If you will be providing food within hotels or convention halls, you may need to work with some of their unionized employees. If you will be delivering food to offices or other businesses, you will have to meet their professional standards. Caterers generally offer both preselected combinations of dishes and customized menus to meet the requests of their clients. You must be able to adapt your recipes to fit the number of guests at the event. In some cases, the caterer is involved in the actual serving of the food. In other instances, the caterer delivers the food—completely cooked or one or more steps short of completion—to a serving crew provided by the client, a party planner, or a meeting hall.
Build a library of your specialties. Take photos and collect testimonials from satisfied customers. For very large gatherings you may be called on to provide some samples of your cooking for evaluation. A vast collection of recipes and cooking techniques available is on the Internet, as well as in newspapers and cookbooks. Get to know area businesses, hotels, and convention centers. Read the social pages of local newspapers to learn about major events held on an annual basis, and make contact with the sponsors.
Advertise in newspapers and shopping guides in order to inform another people about your business. Post flyers and ads on community bulletin boards, too. Offer to teach a course at local schools or colleges as a way to get some publicity and perhaps some clients. So thus you can widen your catering business.