HOW TO START YOUR OWN HIGHLY PROFITABLE CATERING SERVICE

People with money seem to be on a binge to prove their status and
flaunt their wealth by staging large, catered parties. As a
matter of fact, in some circle of affluency, a party or social
get-together isn't considered an event of any significance unless
it's a catered affair.

With the same kind of reasoning, businesses of all sizes are
using catered lunches, cocktail parties and dinner meetings to
build their images and increase company sales. It's a matter of
keeping up with the competition in promoting a company and/or
product.

On a smaller, but just as busy marketing scale, more and more
working mothers are paying to have catered birthday and
graduation parties, as well as wedding receptions handled by
caterers. The reasons are simple to understand--if she's working
outside the home, today's mother just doesn't have the time or
the energy to do all the planning and staging of a memorable
party.

Besides those reasons for turning everything over to a caterer,
working mothers feel a little guilty about the time away from
their children they lose because of their jobs. Thus, they're
ready and willing to make it all to them by paying for a lavish
party the child will remember for years to come.

Caterers handle everything from birthday parties for children, to
breakfast in bed and intimate candlelight dinners for two, to
company dinner parties for 50 and wedding receptions involving a
thousand or more guests. This kind of entreprenuerial business is
definitely growing and becoming more popular with people of all
income levels.

An imaginative caterer in a large metropolitan area can easily
gross $150,000 per year, while a small part-time caterer in a
small town can count on at least $10,000 to $15,000 per year. One
small, but very ambitious caterer is reported to have grossed
$250,000 after only 2-years in the business!

You don't need special education or training to become a
successful caterer. You do need a affinity for people and a kind
of intuition as to what people enjoy in different environmental
settings.

A quick survey of successful caterers across the nation shows
that began with zero capital by working out of their homes. The
basic starting up investment would appear to be around $500, with
some big spenders capitalizing their idea with as much as $15,000
in order to get off to a fast start.

This seems to be an ideal business for an ambitious couple to
start and operate with very little capital investment required.
One person can spend his time hustling up business while the
other would do the planning, organizing and actual catering.

As with any business, your success will be directly related to
the soundness of planning and the working of that plan.
Understand exactly what your client wants, and give him what he
wants in the way of service that reflects upon the client in a
complimentary manner.

Basically, you can start with an advertisement in your local
newspapers. This advertisement need not be much more than a
simple announcement: Creative Catering-Specializing in personal
service- We can handle any party or special event from start to
finish-no idea to small or too large- Your satisfaction is always
guaranteed! We can handle everything for you.. Call us, and let
us make your parties worth remembering...

Naturally, the first thing you want from anyone calling to ask
about your services, is that anyone calling to ask about your
services, is that person's name, address and phone number. Then
you want to know what kind of party or event they have in mind.
As soon as you have this information, relax a little bit and
inquire to find out about the person or the company--the
people--sponsoring the party and their ultimate goals or reasons
for the party.

If it's to celebrate  birthday, graduation, anniversary or a
wedding reception--finding out about the interests, background
and ambitious of the guest of honor will be of value to you in
your planning. Taking a few minutes to learn everything you can
about whoever the party is for, and the people giving the party,
will also make it much easire to close the sale than any sales
pitch or special persuasive tactics.

People like to talk about themselves, and they especially like to
tell everyone why they're honoring someone, even when they
pretend to keep it a secret who initiated the idea. So, it's
important that you be a good listener, that you have the ability
to get people to talk about themselves, and that you take notes
on the things they tell you.

This same principle applies to business people, regardless of
who's talking to you or the purpose of the catered affair. The
more polished and adept you can become in getting your prospects
to talk about themselves, the more information relative to their
background you can elicit, and the more you listen; the better
your parties will be, and the greater success you'll attain in
the catering business.

You take the information you glean from this first interview and
plan/organize the event on paper. This means you're going to have
to have contacts or at least working relationships with
innumerable service businesses.

