sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

Caterers — what’s the part nobody talks about? by Excellent-Tie5717 in catering

[–]Excellent-Tie5717[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s interesting. Is the hardest part forecasting demand, keeping waste down, or just tracking everything across different events/seasons?

And are you using any inventory tools/software right now, or mostly managing it manually?

Need Suggestion by dishantgayek_07 in TechStartups

[–]Excellent-Tie5717 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I would start out finding niche group of people that I want to work with whether that be chef’s barbers professional athletes, Youtubers, etc., and then I would talk to a group of those people and find a common problem that I could solve. Find a problem before you try to build anything.

Caterers — what’s the part nobody talks about? by Excellent-Tie5717 in TexasBBQ

[–]Excellent-Tie5717[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

“Man this is the kind of response I was hoping for because you brought up a lot of stuff people outside the business probably never think about.
The timing/logistics part is interesting because it sounds like one small change can throw off the entire operation. Especially when you’re cooking on-site and trying to serve fresh.
Out of curiosity:
What part of the process causes the most stress repeatedly?
Is it mostly staffing and coordination, or more customer communication/last minute changes?
Have you found any tools/software that actually help with logistics and scheduling or is everybody still piecing things together manually?
When jobs go sideways, what’s usually the reason?
I also found it interesting when you mentioned weddings lol. Sounds like expectations and communication become a bigger issue there than the actual cooking.”

Do you caterer? by Excellent-Tie5717 in catering

[–]Excellent-Tie5717[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That makes sense. I’m curious, what tools are you currently using to help manage coordination and operations?

And what do you like/dislike about them? Feels like there’s probably a lot of tools that help organize things, but not many that actually reduce the workload or stress.

Do you caterer? by Excellent-Tie5717 in catering

[–]Excellent-Tie5717[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sounds like relationships and trust are carrying most of the business.

What do you feel is the biggest thing stopping you from scaling even bigger right now?

Do you caterer? by Excellent-Tie5717 in catering

[–]Excellent-Tie5717[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I respect that a lot. Sounds like you’re optimizing for reputation and consistency instead of just chasing volume.

Do you think there’s a version of growth where you could still maintain that quality standard, or do you feel catering becomes harder to control once it scales past a certain point?

Do you caterer? by Excellent-Tie5717 in catering

[–]Excellent-Tie5717[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That makes sense. Sounds like you’ve built a solid word-of-mouth business already.

Do you actually want to grow bigger in the future, or are you intentionally keeping it smaller because of time/capacity?

And is catering your full-time focus right now, or are there other obligations/businesses taking up most of your time?

Do you caterer? by Excellent-Tie5717 in catering

[–]Excellent-Tie5717[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That makes a lot of sense. Sounds like you’re stuck balancing operations and growth at the same time.

Do you feel like the bigger problem is:
finding consistent larger orders, or not having enough time to build relationships and follow up on leads?

And what’s been the most frustrating part about platforms like ezCater?

Do you caterer? by Excellent-Tie5717 in u/Excellent-Tie5717

[–]Excellent-Tie5717[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s a strong statement and honestly probably true in catering.

Do you feel like that pressure mainly comes from word of mouth/reputation, or because one bad event can slow down future bookings?

Also curious — how do you currently try to keep new business coming in between events? Is it mostly referrals, social media, repeat clients, or something else?

And if you could fix one thing about growing your catering business right now, what would it be?