Chapter 6: Where Should I Set Up My Business?
Chapter 6: Where Should I Set Up My Business?
This chapter will give you the information you need to decide how to organize the hub of your business, the place where you will be doing the majority of your meal preparation. The best place for setting up your business depends on a variety of factors, including the types of services you will offer, the types of clients that you intend to attract with your business, and the complexity of the meals you will be providing. At the conclusion of this chapter, you will have the information necessary to decide where to set up your operations so you can begin attracting clients and building a profitable business.
Working in Your Client’s Kitchen
By the time that you are ready to begin considering where to set up your business operations, you will have probably started to develop an overall vision of your personal chef business. This vision will help shape all aspects of your operations and will be instrumental in helping you decide where you will set up your business and what environment will best suit the needs of you and your prospective clients.
Most personal chefs choose the option of cooking in the client’s kitchen. This is a popular option because it eliminates the need for transporting finished entrees from one place to another. It also adds a distinct personal touch to your services because instead of simply delivering meals for the client to heat and serve to his or her family, you will be right there to add your personality to your client’s dinner routine. Many clients enjoy the opportunity to chat with a personal chef while a meal is being prepared – this makes the client feel special, because he or she has your personal attention while you are preparing delicious meals for your client’s family.
This arrangement also helps to improve the quality of the meals that you serve your clients. By cooking on site, in the client’s own kitchen, you can prepare the entrees and put them directly into the refrigerator or freezer. This greatly reduces the risk of the food spoiling, getting contaminated, or being damaged in transit.
If you choose this arrangement, you will need to consider the best time to purchase ingredients that will be used in the meals you prepare for your clients. If you are cooking in your client’s kitchen, it might be best to go to the store to purchase ingredients right before you go to your client’s home. By doing so, you will only have to transport perishable food items once, from the store to the client’s home. Although this helps improve the quality of your clients’ meals by minimizing the risk of spoilage or damage to fresh ingredients, it is still important to follow the guidelines for safely handling, choosing, and transporting foods.
One of the disadvantages to cooking in the client’s kitchen is your initial unfamiliarity with the kitchen, where things are stored, and the oven. You can easily avoid this problem by asking the client questions and touring the kitchen at your hiring interview. You might also want to ask your client whether you may take a few minutes to review the layout of the kitchen and the placement of necessary items before you prepare your first meals for the client – you will likely have forgotten some of the details about your client’s food preparation environment between the interview and your first time cooking for the client.
During your kitchen tour, ask your client to show you where cooking supplies are stored. Also, take the time to familiarize yourself with the appliances you will be using. Make sure you know how to operate your client’s appliances properly and make note of how much refrigerator and freezer space is available for your completed entrees. By taking these simple steps, you will save yourself a significant amount of time when you go to the client’s house to prepare the first batch of meals; you will not have to waste crucial minutes trying to remember how to program the client’s oven or tying to figure out how you will fit several days’ worth of entrees into your client’s refrigerator or freezer.
Because many of your clients are too busy to prepare their own food, they might not be willing or available to give you a complete tour of the kitchen. Although a tour is ideal, if your client is unwilling or unable to provide a full tour, you might want to provide a survey for your client to fill out at their leisure instead, asking any questions that will help you familiarize yourself with the kitchen.
You can also attach a list of any instructions you have for the client to the survey. For example, you will want them to clear enough space in the refrigerator and freezer for your completed entrees and make sure that sufficient counter space is clear for you to use cutting boards, pasta makers, rice cookers, and other tools and appliances. As an added personal chef service, you might even want to offer them the option of allowing you to clear out their refrigerator and cupboards for them. You are offering an all-inclusive personal chef service to your clients, so they might appreciate not having to guess how much space you will need for food preparation or storage. Anything you can add to your services to make your clients’ lives easier will help you build your reputation as an excellent personal chef, and help you gain more clients through referrals.
