I'm seriously considering becoming a PC and need some feedback. I've been working in the restaurant industry for over 25 years as a chef, pastry chef, caterer- you name it, I've done it. I owned my own restaurant last year and it folded because of a bad partnership. I've decided that I'm tired of working 60 plus hours a week for someone else, and I think that my experience lends itself perfectly to the PC industry. Here are my questions:
1. How do you go about getting your first clients? What sort of advertising do you start with? I have about $11,000.00 in savings, so I don't think I have much of a problem paying for it, but I want to make sure that I get a return on my investment.
2. Is it necessary to be certified to be a PC, or is it just recommended? What other regulations apply to this profession (health code, insurance, etc.)?
3. Are any of you incorporated? If not, what sort of business entity do you register yourself as? What about taxes?
Amynad - great questions! Sounds like you are off to a good start in thinking out the details so you can make a decision. You have a wonderful background AND a nice sum of money to start off with. I'm relatively new to personal cheffing and I'm sure you will hear some great responses to your questions from some of our more established and respected members as well.
I see that you are in Minnesota - the very best advice I could give you is to get yourself signed up for the next personal chef seminar near your area (they are listed on the main page under "Personal Chef Seminars")!! All your questions and so much more will be answered for an amazingly low cost at a live seminar. I recently attended one in Denver that was led by Candy and it was the best thing EVER for kick-starting my personal chef career!
Good luck in making your decision - once I decided, there was no turning back. I am still a "newbie" but I love the freedom to be my own boss, dictate my own hours and schedule and feel tired but SO happy at the end of a cook-date! I love this business.....
Thanks for your response. There's a seminar coming up in November in Chicago-I may attend. I'm thinking about purchasing the training package as well.
It sounds like you're very happy in this business. Are you happy about the financial end of it as well? I'm not going to come right out and ask how much you make, but do you feel that you make a comfortable living? I'm a single person with no dependents and none planned. I have very little debt, but would like to buy a house in the near future, and need to generate enough income to be able to do that by myself (no spouse to back me up). Is it possible to do that as a PC?
Amynad - well, I am probably not the best person to ask since I still have my "day job" and am making the transition into replacing my salary before I actually quit. Fortunately, I have a very flexible day job and can just take off days as needed for cooking. Right now I'm at about 80% day job and 20% cheffing. Of course it depends on your personal goals, but I figure I can replace my salary and be perfectly happy with three steady cookdates per week. That isn't happening just yet, but I am hopeful that my marketing efforts are going to get me there in the next six months or so. The market in your area will also have an effect on what you can reasonably expect to make. In one of the forums I read recently, a good ballpark figure is $10k per client, per year if you are cooking for them on a regular basis (i.e. weekly, bi-weekly). Hopefully I understood that posting correctly. That might help you do some financial planning. A lot of PCs also offer cooking classes, dinners for two, small dinner parties, etc. in order to supplement their standard weekly client service. Some also offer catering if they have access to a commercial kitchen. I'm not the sole support in my family so that takes some of the pressure off although I do want to be successful in order to reach my personal goals and make a contribution to my families' budget!
Hopefully others will respond with their advice and input as well - this is just the view from my little corner of the PC world! One HUGE benefit in joining is gaining access to the members discussion forums - you would not believe the information and support you will find there! I could never have even made it this far without the forums!
Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Mike Sodaro. I am the Midwest Regional Manger of the APCA and will be teaching the seminar in Chicago in November. You are asking just the right questions and already getting some good advice. I just wanted to offer to talk to you (as well as anyone else who is reading this that is interested) on the phone if you would like to get some further details on the seminar. It looks like it's shaping up to be a good group -- I've talke to four other interested people in the last two days alone. Feel free to call @ 630.795.0100 or e-mail at the address below any time and if I'm not here just leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as possible.
Best of luck to you and I hope to meet you in Chicago in November.