If your client wants to stage a birthday party for a 12-year
old---he or she greets the guests as they arrive, makes sure
everybody knows who he is---then what about party favors---a soft
drink and a conversation leader until all the guests arrive--the
opening of presents--icecream and cake--and games to play, a
thank you gift for coming, and a reason to end the party at a
pre-determined time...

Do you greet the guests, does the mother or father, or the little
boy or girl? Where do you come up with the party favors at less
than regular retail prices? Where are you going to get the soft
drinks-your cost and the glasses or paper cups to serve them in?
What about ice? What kind of games to play? Who'll be the
conservation leader? Will there be a clown or someone special to
keep everything moving according to plan? Where do you get the
ice cream and cake? What games to play? How to get everyone
involved? And finally, a feasible and polite reason for ending
the party and sending everyone home...

All this takes planning, organization, and if you're going to
make a profit, a definite awareness of cost control. Get it all
down on paper as a proposal to the people who want to pay you to
carry it off. Figure out your costs, the time involved in putting
it all together, and then get back to your prospect.

Always leave room for changes in your proposal. In fact, expect
them--invite input and suggestions from the client--and always
have an alternate idea in your mind for each of those on your
written proposals. Discuss your proposal with the client just as
you would a script for a television show, make the suggested
changes and ask for a 50-percent advance deposit. From there,
it's just a matter of following your plan.

Regardless of size or type of party--whether your client is a
working mother or a giant corporation--the format is always the
same: initial inquiry, interview, your proposal, 2nd interview
for any changes, agreement, deposit, staging the party itself,
and your final payment. As mentioned earlier, success in this
business comes from your planning--having a lot of contacts--and
working your plan.

An important word of caution: Try not to get "boxed in" to
setting or even revealing a tentative price until you've had a
chance to listen to what the prospect wants, to study your own
capabilities, and to make a formal written proposal. If a
customer wants to know how much you charge--and if you feel it
necessary in order to eventually close the sale--you can tell him
50 to 100 dollars per hour, plus expenses, and of course,
depending on the type of event the customer wants.

As for how much the average party costs, again tell him that it
varies anywhere from 50 to 5,000 dollars.

Always keep in mind that you are a professional, and that if the
ordinary person had your knowledge, contacts and ambition to do
it himself, he wouldn't be calling you on the phone. He needs
your help for any number of reasons. You specialize in this kind
of work or service just as a doctor specializes in medicine and a
lawyer in legal matters. Therefore, you should, and do expect to
be paid accordingly.

Something else--this business thrives on word-of-mouth
advertising--referrals--and thus, is direct "freeway' to the kind
of customers where money is of no concern. However, on order to
gain access to this market, your business emphasis has to be on
service.

This means the capability of handling everything for the
customer, from having the invitations printed and sent out to
cleaning up after the last guest has left. Businesses and people
in the upper income brackets, like to pick up the phone--tell
someone they want a party on a certain date--and then forget
about it, knowing everything will be taken care of without
further worry or time involvement from them. Once you've
developed your expertise and clientele to this level, you'll have
a business in the $200,000 to $250,00 per year range.

Definitely arrange for a display ad in the yellow pages of your
telephone directory. You'll probably get 40% of your inquires
from this source alone. Generally speaking, radio and/or
television advertising will be too expensive when compared with
the immediate results. However, it is recommended that you
consider these media prior to special holidays.

Working with restaurants, supper clubs, bridal shops and
entertainment business in general. can bring in hundreds of
referrals for you. Rubbing shoulders with, and circulating as a
part of your area's civic and service clubs, should also result
in more business for you.

Keep your eyes and ears on the alert. Where ever you go, and with
whomever you associate, always be ready to promote and sell your
services, if not on the spot, at least make a note to follow up
when conditions are more in your favor. Promoting and selling
your services will require at least half your time, and that's
why two people operating catering services are so successful from
the start.

The actual selling is quite simple so long as you emphasize the
service and time-saving aspects. The more time-consuming work you
can handle for the client, the easier it's going to be for you to
close the sale.

