It does not matter whether you own or going to own a wedding catering business or any other type of business, an essential step to survival is to have a business plan. A business plan is a guide for you to manage, promote and develop your business over time. Without it it is like hopping a car and hoping to get to destination B without following the roads that have already been laid out for you.
There is no denying that the business world is competitive and this is a good thing. I have always believed in competition in business for two reasons:
with competition you will not slacken off and lose customers
if your competition are nearby your clients will be attracted to the particular area and if you are doing the best job you should end up being the busiest business.
Does that make sense? I learnt that at a very early stage in my business life. I would much rather have my competition nearer rather than at the other end of town.
Business Plan
So with the fear of competition out of the way, before you start your business or in fact start outlaying any money it pays to take the time to do a business plan.
Unless you are planning buying or starting a huge catering business the business plan does not need to be overwhelming.
Here is a guide to a very basic business plan to help you get started.
Why you want to go into the wedding catering business in the first place
What expertise you have to offer the business
How will you finance the business
What are the legal issues with a catering business in your area
A detailed breakdown of the what the business will offer to its clients
A comparison of what the competition is offering
A price target within to offer the services of the business
What staffing will you need to help you run the business
What Unique Selling Point can your business have over other business in the area
How are you going to market the business
When are you going to start the business
If you can answer all of these questions with some sense of detail then you have gone a long way to clarify if you should be going into business and whether you still believe the business will be successful.
Business Plans should be reviewed very 6 months and changed to suit the changing business environment.
If you are seeking finance you may be asked for a little more specific business plan but the above topics is an excellent start so that you understand exactly what the business is all about.