With the upcoming holidays, everybody is getting busy, especially catering companies. As we slowly navigate the return of special events, there is a need to strategize. Raising prices at this moment might not feel like the right move. A lot of your clients are also in the rebuilding period and might not have the budget to upgrade as they did in early 2020 and prior. You need to be able to look for ways to increase your profit margins without a big increase on your price list.
Take a look at your current expenses and see if you can find ways to reduce them while maintaining the quality of your products or services. Here are a few ways to stay on top of your costs throughout the rest of 2021 and beyond.
1. Stay local as much as possible.
Sourcing local ingredients is nothing new in the catering industry and is also considered as one of the very best ways to cut costs while supporting the community in the middle of the pandemic. Establish strong relationships with local farmers and butchers and it will allow you to build a bond that gives you advantageous bundle rates and discounts especially when buying in bulk. They can also help you with other sources of local ingredients as well. These local farmers will be very happy knowing that you trust their products and will strive hard to give you the best one.
2. Plan your menus strategically.
The biggest cause of financial and food waste is due to over-purchasing. Catering companies should be pretty wise about sourcing ingredients for their most popular dishes and minimizing overbuying. There should be a strategy in place. For example, it might be unsustainable to offer Wagyu beef all year round so it is best to add it on offerings during the busy holiday season. Try to look at your client history to determine trends in your market and plan your menus accordingly.
3. Listen to your clients.
This is already a given strategy. Hear out what your clients have to say and take note of what they value the most. There are clients that are all about desserts and don’t care about the detail and presentation of their salad. Your strategy would be focusing more on interesting areas. Listen to what they truly want and allot the larger portion of your budget here, then cut costs in other areas, if possible.
You can also ask for any feedback from your clients so you would know what made them happy and the things they were not happy about. This is your opportunity to improve the next time you have the same set of clients. By getting their feedback, you will be able to see patterns for improvement and you will be able to see your strengths as well. Focus on developing your strengths so you stand out among competitors. Your next step is to work on those negative feedback, making sure this will not happen the next time.
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