05 Mar Catering Business Plan

Opportunity

Problem

The society lacks resources to support the homeless and less fortunate youth population. Eugene, like all the other cities, has a migration of homeless teenagers who have run away from home. They are here for a few months of the year and then they hitch down to California during the winter for warmer weather. These are young adults that don’t understand how to become part of society. These young adults can’t provide for their families and they eventually have children.

Solution

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We provide at-risk youth alternative education and career assistance in Lane County. We want this experience to be beneficial for our clients. We do this through a series of curricula funded by the Lane Workforce Partnership, Oregon Youth Conservation Corps, Oregon Department of Human Resources, and the local school districts.

The most recent program we offer is a culinary arts program. Students learn about safe food handling and food preparation, and then prepare lunches for their classmates at the Chambers School. Students are then placed in a local food service company for a 60-hour training program. The current culinary arts program is only available to five students per nine-week school year, or about 25 students per academic year. The program is based on students’ genuine interest in the culinary arts and excellent attendance.

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Market

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Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce states that “[a]t heart of Eugene economy is the homegrown small- and medium-sized businesses. Eugene’s businesses have fewer than 20 employees. From specialty retail shops to financial service firms, from management consultancies to ethnic groceries, Eugene’s small business community is diverse, active, thriving and well-supported. Eugene has over 10,000 businesses. These include sole proprietorships, limited partnerships, and financial service firms. Eugene/Springfield have experienced a 3.9% increase in population since 1998. This has led to new businesses and increased opportunities for catering businesses that can fulfill these businesses’ needs.

Catering For Kids believes that Eugene/Springfield businesses will have unmet demand to cater lunch meetings and other events. Businesses to businesses catering isn’t as cyclical than business-to-consumer catering, unlike restaurants and food-related business. Business owners continue to host lunch meetings. Employees still wish to order their lunches. In order to gain some insight into the market size and demand, we undertook some limited market research. We sent an email survey out to 144 Lane County charities asking about the current and future demands for catering services. These are just a few of the many responses we received.

“I think this idea is great and could be an asset to the community. Springfield/Eugene Habitat for Humanity doesn’t host many lunchtime meetings but there are 13 to 14 Executive Directors of Habitat affiliates who meet here approximately every three months. Susan Brown, Volunteer Coordinator at Eugene/Springfield Habitat for Humanity

If we have an event that needs catering, we’ll call your program first. We follow a policy of first using nonprofit organizations for our services.

“Our catering needs aren’t very big, perhaps a few times per year. But, you can reach me to discuss this program. My son attends Chambers School. I’d love to hear more about it.

We do require a venue that can accommodate 50-100 people for our General Membership Meetings. I don’t organize the meetings, but I do know that our group needs a place to meet and where beer and food can be served. Maybe Dave will speak with you. I believe the first meeting takes place in October.

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Competition

Many other caterers also offer boxed lunches to business clients. None of these caterers specialize in serving nonprofits, and none of them are local nonprofits. Catering For Kids will be able to build strong relationships with its nonprofit clients.

We believe that this unique position, combined with competitively priced, fresh, high-quality meals will set Catering For Kids apart as the premier caterer for the Lane County nonprofit sector.

Why Us?

Catering For Kids is dedicated to providing at-risk youth with an opportunity to gain work experience and transferable skills by providing our customers with healthy, homemade foods and excellent service at reasonable prices. Catering For Kids employs students enrolled in the Chambers School and Career Center’s culinary arts program. They are interested in getting work experience in restaurants and food service. The experiences the students have while participating in this program will assist them in making the transition from school to work and will allow them to develop entrepreneurial skills that will be transferable to any job in the future.

Expectations

Forecast

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The following benchmark chart indicates our key financial indicators for the first three years. We expect a slow, steady increase in our services’ demand and an associated rise in operating expenses. Catering For Kids will be focusing on its internal market during year one. In year two, we will expand our services to the outside market.

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Financial Highlights for the Year

Financing Needed

Grant funding is one revenue stream. We need $15,000 annually. Donations of $2,000 per month are needed and anticipated. We also need revenue from fees for event catering and lunches.