Another way to prepare, if your client cannot provide a complete tour, is to show up fifteen to twenty minutes early on the first day you are scheduled to prepare food. This will give you some time to inspect and familiarize yourself with the kitchen. However, you will want to make sure that you ask your client’s permission to do this. Most of your clients will not be home while you are preparing the meals, but it is still important to alert them of any schedule changes. They are trusting you to be in their home while they are away. As a professional, you must respect their home, schedule, and privacy. This includes showing up on time, even though there is no boss to hold you accountable for doing so. It also includes completing your work and leaving a clean kitchen, fully stocked with the weekly meals.
Another potential problem that you might run into while cooking in a client’s kitchen is the lack of needed supplies. The items you perceive as being essentials to cooking any meal might not be things that your client owns or has available.
This problem is eliminated somewhat by developing the portable kitchen discussed earlier. However, you might not have every item in your portable kitchen. This is another reason why it is so important to familiarize yourself with the client’s kitchen before your initial appointment to cook.
When you tour your client’s kitchen, take inventory of what they have available. If they do not have an item you know you will need, add it to your portable kitchen. The items that were suggested for you portable kitchen are just guidelines. If you have chosen to cook in your client’s kitchen, you will need to tailor your portable kitchen to your cooking style and specialization. For instance, you might be consistently cooking rice dishes and be used to using a rice cooker. For you, it would probably benefit you to include a rice cooker in your portable kitchen.
Cooking in Your Own Kitchen
Another option for setting up your kitchen is in your own home. By cooking in your own home, you eliminate the need for a portable kitchen. All the supplies you need are already right there in your own kitchen. You will also be familiar with your own appliances.
One major downfall with using your own kitchen is difficulty in keeping the food fresh. If you are in a client’s kitchen, the food can go right into the refrigerator or freezer for storage until the client is ready to heat and serve it. But, if you are preparing your food in your own kitchen, you will have to take extra measures to ensure that the food is stored and transported properly.
Another possible disadvantage to setting up your kitchen in your own home is that you might have to purchase a vehicle to transport your food. If you prepare a week’s work of meals for your client, it might be difficult to transport it in a small car, especially since you will need to keep the food cool and packed properly so that it will not spill or become damaged in transit.
If you are thinking about using your own kitchen for preparing meals, you will also want to check with your local health board to make sure that this is permissible in your area. Some jurisdictions do not allow food service professionals to serve food that has been prepared somewhere else. It is better to find out whether your jurisdiction allows this before you set up your business and commence operations, so you do not have to worry about incurring fines or having your business shut down later.
When transporting food from your kitchen to your client’s refrigerator, you run the risk of the food spilling or becoming damaged. Stacking trays, for example, can cause food to get smashed. It might also shift while you are driving, further adding to the possibility that the meals will not arrive at your client’s home in the condition you had intended. If you are going to be cooking in your own kitchen and transporting food back and forth, it might be best to find a refrigeration unit or some other way of keeping food cold and securely packaged while it is in transit.
Time is another factor to consider when you are setting up your kitchen in your own home. When you cook in the client’s kitchen, you need only to transport the groceries, your portable kitchen, and your cleaning kit. If you are cooking in your own kitchen, you will be taking the groceries to your home, cooking the food, loading it into your vehicle, unloading it at the client’s house, and packing it into their refrigerator. This process will definitely take more time than cooking in the client’s kitchen.
Although it takes more time and involves the risk of transporting the food, you might have clients who do not want you cooking in their kitchen. This could occur for any number of reasons. For example, the client might think their house is too cluttered or messy for someone to come in and cook. Others might not feel comfortable having someone in their home while they are not present.
If you decide that you want to primarily work in the client’s kitchen, but have clients who would prefer that you cook the food off site and deliver it, you might want to consider charging an extra delivery fee for these clients.
You might also need to look into hiring employees to help with transporting food. This will save time, but will cost more money because you will have to pay your employees. We will talk more about hiring employees in a later chapter.
You might also choose not to take a client on who does not allow you to work in their kitchen. Although that might seem ludicrous to a person just establishing their business and building their client base, it is important to remember that your time is precious. In the time it takes to pack and load the food at your home, transport it, and unload it at the client’s home, it might have been possible to prepare meals for two clients in their own homes. Ultimately, it is important to determine what works best for you and your clientele.