Handing out business cards is one of the least expensive ways to
advertise, promote and sell your services. One enterprising
caterer makes arrangements with the sponsors of all his parties,
to see that each of the guests gets one of his business cards.

Another gives each of his clients a stack of his business cards,
and tells them he'll pay them $25 for each prospect they refer to
him. He tells them to write their name on the backs of the cards,
and to hand them out to their friends. And then, whenever a
person tells him that John or Jane suggested he call, and he
presents the card with John or Jane's name on the back, this very
successful caterer sends John or Jane a $25 check.

Another very successful caterer pays commissions to a group of
housewives and college students who solicit--via their home
phones--interviews for him with brides-to-be. They get their
leads from announcements, and pictures of brides-to-be in the
local papers.

Many caterers pay sales people a commission for letting them know
when they hear about a party or special event being planned by
one of their business customers.

The possibilities go on and on, and are seemingly un limited.
Time is becoming more valuable to a lot more people every day,
which means there are more and more opportunities for great
wealth and personal independence as a professional caterer. In
reality the success for just about any person entering this
field, will be limited only by his or her own imagination and
energy.

There is definite opportunity for great wealth within the
catering field. Anyone with a sense of service to others can
succeed. Very little "readycash" is needed to begin. Therefore,
the only thing standing between you and the realization of your
dreams, is the action it takes on your part to get started...  

HOW TO START YOUR OWN HOME-BASED SECRETARIAL SERVICE

A new approach to serving one of the oldest and most basic
needs of even the smallest business community, a home-based
secretarial service can satisfy the entrepreneurial needs of even
the most ambitious woman!

This kind of service business with a virtually unlimited profit
potential. Third year profits for businesses of this type, in
metropolitan areas as small as 70,000 persons are reported ar
4100,000 and more. It's a new idea for a traditional job that's
growing in popularity and acceptance.

As for the future, there's no end in sight to the many and
varied kinds of work a secretary working at home can do for
business owners, managers and sales representatives. Various
surveys indicate that by the year 2,000--at least 60 percent of
all secretarial work, as we know today will be handled by women
working at home.

For most women, this is the most exciting news of things to
come since the equal rights amendment. Now is the time to get
yourself organized, start your own home-based secretarial service
and nurture it through your start-up stages to total success in
the next couple of years.

Our research indicates little or no risk involved, with most
secretarial services breaking even within 30 days, and reports of
some showing a profit after the first week! your cash investment
can be as little as $10 to $25 if you already have a modern,
electronic typewriter. You can set up at your kitchen table, make
few phone calls, and be in business tomorrow.

If you don't have a modern, office quality electric typewriter
comparable to the IBM Selectric--a portable just won't do,
because it'll break down, wear out, and fall apart after a month
of heavy use..If you're aware of this delicacy of a portable
electric, you can conceivably begin with one, but you'll
definitely have to graduate to a bigger, heavier machine as soon
as possible.

An IBM Selectric, complete with start-up supplies kit which
includes a dozen ribbons, can be purchased for less than a
thousands dollars. On the contract, this would break down about
to about $175 for down payment and monthly payments of less than
$50 per month over a 2-year period. Naturally, you'd want to
include the standard service contract which costs about $100 per
year, and means that whenever you have a problem or want your
machine serviced, you simply pick up the phone and call the
service department. They'll ask you what kind of problem you're
having, and then send some one to fix it immediately.

Shoestringers can rent an IBM Selectric for about $60 per mont,
plus a small deposit. And those of you who are really on a tight
budget, can contract an equipment leasing firm, explain your
business plan, and work out an arrangement where they buy the
machine of your choice for you, and then lease it back to you
over five or ten year period for much lower payments.

Whatever you do, get the best typewriter your money can buy.
The output of your typewriter will be your finished product, and
the better, "more perfect" your finished product, the more
clients you'll attract and keep. It's also imperative that you
have one of the modern, "ball" typewriters. Only these kinds of
typewriters give each character a clear, even and uniform
impression on your paper. Typewriters of the "arm & hammer" type
quickly become misaligned, producing a careless look on your
finished product.

