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If You Want To Start Your Own Catering Business, You
Will Love This Guide! Are you passionate about working
with food? Do you live to help others? Now you can realize your
dream by Starting Your Own Catering Business! The Starting a
Catering Business Start-Up Guide Kit includes all of the
necessary forms that are needed to operate a catering business
including many financial forms, example business letters and a
complete business plan.
Home Business
Recipe for starting your own catering business.
BED AND BREAKFAST
THE EASIEST HOME-BASED BUSINESS
There's an exciting new "down-home" kind of business springing
up among homeowners all across the country. It's called Bed and
Breakfast.
Basically, this is a transplant of European Hospitality, adapted
and refined to the American way of doing things. To foreign
visitors, it's the comfort and hospitality of home - staying
overnight "with people of the land" and enjoying a hearty
breakfast - without the traditional gaudiness and plastic
feelings visitors get from most big cities in the United States.
To U.S. citizens, it is a welcome alternative to the same old
hotel/motel circuit.
Now, all it takes is a spare bedroom, a good cook and an
outgoing personality. Prices per night range from a low of $25
to $100 or more.
If you have an extra bedroom, a large home, or extra space in
your farm house, you have the necessary beginnings to start
making extra income as a Bed and Break fast Inn. One of the
beautiful aspects of this idea is that so long as you're hosting
"over night visitors" on a small scale, no licenses will be
required. It's always best, however, to check with your local
authorities just to be sure.
Naturally, your "visitors" will expect a clean, neat and
comfortable home. So assuming that your home meets these
prerequisites, and you have a spare bedroom, simply "doll it up"
a bit. Make sure it's painted brightly, there's an outside
window, lots of room, closet space and bureau, and perhaps a
small writing desk, and a large comfortable bed, or twin beds.
Most foreign visitors will expect and appreciate a "quick tour"
of the interesting sights in your area. However, as your
particular popularity as a B & B Host grows, you'll find that a
lot of American tourists and business people on the road will
begin availing themselves of your hospitality. Certainly with
these people, it won't always be necessary to give the "Red
Carpet" visitors' treatment.
Which brings us to the basic appeal of a Bed and Breakfast Inn.
Travelers seem to be looking for, and appreciate a quiet
"home-style" place to stay. Generally, they enjoy visiting with
the people off the superhighway and want to get away from the
sterilized atmosphere and sameness of hotels and motels.
Most people will either write to you ahead of time, inquiring
about the possibilities of staying at your home while in your
town or city. This means a bit of advertising on your part, or
listing your availability with a B & B broker. Some people will
check the local telephone listings, and the newspaper
advertisements when they arrive in a strange town. And some
people will just be driving across the country, come to a town
or city they think is interesting, and start driving through the
residential areas looking for Bed and Breakfast Inns.
Thus, you should have a small sign posted either in your front
yard or on the front of your house. This sign needn't be much
more than about two feet wide by about ten inches deep. It need
only state: BED AND BREAKFAST - Inquire Within or Call 123-4567.
For newspaper advertising, a similar listing in the personal
column of your local paper, particularly on Thursdays, Fridays
and Saturdays, will be all you'll need. But when it comes to the
yellow pages of your telephone and business directories, go with
a small display ad that describes in greater detail the comforts
and pleasures of your services.
Be sure to list your services with all the travel agencies in
your area. A brochure or a short synopsis of what you offer will
most assuredly give the travel agents an idea for steering
visitors your way. At the same time, listing your services in a
number of national travel magazines - particularly those that
cater to women - will bring customers in for you.
Listing your services with a broker usually won't cost you
anything up front, but they will expect a certain percentage -
usually about 25% of the total bill. This same arrangement
applies with travel agents.
Now, suppose you're organized and ready to receive your first
customers. You greet them as host or hostess and offer to assist
them in getting situated in the room or rooms you have for them.
If they'd like to take a drive around your area and see the
points of interest, you do that. And then in the morning, serve
them a big, delicious breakfast.