Be aware of your state’s guidelines when determining whether or not to cook from your own kitchen. Some states do not allow this and may pull your license if you are caught doing so.
Renting a Kitchen Space
A third option for setting up your business is renting a kitchen space. This option will cost you more start-up money, but might prove to be your best option if you are planning on doing much event catering or hiring employees to help with your business.
Again, if you are thinking of renting a kitchen space, check with your local health board to make sure you can do this in your jurisdiction.
One major advantage to renting a kitchen space is that it will give you more room to spread out and grow your business. A larger kitchen area will allow more employees to work together at a given time without getting in each other’s way or running into each other.
Another option is having a storefront available to potential customers. Your business will be more visible to potential clients that shop in the area and they will be more likely to call you or stop in during business hours.
Another advantage to having a rented kitchen and storefront is that you will have room to accommodate people who want to come in and sample your product. This can be extremely beneficial if you plan on catering for events as well as preparing meals for individuals. If your space is large enough, you might even be able to rent out your store space for small events that you will then cater for. It all depends on want you want and the vision you have for your business.
If you want to specialize in providing cooking classes, renting a kitchen can help. By having a larger kitchen space, you can hold your cooking classes on site. You might even be able to provide classes to a larger number of people at once. Offering cooking classes gets your name in the community and helps people learn who you are and what you have to offer.
However, if you are choosing to specialize in cooking meals for families and want to work alone, renting a kitchen space is probably not your best option. Renting a kitchen to work in will require more in start-up costs than working in the client’s kitchen because you will be paying to rent your work space. You will also need to purchase a suitable vehicle to transport food if you rent a kitchen space. In addition, you will have to be aware of all of the potential difficulties that are present when you are transporting finished entrees from one location to another.
If you are interested in renting a kitchen space but cannot afford the overhead of renting the space, consider sharing a kitchen space with another chef or caterer. This option will give you the advantage of having the extra space, but will reduce the cost. Most likely, you will not need the space every day and will be able to easily coordinate your schedule with another chef.
When renting kitchen space, look for a space that already has a commercial-grade kitchen that currently includes all of the heavy equipment. This will reduce the cost of outfitting the kitchen on your own. It will also save you the expense of paying for delivery services and movers to transport the equipment to your kitchen.
Just as you will need to stock your portable kitchen to travel to the client’s home, you will also need to make sure that your rented kitchen space is properly stocked and ready to go. You will need the same items that would be in the portable kitchen mentioned earlier. You will also want to add any of the items essential to cooking the types of food you specialize in.
Having a rented, commercial-grade kitchen will give you all the equipment and space you need to start a professional personal chef business. In addition, renting a kitchen space will provide you with a kitchen you are familiar with and will save you from having to transport your portable kitchen and cleaning supplies back and forth.
Another major advantage of renting a kitchen space is that you will potentially have more room, more ovens, and more equipment to use, so you can complete entrees faster and more efficiently.
What to Consider When Determining Where You Will Work
When determining which location is right for you, it is important to consider the vision you have for your business. What do you see as your strengths as a personal chef? What do you want your specialty to be? Do you prefer to prepare meals for families or cater for large events? Do you want to be a one-person business or do you see having a larger business that needs staff for event catering or delivery of food?
The best option for a personal chef who wants to prepare meals for individuals and families is cooking in the client’s own kitchen, but if catering is your passion and you plan to cater large events, you will probably need a larger space. You will also need somewhere to meet with clients to offer samples of your food. And, you will most likely need to hire employees to help with transportation and serving of food.
If you feel that it is necessary to rent a kitchen space, run an advertisement in the paper or ask friends in the industry whether they would be willing to share a kitchen space with you or whether they know someone who would. Another option is to contract with a local realtor who can help you find a kitchen space.
The most important thing to remember is that your personal chef business is yours. You have the option to be unique and innovative. Take the time to ask yourself how you see your business and look at the options that are the best fit for your needs.
Remember that your vision need not be set in stone. It can change as you and your business change. For example, you might start with only a few clients, preparing weekly meals. But as your business grows, you might choose to expand your business by offering cooking classes. This will help you open up even more opportunities, and find new clients who need your services.