As mentioned earlier, you can start almost immediately from
your kitchen table if you've got a typewriter. However, in order
to avoid fatigue and back problems, invest in a typing stand and
secretary's standard typing chair just as soon as you can afford
them. Watch for office equipment sales, especially among the
office equipment leasing firms. You should be able pick up a new,
slightly damaged, or good used typewriter stand or desk for
around $20 to $25. A comparable quality secretary's typing chair
can be purchased for $50 or less.

While you're shopping for things you'll need. be sure to pick
up a chair mat. If you don't, you may suddenly find that the
carpet on the floor of the room where your do your typing, needs
replacing due to the worn spot where the chair is located and
maneuvered in front of the typewriter. You'll also want a work
stand with place marker and a convenient box or storage for
immediate paper supply. If you plan to do a great deal of work
during the evening hours, be sure to invest in an adjustable
"long arm" office work lamp.

When buying paper, visit the various wholesale paper suppliers
in your area or in nearby large city, and buy at least a half
carton--6 reams--at a time. Buying wholesale, and in quantity,
will save you quite a bit of money. The kind to buy is ordinary
20 pound white bond. Open one ream for an immediate supply at
your typewriter, and store the rest in a closet, under your bed,
or on a shelf in your garage or basement.

In the beginning, you'll be the business--typists, salesman,
advertising department, bookkeeper and janitor, so, much will
depend on your overall business acumen. Those areas in which you
lack experience or feel weak in, buy books or tapes and enhance
your knowledge. You don't have to enjoy typing, but you should
have better than average proficiency.

Your best bet is selling your services is to do is all
yourself. Every business in your area should be regarded as a
potential customer, so it's unlikely you'll have to worry about
who to call on. Begin by making a few phone calls to former
bosses or business associates--simply explain that you're
starting a typing service and would appreciate it if they'd give
you a call whenever they have extra work that you can handle for
them. Before you end the conversation, ask them to be sure to
keep you in mind and steer your way any overload typing jobs that
they might hear about.

The next step is "in-person" calls on prospective customers.
This means dressing in an impressively professional manner, and
making sales calls on the business people in your area. For this
task, you should be armed with business cards (brochures also
help..), and an order or schedule book of some sort. All of these
things take time to design and print, so while you're waiting for
delivery, use the time to practice selling via the telephone. At
this stage, your telephone efforts will be more for the purpose
of indoctrinating you into the world of selling than actually
making sales.

Just be honest about starting a business, and sincere in asking
them to consider trying your services whenever they have a need
you can help them with. Insurance companies, attorneys and
distributors are always needing help with their typing, so start
with these kinds of businesses first.

For your business cards, consider a freelance artist to design
a logo for you. Check, and/or pass the word among the students in
the art or design classes at nearby college, art or advertising
school. Hiring a regular commercial artist will cost quite a bit
more, and generally won't satisfy your needs any better than the
work of a hungry beginner.

Be sure to browse through any Clip Art books that may be
available--at most print shops, newspaper offices, advertising
agencies, libraries and book stores. The point being, to come up
with an idea that makes your business card stand out; that can be
used on all printed materials, and makes you--your
company--unique or different from all others.

I might suggest something along the lines of a secretary with
pad in hand taking dictation; or perhaps a secretary wearing a
dictaphone headset seated in front of a typewriter. You might
want something distinctive for the first letter of the company,
or perhaps a scroll or flag as a background for your company
name.

At any rate, once you've got your logo or company design, the
next step is your local print shop. Ask them to have the
lettering you want to use, typeset in the style you like
best--show them your layout and order a least a thousand business
cards printed up.

For your layout, go with something basic. Expert typing
services, in the top left hand corner..Dictation by phone, in the
top right hand corner..Your company logo or design centered on
the card with something like, complete secretarial services,
under it...Your name in the lower left hand corner, and your
telephone number in the lower right hand corner.

Everybody that you call on in person, be sure to give one of
your business cards. And now, you're ready to start making those
in-person business sales calls.