You'll probably find that foreign visitors will want to stay
several days. With most people of this country who are just
traveling through your area, it'll be a one-night stopover.
Whatever, if they want to sleep comfortably through the night,
eat breakfast and be on their way, so be it. If they want to sit
around after breakfast and plan an itinerary for a complete
visit of your area, your assistance and help will be greatly
appreciated. (Remember those recommendations)!
That's it! The complete how and why of this tremendously
profitable business that's becoming more and more popular. It's
called Bed & Breakfast, and it's very definitely a low
investment idea. And you can parlay it into a very interesting
and comfortable income producing business - all from the
comforts of your own home!
Home
Business Recipe For Starting a Bed &Breakfast
HOW TO START YOUR OWN
HOUSE AND APARTMENT CLEANING SERVICE
House and apartment cleaning services are gaining in popularity.
These are business services that are growing in demand as a
result of more and more women seeking jobs outside the home.
Their need to supplement the family income creates the
opportunity for you to set up a lucrative business.
Ten years ago, businesses of this kind were serving only the
affluent - homes of the wealthy people where women didn't want
to be bothered with the drudgery of house hold cleaning, and had
the money to pay someone to do it for them. But times have
changed, and today the market includes many middle income
families in every residential area across the entire country.
The potential market among apartment dwellers is great also. All
in all this is a business that has grown fast, and has as much
real wealth building potential as any we can think of.
This is a cleaning service generally associated with women;
however, men are finding that they can organize, start, and
operate very profitable home and apartment cleaning businesses
just as well as women. It's an ideal business for any truly
ambitious person wanting a business of his or her own,
especially for those who must begin with limited funds.
Actually, you can start this business right in your own
neighborhood, using your own equipment, and begin making a
profit from the first day.
Many enterprising homemakers are already doing this kind of work
on a small scale as an extra income producing endeavor. There's
a growing need for this service. Organizing your efforts into a
business producing $50,000 to $100,00 a year is quite possible,
and you can get started for $100 or so, always using your
profits to expand and in crease your business.
Absolutely no experience is required. Everyone knows how to dust
the furniture, vacuum carpets, make the beds and carry out the
trash. But you must ask yourself if making a house clean and
bright is important and uplifting work. If you look on it as
degrading or as drudgery, don't involve yourself in this
business.
Starting from scratch, you'll need a telephone and an
appointment book. You also need an advertising flyer, such as
the following:
HOME OR APARTMENT CLEANING
We do the work - You relax and take it easy.
You get the best job in town, at rates you can
afford. Your satisfaction is always guaranteed!
For more details, Call Sandy: 123-4567 - at
Sandy's Cleaning Services!
You can either type this notice out or write it in
longhand with a pen. Either way, it's going to be
your first advertising endeavor, and bring in that
first customer for you.
It would be a good idea to visit your stationery
store to pick up a pad of "fade out" graph paper, a
couple of sets of transfer (rub-on) letters, a glue
stick, and if they have one, a Clip Art book.
Take these materials home and clear off your kitchen
table. Take a sheet of graph paper, and temporarily
tape the corners down on the table. Then take a
pencil and a ruler, and mark a rectangle five inches
wide by six inches long along the lines of the graph
paper. This will be the overall size of your flyer
when it's finished.
Look for a Clip Art piece depicting a harried
housewife engrossed with either cleaning tools or in
the act of running a vacuum cleaner, or some other
household chore. Cut this piece out, and with your
glue stick paste it in the upper left-hand corner of
your rectangle. Then take your transfer letters and
make the headline: HOME OR APARTMENT CLEANING.
Next, type out the body of the message on ordinary
white typing paper. Be sure to use a relatively new
ribbon, preferably a black carbon ribbon, and upper
case letters. Cut this strip out, and paste it onto
the graph paper, centered just below your headline.
