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Personal Chef Industry

I am doing my research, working on my business plan, and anticipate joining your organization very soon. I've read Chef Candy's book and gone through about 3 hours of past posts (I am learning a lot from other people's questions, and I can see it is going to take me many more hours to get through them all!). I think I have a really good skill set for this occupation, as I have been a passionate cook for decades, am very organized and have business experience and a husband who is a marketing "guru", so I am very excited about this new venture.

I have some questions which I haven't found the answers to yet:

1. Why don't you routinely use the supplies at a client's home? It seems the hauling around of all the equipment must get old really fast.

2. I have loads of recipes I have collected over the years. It is not unusual for me to spend 2 hours prepping for a weeknight dinner for my family. Obviously, I would be at a client's house all day if I cooked like that for my business. Please give me some pointers on going through my recipes and choosing the ones that are more time appropriate.

3. I am interested in your new software (PCO) that isn't out yet. Should I postpone joining APPCA until it is available? (If I join now, will I have to pay more once it is out?) Also, will this software be able to incorporate my own recipes easily?

Thanks in advance,

Kathleen

To answer your questions....

1. Using "supplies" at a client's home: Once I've established a relationship with a client, I will check on what staples they have in the pantry before I finalize my shopping list.

If you're referring to equipment, I think it's a lot like being a golfer or bowler. Yes, you can rent golf clubs or a bowling ball, but wouldn't you rather play with your own? Most of my clients have knives so dull they barely cut butter. Most of their pots and pans are cheap and useless.

That said, I will occasionally use their blender and/or food processor. I pack my equipment based on the recipes I making on that day. I don't bring every piece I own (that would take multiple crates and a trailer!).

2. Sorting through your recipes is a long process that never ends. When I did it, I considered the following:
* Number of ingredients
* Amount of "Active" time (a stew may take 3 hours to cook, but only about 20 minutes of actual work)
* Popularity of the dish. Some clients want "gourmet," others want comfort food, some want healthy, some want decadent.

I'm constantly updating my menu...removing unpopular dishes or those too complicated for a regular cookdate, and adding new dishes that my clients like.

3. PCO is online and currently available to members.

Karen

I'm in the same situation as Kathleen. Working and researching before being "open for business".

I would appreciation any and all advice from the masses pertaining to recipes like what freezes well and so on.. I have a library of cookbooks, most tried and true, and the leftovers are always good. My apprehension lies in making and storing for freshness as good as the day it was prepared, like fish for example.

I know that I would leave instructions, but what about drying out or being overcooked by the client?

Thanks,
Yvonne

Good question, Yvonne. As a member of APPCA you will receive a complete selection of recipes along with the software management software when you join the association.

The real secret that I can share with you is that you are not preparing left overs, you are preparing food using specific techniques that you will learn through our home training program with DVD's or even better, through one of our two day intensive seminars.

We don't teach you to cook, but we teach you how to adjust your cooking techniques to meet the requiremnts of your clients.

Jim