Your best method of making sales calls would be with a business
telephone directory and a big supply of loose leaf notebook
paper. Go through the business directory and write down the
company names, addresses and telephone number. Group all of those
within one office building together, and those on the same street
in the same block. Be sure to leave a couple of spaces between
the listing of each company. And of course, start a new page for
those in different building or block. Now, simply start with the
first business in the block, or on the lowest floor in a building
and number them in consecutive order. This will enable you to
call on each business in order as you proceed along a street,
down the block, or through a building.

You'll be selling your capabilities--your talents--and charging
for your time--the time it takes you to get set up and complete
the assignment they give you. You should be organized to take
work with you on the spot, and have it back at a promised time;
arrange to pick up any work they have, and deliver it back to
them when it's completed; and handle the dictation or special
work assignments by phone. You should also emphasize your
abilities to handle everything by phone, particularly when they
have a rush job.

Establish your fees according to how long it takes you to
handle their work, plus your cost of supplies--work
space--equipment and paper--then fold in a $5 profit. In other
words, for half hour job that you pick up on a regular sales or
delivery call, you should charge $10...

Another angle to include would be copies. Establish a working
relationship with a local printer, preferably one who has a copy
machine comparable to a big Kodak 150 Extraprint. When your
clients need a sales letter or whatever plus so many copies, you
can do it all for them.

Only make copies on the very best of dry paper copying
machines, and only for 50 copies or less. More than 50 copies,
it'll be less expensive and you'll come out with a better
finished product by having them printed on a printing press. When
your furnish copies, always fold in your copying or printing
costs, plus a least a dollar or more for every 50 copies you
supply.

By starting with former employers and/or business associates,
many businesses are able to line up 40 hours of work without even
making sales call. If you're lucky enough to do this, go with it,
but-

Start lining up your friends to do the work for you--girls who
work all day at a regular job, but need more money, and
housewives with time on their hands. You tell them what kind of
equipment is needed, and the quality of work you demand. You
arrange to pay them so much per hour for each job they handle for
you--judging from the time you figure the job would take if you
were doing it, or on a percentage basis. I feel the best
arrangements is on a hourly basis according to a specified amount
of time each job normally takes.

Whenever, and as soon as you've got a supply of "workers" lined
up, you turn your current assignments over to them, and get back
to lining up more business. If you're doing well selling by
phone, and your area seems to respond especially well to selling
by phone, then you should immediately hire commission sales
people. Train them according to your own best methods and put
them to work assisting you. Your sales people can work out of
their own homes, using their telephones, provided you've got your
area's business community organized in a loose leaf notebook
style. All you do is give them so many pages from your notebook,
from which they make sales calls each week.

Even so, you should still make those in-person sales calls..If
for some reason you get bogged down, and can't or don't want to,
then hire commission sales people to do it for you..Generally,
women selling this type of service bring back the most sales. And
for all your commission sales people, the going rate should be 30
percent of the total amount of sale. Point to remember: Sooner or
later, you're going to have to hire a full-time telephone sales
person, plus another full time person to make in-person sales for
you--Eventually, you want workers to handle all the work for you,
and sales people to do all the selling for you--So the sooner you
can line up people for these jobs, the faster, your business is
going to prosper.

Later on, you'll want a sales manager to direct your sales
people and keep them on track, so try to find a "future sales
manager" when you begin looking for sales people.

Your basic advertising should be a regular quarter page ad in
the yellow pages of both your home service telephone directory
and the business yellow pages. You'll find that 50 percent of
your first time clients will come to you because they have an
immediate need and saw your ad in the yellow pages, so don't
skimp on either the size or the "eye-catching" graphics of this
ad.

A regular one column by 3-inch ad in the Sunday edition of your
area's largest newspaper would also be a good idea. Any
advertising you do via radio or television will be quite
expensive with generally very poor results, so don't even give
serious consideration to that type of advertising.