Then use some transfer letters that are about twice
as large as your typewriter type, and paste up the
action part of your message: For details, call
Sandy: 123-4567. Cut out a couple of border
flourishes from your Clip Art book, paste them under
your action line, and you're ready to take it to the
printer. If you have a computer, there are many
software programs that can be used to design your
flyer. In addition, most of them also include clip
art.
In
essence, you have a professional advertising
"billboard." You can check around in your area,
especially with the advertising classes at your
local colleges, but generally they'll do no better
than you can do on your own, using the instructions
we've just given you, and they'll charge you $50 to
$100.
Once you have this advertising flyer completed, take
it to a nearby quick print shop and have about 200
copies printed. You should be able to get two copies
on a standard 8 1/2 x 11 sheet, and running 100
sheets of paper through the press is going to cost
well under $10. For just a few cents more, have the
printer cut them in half with his machine cutter, so
you will have 200 copies of the advertising flyer.
Now take these flyers, along with a box of
thumbtacks, and put them up on all the free bulletin
boards you can find - grocery stores, Laundromats,
beauty salons, office building lounges, cafeterias,
post offices, and wherever else such announcements
are allowed.
When a
prospective customer calls, have your appointment
book and a pencil handy. Be friendly and
enthusiastic. Explain what you do - everything from
changing the beds to vacuuming, dusting and
polishing the furniture and cleaning the bathroom to
the dishes and the laundry. Or, everything except
the dishes and the laundry - whatever you have
decided on as your policy.
When they ask how much you charge, simply tell them
six to ten dollars an hour, but for a firm cost
quote, you'll need to see the home and make a
detailed estimate for them. Then without much of a
pause, ask if 4:30 this afternoon would be
convenient for them, or if 5:30 would be better. You
must pointedly ask if you can come to make your cost
proposal at a certain time, or the decision may be
put off, and you may come up with a "no sale."
Just as soon as you have an agreement on the time to
make you cost proposal and marked it in your
appointment book, ask for name, address and
telephone number.
Jot this information down on a 3 by 5 card, along
with the date and the notation: Prospective
Customer. Then you file this card in a permanent
card file. Save these cards, because there are
literally hundreds of ways to turn this prospect
file into real cash, once you've accumulated a
sizeable number of names, addresses and phone
numbers.
When you go to see your prospect in person, always
be on time. A couple of minutes early won't hurt
you, but a few minutes late will definitely be
detrimental to your closing the sale. Always be well
groomed. Dress as a successful business owner. Be
confident and sure of yourself; be knowledgeable
about what you can do as well as understanding of
the prospect's needs and wants. Do not smoke, even
if invited by the prospect, and never accept a drink
- even coffee - until after you have a signed
contract in your briefcase.
Actually, once you've made the sale, the best thing
is to shake hands with your new customer, thank him,
and leave. A little small talk after the sale is
appropriate, but becoming too friendly is not. You
create an impression, and preserve it, by
maintaining a business-like relation ship.
When you go to make your cost estimate, take along a
ruled tablet such as those used by elementary school
students, carbon paper, a calculator and your
appointment book. Some people find it easier to work
with a clipboard and ordinary blank paper with
carbon. Later on, you may want to have general
checklists printed up for each room in the house,
with blank lines or space for special instructions.
Whatever you use, it's important to appear
methodical, thorough and professional, while leading
the prospect through the specifics he or she wants
you to take care of: "Now, you want the carpet
vacuumed and all the furniture dusted and those two
end tables, the coffee table and the piano polished
as well, I assume?"
Simply identify the specific room at the top of the
sheet of paper, then lead your prospect through the
cleaning steps of each room, covering everything in
it. Your implications of putting everything in
"ready for company" shape will cause the customer to
forget about the cost, and hire you to do a complete
job. Always have a carbon paper under each piece of
paper you're writing on, and always look around each
room one more time before leaving it; then ask the
prospect if he or she can think of any special
instructions you should note for that room.
Finally, when you've gone through each room in the
house with the prospect, come back to the kitchen
and sit down at the table. Take out your calculator
and add up the time you estimate each job in each
room will take to complete. Total the time for each
room.
