they’re not buying the food. They can pick up, pre-made food anywhere. If they wanna do it on the cheap, they can slice up cheese and put out crackers themselves if that’s what they want.
That’s not what hiring a personal chef is about. It’s about the experience of their event that they wanna have. That’s worth a lot [00:10:00] to the right people. Now, if you’re talking to someone and they bulk at the price or even tell you you’re too expensive or try to. Negotiate your price down. This is not about you and it’s not about your services, and it’s not about the value, and it’s not even about the price.
Hiring a personal chef just isn’t the right fit for them, and that’s okay, but do not make it about you and your service and the value of your service. So let’s talk about actually booking some holiday catering. If you already have a personal shop business and you’re doing weekly meal prep for clients, that is the best place to start.
Simply ask your clients, Hey, are you hosting anything for the holidays? I would love to take care of it for you, and I’m booking now and referrals are gold during the holidays, so be sure to ask your clients. Hey, if you know anyone who needs help with holiday cooking, feel free to pass my info on and give them some business [00:11:00] cards.
Then go back to people who have hired you before and do the exact same two Things now. If you haven’t had any clients yet, get your menus and pricing together first, and then start telling your friends and family. Now, they might not be your actual ideal clients, but they can sure help spread the word around and then branch out post on social media, but keep it simple and direct.
Now booking holiday. Parties and dinners. Get specific about the types of events you wanna do. Make it clear you’re not doing a reception for a hundred people. Let ’em know it’s limited spots available for the holidays. Um, tell them exactly how to contact you. Do you want a message or a dm? Do you want a phone call?
Do you want email pass that? Get into local Facebook groups and on neighborhood boards. Use word of mouth everywhere you go. People are getting into holiday mode. They are looking for help and they know other people who need help. [00:12:00] So all this is well and good. You’ve got your menus, you’re talking to potential clients.
Now, here’s where a lot of passionate cooks get burned out. The holidays can be intense. You’ve got to work to keep it less stressful, and here’s how. Use systems and checklists for everything, for your menus, for your shopping, for your paperwork, for your packing, everything. Then don’t overbook yourself.
Look forward. Like I said, right now when I’m publishing this, it’s October, November. December, decide now how many events can you realistically handle and still enjoy yourself. It helps too to really keep your menu simple. Not 10 complicated dishes that require you to juggle four ovens or whatever. This isn’t the French laundry, right?
Build out your prep timeline, the things you need to do a week before the day, before the morning of, and minute by [00:13:00] minute. I’m not kidding. At the event when you’re cooking and serving, when you do this prep ahead of time and are organized with your systems and checklist holiday catering can be a thousand times more fun, not frantic.
And when it’s more fun, it will actually be more profitable. Now, here’s a bonus that I promised at the beginning. Pro Tips to make your exquisite personal chef experience style holiday catering. Stand out from those big random catering companies. First of all, the client’s experience check in with the host.
It means a lot that you as the personal chef, the owner are there and it’s not some phoning it in not caring about anything under underlying. Offer to help them. Ask them if they need anything, make sure they have a drink in their hand if they need it. Make sure at the end of the day, they just feel taken care of.
Part of the reason people hire us is to not feel stressed out at their own event. And when you make [00:14:00] them feel taken care of, that’s what gets you rebooked every year. Tip number two. Capture the moment. Ask permission to snap some pictures of the spread in their home and then send them to the host.
They’ll appreciate having the memories without having to take ’em themselves or have the buffet already be halfway destroyed and then taking a picture. They’ll really appreciate. Plus you can share it on your social media with captions like Love creating this holiday feast for my client last Saturday night.
This builds your authority and helps you bring in new clients. That’s social proof, right? Next tip. Write a handwritten thank you note after clients love this little touch. Finally, these touches separate you from faceless catering companies and make you the personal chef and that specialized experience that they remember, refer and wanna have again.
So that is an overview, the [00:15:00] Ultimate Guide to Holiday Catering for Personal Chefs. Remember, decide on your small manageable event types, create your menus and pricing ahead of time. Use systems and checklists and a client contract or agreement to keep everything communicated and stay stress free and add those little touches that make clients love you and your service.
To make it super easy, I have a holiday catering packing list that covers everything from knives to dish soap, just in case the client doesn’t have it, you can grab it free. Just get the link below the video and download your copy. Don’t forget to subscribe because I am starting a series all about holiday catering for personal chefs, and I am always putting up videos about how to start and grow your personal chef business so you can get paid to do what you love on your own terms because the clients are out there and they’re hungry for what you’re cooking.
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