Profits from your kitchen: if you love to cook and people love your cooking, then you can make money from your home kitchen - includes business start-up tips

Ebony, June, 1991

PROFITS From Your Kitchen

If you love to cook and people love your your cooking, then you can make money from your home kitchen

DO family and friends often compliment you on your cooking? Do your guests repeatedly request your recipes? Do you add interesting ingredients and present your dishes in an attractive manner? If so, your culinary skills could help you fatten your wallet rather than your waistline.

Many amateur cooks have turned their cooking skills into a profitable enterprise. Some are small, part-time businesses while others have grown into multimillion-dollar ventures. There are many ways to turn a profit from the kitchen, depending on your strong points. You can cater parties, enter recipe contests, teach specialty cooking classes at home, or sell a single delicious product, such as baked goods or cookies. Many food businesses can be started with a small investment and budget. And they are great ways to profit from your kitchen.

CATERING. Catered parties were once a luxury only for the rich and famous, but things certainly have changed. Now working people have little time for all the details of entertaining, and increasingly they are turning to the professionals. Consequently, good caterers are finding themselves among the most popular people in town. If you love to cook and have an affection for a people-oriented profession, you can be a caterer.

Start small so you can establish your clientele as you learn and grow. Decide whether you want to be a full-service caterer, meaning that you prepare the food, deliver it, and handle the serving and cleanup. Or you might decide to provide partial service or simply prepare the food and provide no additional services. You must also consider whether your potential clients will host social, corporate or cultural affairs. Each of these three main categories has its desirable aspects as well as its irritations. At first, you may want to limit your bookings to what can be prepared in a well-equipped home kitchen.

Before you take on clients, learn business basics. A course in small business management could be very helpful in learning things such as setting prices, which is an important aspect of catering. Make sure you know what it costs to prepare a particular dish, and do some research to determine competitive rates. Keep menus and price lists on hand at all times for easy reference, and include interesting descriptions of your offerings. Admit ignorance and seek information and advice eagerly. Pursue customers actively, and read up on advertising and publicity techniques. Check into zoning and health codes so you won't unwittingly overlook a law.

RECIPE CONTESTS. There are a number of companies that sponsor annual recipe contests. Prizes range from complete kitchens to thousands of dollars. If you have a recipe for a delicious dish that has been in your family for years and has been passed down word of mouth, or one that you created yourself, take time to write it down. Your recipe just might be a winning one.

Each contest has its own set of rules. Most require you to use one or more of the sponsor's products in your recipe. Make sure you read the rules carefully and follow them closely.

Start by writing down the ingredients for your recipe. List them in the order in which they are used and include the form in which the ingredients are used (diced, crushed, minced, sliced). Always include the amount. If you are not sure, try measuring what you normally use. For instance, if you use a "handful" of chopped nuts in your cake, put that handful in a measuring cup. Then round it up or down. some ingredients--such as meat, poultry, seafood and some vegetables--might need to be weighed. Others may require you to indicate a size, such as "1 medium zucchini" or "2 small carrots." Keep in mind that a recipe is a formula for preparing a dish. The more information you include, the better.

Now that the ingredients are in order, you are ready to compile directions for putting the recipe together. Include in your directions what size bowl should be used, the temperature required, whether the food is cooked covered or uncovered, and how long it is cooked or baked. Tips such as "bake until golden brown" or "cook until thickened" are most helpful in preparing recipes. If you have a special way of serving or garnishing your dish, write that down too.

Now, prepare the recipe according to your written directions. Some adjustments may be needed at this point. If the recipe yields the desired results, then you are ready to submit it to a contest. Good luck.

COOKING SCHOOL. If you have certain cooking skills to share, like bread baking, pasta making or ethnic cooking, a home cooking school allows you to use your culinary skills professionally. Start-up costs are minimal. Most important is having a workable kitchen arrangement with ample counter space and room for students to move around freely.

Also, you will need a thoroughly professional attitude. You must be prompt, organized, well-prepared and confident. You can start by posting clever flyers around your neighborhood, giving a description and pertinent details of the classes you offer.