So you’ve decided that you love to cook, and now you want to cook for more than just yourself but for other people as well.  Becoming a caterer is hard work and it requires a lot more than just cooking.  In fact you will find out that you will be spending more time doing other tasks than you will ever find yourself in the kitchen, but the rewards can be great.

The first thing you must consider when trying to become your own Chicago catering company is all the aspects that go with this business type.  First look at how you are going to generate business.  The first position you are in is sales.  You must go out and actively find customers or come up with ways to make sure they can find you.  You can call on businesses you know hold large functions or social gatherings and try to win the business that way.  You can also have a professionally designed website for your business and try to generate as much business as you can from that as well. 

Another aspect to look into is training.  If you can cook that is one thing but cooking large amounts of food is another.  You should consider going to culinary school or even becoming an apprentice under a chef at a restaurant.  This will allow you to learn the ins and outs of catering companies in Chicago.  The knowledge you pick up from these places will really give you a great idea into the world of cooking and show you just how much work is really involved.  You may find that it is not as enjoyable as you once thought.

Lastly, you should consider if you are going to specialize or not specialize.  Some companies will only do certain types of functions such as Chicago wedding caterers.  They choose to specialize in one event type making them seem like experts in that field.  What is the downfall?  Well you will be unable to do other events or business that comes your way.  Personally I find it always better to specialize.  You will find in the long term you will win more business than just doing everything under the sun.