Starting a catering business comes down to picking the right model for your customers and kitchen access, obtaining the licenses your jurisdiction requires, and pricing per-guest costs so a good month isn’t undone by one underpriced wedding. Catering can outperform typical restaurant margins, since you’re not paying for a dining room, a full frontend team, or utilities that run all day. The global catering services market was valued at $76.66 billion in 2025 and is projected to reach $151.01 billion by 2034.

Below, we’ll discuss how to write a catering business plan and start a catering business from home, as well as which licenses you need before you can legally serve customers.

Key takeaways

• Catering can offer higher margins than a restaurant, but only if deposits and payment timing are managed as tightly as food cost.

• Home-based catering is the cheapest way to start, although cottage food laws limit what you can prepare and sell.

• Per-person pricing built around a 25%–35% food cost target gives you a repeatable way to price any event profitably.

How do you write a catering business plan?

A catering business plan explains how your catering company will operate and make money. It helps you organize your ideas, set clear goals, and show potential lenders or investors that your business is well planned.

Start by describing your business, including the type of catering services you’ll offer and the type of customers you want to serve. Describe how your business will operate, including details about your menu, suppliers, kitchen facilities, equipment, staffing, food safety procedures, and how you’ll manage events from booking to delivery.

Next, develop a marketing strategy. Explain how you’ll market your business through a website, social media, online reviews, and local networking. Research your local market to understand your competitors and identify what makes your business different.

Finally, create a financial plan that estimates your startup costs, expected income, ongoing expenses, and when you expect to become profitable.

Keep your business plan clear, realistic, and easy to update as your business grows. A well-written plan gives you a road map for success and helps you make better business decisions.

What catering business model should you choose?

Your business model determines your kitchen needs, your startup capital, and how quickly you can start booking clients.

Three structures dominate the industry:

• Corporate and office catering: This model means thinner margins per plate but steadier volume and faster payment cycles than event work. It typically looks like repeat weekly or monthly orders for lunches and meetings.

• Weddings and private events: This model means higher revenue per guest, seasonal booking patterns, and long gaps between the deposit and the event itself.

• Drop-off meal delivery: This model has no service staff on-site and lower labor costs. You scale through repeat individual or small-office orders rather than single large events.

Once you choose a business model, you need to decide where you’ll cook. Home-based cottage kitchen catering is the entry point with the lowest overhead, but it’s limited to whatever your jurisdiction’s cottage food laws allow you to prepare and sell. Renting commercial kitchen space is also a good option for people with some available funds. It removes the need for your own lease but adds a facility fee to your costs.

How do you start a catering business from home?

Starting a catering business from home is the cheapest way in, but many US states regulate home-based food businesses through cottage food laws. Those laws vary greatly on what you’re allowed to sell.

States that cap annual gross revenue from a cottage kitchen set widely different ceilings (e.g., $50,000 in Maryland, $250,000 in Florida). States such as Oklahoma and New York impose no cap at all. Others restrict you to nonperishable, shelf-stable items such as baked goods and jams, which rules out hot plate catering entirely.

If your state’s cottage food law doesn’t cover prepared hot meals for events, you’ll need a licensed commercial kitchen, either through your health department’s plan review process for your own space or through a commissary agreement that lets you rent time in a kitchen that’s already licensed.

Plan review is the process your local health department uses to approve a kitchen’s layout, equipment, and food safety setup before you’re cleared to operate. Expect to submit floor plans and equipment specs and pass an inspection before you get a permit. Renting commissary time from an existing licensed kitchen usually gets you cooking sooner than waiting on your own plan review since the space is already approved.

Payment collection should start with your first booking. Asking for a deposit at booking and a final balance before the event means you’re not tracking down a check from a client three days after their event took place.

What licenses and permits does a catering business need?

Legally serving food to paying clients requires a specific set of licenses. Legal requirements shift by jurisdiction so check with your local health department directly.

The following are often needed:

• Business license: The basic registration your city or county requires to operate any business, regardless of industry.

• Food service establishment permit: Issued by your local health department after it inspects your kitchen, whether that’s your own commercial space or a commissary you’re renting.

• ServSafe food protection manager certification: A food safety credential that many US states require at least one team member to hold. (Some states accept other programs accredited by the American National Standards Institute.)

• Commissary agreement: A signed contract with a licensed kitchen if you’re not operating out of your own commercial space. It’s often required by the health department as proof you have compliant facilities.

• General liability insurance: Protection if something goes wrong at an event, from a guest’s allergic reaction to a spill that damages a venue’s flooring.

• Liquor permit: Required in many jurisdictions if you’re serving alcohol as part of the event package, separate from your food permits.

How do you price your catering business for profit?

Per-person pricing is the standard model. It starts with food cost as a percentage of what you charge. Catering businesses commonly set a target of about 25%–35% food cost. If your per-guest food cost is $15, a 30% target puts your selling price at roughly $50 per person, with labor, packaging, rentals, and overhead layered on top of that base.

From there, a handful of structural pieces determine your margin on a given event:

• Event minimums: A floor on total order size or guest count. This protects you from small events that cost more in labor and setup than they bring in.

• Travel fees: Mileage or flat charges for events outside your standard service radius. This covers fuel and staff time on the road.

• Staffing surcharges: Added charges for events that need servers, bartenders, or extra kitchen staff beyond your baseline crew.

• Tiered packages: Preset menu levels at different price points per guest. This can speed up sales conversations and make it easier for clients to compare options.

How do you market your catering business and book your first events?

Early bookings come from showing up where event planners, companies, and engaged couples are already searching. Here are some options to consider for getting work for a new catering business:

• Portfolio building: Styled photo shoots of your food and table setups, or working a friend’s event at cost, give you the images you need before you have paying clients to photograph.

• Directory listings: Profiles on wedding and event platforms such as The Knot and WeddingWire put you in front of couples that are actively searching for vendors in your area.

• Vendor tastings: Hosting local event planners and venue managers for a tasting builds the referral relationships that generate repeat bookings without any per-lead cost.

• Google Business Profile: A complete, photo-rich profile helps you show up when someone searches “caterer near me.”

• Instagram: Regular posts of finished dishes and event setups work as an ongoing portfolio that potential clients browse before they ever call you.

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