Charleston Business Daily

What is the best group to target our catering services to?

Who should we target our catering business to? Car dealerships, schools? Can you give us some good suggestions on who responds most to catering/food marketing. Thank you!!

Public Comments

1. What kind of catering do you do?
2. Advertise to cater at weddings.
3. Businessmen are always having lunch meetings and meetings with food. That would probably be your best bet.
4. Contact some wedding planners.
5. I would suggest you look at Government and Business lunches. There is no one in our area who does it well and affordably. And I for one am tired of pizza and wilted subs.
6. college kids
7. if you could get a core market of say... empty-nesters...golf courses, retirment communities...think about it, they have $$$$ and kids who they want to throw functions for..weddings, baby showers, grandkids bar/bat-mitzvahs!
8. I work for a school system and we use catering all the time for business functions.. All large businesses have to cater for corporate functions..target schools and any large business or corporation.
9. Businesses definitely. You should call some local ones and give them a good deal on lunch items. That way, those companies might even use your services again.
10. Talk to the chamber of commerce in your area and also the small business developement center. They will have all the marketing tools you need. It is a little difficult to know what to target without knowing where you are and what sort of food you plan to prepare. I would say weddings are big, if you live in a decent sized town. Scools are okay, but you can't bet the bank on them because they do not have functions enough to cater to. What I did with a small catering business I had was I called myself a Personal Chef, and basically I would cater to the wealthy in town, plus weddings. They would call me for a party or even to just deliver dinner to their family.
11. weddings, bar mitzvahs, sweet 16s, anniverseries. Find your local church or temple, and put up flyers. Find your local venues and do the same thing. Also, advertise in trade magazines.
12. Some good suggestions. An alternative is to list everyone you know and ask yourself or them what clubs, societies, associations, businesses are they connected to. Figure out which are most likely to need your services and ask your connection to put you in touch with the right person in the organisation. If you do a good job, word should spread quickly and business development will be greatly enhanced. This doesn't mean you can stop marketing. You must be continuously on the look out for more and more opportunities.