I have tried asking this once and it seems that no one even knows what I am talking about when I have asked has the current economy affected your work as a personal chef? SO, I am wondering, are personal chefs buffered from the stale economy?? Do they occupy a market that is unaffected by it? If so, that would be great news, but what have any of you noticed?
Have we noticed a slow-down in business due to the economy? Here in the DC area we have -- not that we're losing clients right and left...but inquiries are down. Many of us who had waiting lists a year or two ago, are now thinking maybe it would be nice to pick up one more client.
But, still, it's not dramatic. There are still plenty of folks with no time and some spare cash. And we're still getting inquiries, just not as many.
I have a client who just "fired" her housecleaner because she and her husband decided that they needed to economize -- their choice was to either lose the chef or lose the housecleaner. As my client said, I'd rather run the vaccuum cleaner than go without my dinners.
What I have noticed with my business is that instead of a client base that is upper middle class, more of my clients are wealthy. I have a commercial kitchen with meal delivery so I operate my business differently than the classic PC model.