Be liberal, thinking that if you can do the carpet
job in 15 minutes, it will usually take the ordinary
person 30 minutes. Convert the total minutes for
each room into hours and tenths of hours per room.
Add the totals for each room to arrive at your total
hours to clean the entire house.
Talk with your customer briefly, wondering how she
can ever find the time to get everything done at
home, especially when holding down a full-time job.
A little bit of small talk, a quick mental
evaluation of the customer's ability to pay, plus
your knowledge that you can get everything done in
four hours, instead of the six hours it would take
most people, and you summarize by saying:
"Well, Mrs. Johnson, you've certainly got enough
routine cleaning work to keep you busy all day every
day of the week! I certainly don't know how you do
it, but any way, we'll take this whole problem off
your shoulders, save you time, and actually give you
time to relax. We can do it on a regular basis,
every other week for $120 per month, or the one
single time for $75.
"I can
well imagine how tired you are when you get home
from work. If you're at all like me there are times
when, faced with all this housework, you want to run
away someplace and hide. Now, we'll take care of
everything for you - keep the house spic and span,
ready for company, allow you to forget about
housecleaning chores, and for a lot less than it's
costing you now in time, work, and worry. And we
guarantee that our work will more than satisfy you.
So, would you like to try our cleaning service one
time for $75 or do you want to save $15 a call and
let us take over all these chores for you on a
regular basis?"
Here you begin finding a place in your appointment
book, and tell her: "Actually, I have an opening at
8:30 on Tuesday morning. We could come in every
other Tuesday at 8:30, clean the whole house and
have it done before you get home from work."
The customer agrees that 8:30 on Tuesdays will be
fine. Then you ask her if she prefers to be billed
with the completion of each house cleaning session
or on a regular monthly basis. Point out to her that
by engaging you on a monthly basis , she picks up a
free house cleaning every three months.
Now that you have your first customer, you want to
fill in every day of the week, each week of every
month with regular jobs. Once you have one week of
each month filled with regular jobs, it will be time
for you to expand.
Expansion means growth, involving people working for
you, more jobs to sell, and greater profits. Don't
let it frighten you, for you have gained experience
by starting gradually. After all - your aim in
starting a business of your own was to make money,
wasn't it? And expanding means more helpers so you
don't have to work your self to death!
You can operate this business quite successfully
from the comfort of your home, permanently, if you
choose to. All you'll ever need is a telephone, a
desk, and a file cabinet.
So, just as soon as you possibly can, recruit and
hire other people to do the work for you. The first
people you hire should be people to handle the
cleaning work. The best plan is to hire people to
work in teams of two or three - two for jobs not
including dishwashing and laundry - three for those
that do.
You
can start these people at minimum wage or a bit
above, and train them to complete every job
assignment in two hours or less. Just as soon as
you've hired and trained a couple of people as a
cleaning team, you should outfit them in a kind of
uniform with your company name on the back of their
blouses or shirts. A good idea also would be to have
magnetic signs made for your company and services.
Place these signs on the sides of the cars your
people use for transportation to each job, and later
on, the sides of your company van or pick-up trucks.
Each team should have an appointed team leader
responsible for the quality and over all
completeness of each job assigned to that team. The
team might operate thus: One person cleans the
bathroom, makes the beds, and carries out the
laundry , while the other person dusts and polishes
the furniture and does the vacuuming. On jobs where
you do the laundry and the dishes, the third person
can pick up the laundry and get that started, and
then do the dishes and clean the kitchen.
By operating in this manner, your work will be more
efficient and the complete job will take a lot less
time. However, it is important that each person you
hire understand that the success of the business
depends on the "crew" doing as many complete jobs as
they can handle each day - not on how much they get
paid per hour working for you.
Your team leaders will check with you each afternoon
for the next day's work assignments and gather the
team together, complete with cleaning equipment and
material, on t
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