By far, your largest advertising outlays will be direct mail
efforts. You should have a regular mailing piece that you send
out to your entire business community at least once a month. This
is handled by sending out 200 to 500 letters per day. For this,
you should obtain a third class postage permit or else these
postage costs will drive you out of business.

Your mailing piece should consist of a colorful brochure that
describes your business. It should explain the many different
kinds of assignments you can handle--a notation that no job is
too small or too large--and a statement of your guarantee. Do not
quote prices in your brochure--simply ask the recipient to call
for a quotation or price estimate.

It's also a good idea to list background and experience of the
business owner, plus several business testimonials or/
compliments. You could also include a couple of pictures showing
your workers busy and actually handling secretarial assignments.
The most important part of your brochure will be your closing
statement--an invitation, indeed--a demand that the recipient
call you for further information.

All this can very easily be put together in a Z-folded, 2-sided
self mailer. Again, look for a freelance copywriter and artist to
help you put it together. Once you've got your "dummy" pretty
well set the way you want it, make copies of it, and either take
or send it to several direct mail advertising agencies. Ask them
for their suggestions of how they would improve it, and for a bid
on the cost if you were to retain them to handle it for you.
Listen to their ideas and incorporate them where-and if- you
think they would make your brochure better. And, if one of them
does come in with a cost estimate that's lower than your
independent, "do-it-yourself" costs, then think seriously about
assigning the job to them.

 This is definitely the most important piece of work that will
ever come out of your office, so be sure it's the best, and
positively indicative of your business. This will be the business
image you project, so make sure it reflects the quality, style
and credibility of your business--your thinking, and your
success.

Your brochure should be on 60 pound coated paper, in at least
two colors and by a professional printer. The end result is the
Z-folded brochure--Z-folded by the printer--with your third class
mailing permit showing on the cover side. This cover side should
be flamboyant and eye-catching. You want your mailing piece to
stand out in a pile of 50 or 60 pieces of other mail received by
the recipient.

When you're ready to mail, simply take a couple of cartons of
your brochures to an addressing shop, have them run your
brochures through their addressing machine, loaded with your
mailing list, bundle them and drop them off at the post office
for you.

This takes us back to the planning on how to compile your
mailing list. I suggest that you begin with Cheshire Cards by
Xerox. You type the name of your addressee on the cards, maintain
these cards in the order of your choice, take your boxes of cards
to the addressing shop whenever you have a mailing, and there's
no further work on your part. The addressing shop loads their
machine with your cards, prints the address on your cards
directly onto your brochures, and gives the cards back to you
when the mailing is completed. A mailing of 100,000 brochures,
via this method--generally could be completed and on its way in
one 8-hour day.

In essence, you'll want to solicit business with a regular
routine of telephone selling, in-person sales calls at the
prospective client's place of business, media advertising and
direct mail efforts. All of these efforts are important and
necessary to the total success of your business--don't try to cut
corners or spare the time or expense needed to make sure you're
operating at full potential in these areas! In addition to these
specific areas, it would be wise for you to attend chamber of
commerce meetings, and join several of your area civic
clubs--you'll meet a great number of business leaders at these
meetings and through their association, you'll gain a great deal
of business--and even help in many of your needs.

Once you're organized and rolling, you can easily expand your
market nationwide with the installation of a toll free telephone
and advertising in business publications. Perhaps you can add to
your primary business with a "mailing shop" of your own--the
rental of mailing lists--specialized temporary help
services--telephone answering services--and even survey work..

The "bottom line" thing to remember in order to achieve total
success, is planning. Plan your initial operation through from
start to finish before you even think about soliciting your first
customer. Get your operational plan down on paper--itemize your
needs, estimate your costs, line up your operating capital, and
set forth milestones for growth.

Set profit figures you want to be realizing 3-months...
6-months... 1 year... 2-years... and 3-years from your
business start-up date. Learn all you can about the "support
systems" involved in operating a profitable business--planning,
advertising, selling, bookkeeping, and banking--and continue to
up-date your knowledge with a program of continuous learning. Do
your homework properly, an there's just no way you can fail with
a Home-Based Secretarial Service.