Should I charge a service fee for travel?
You've likely set up a radius around a particular neighborhood as your service area. This is the ideal area of your community that you'd like to accept jobs.
Depending on the style of community you live in, your service radius could be as small as 15 miles or as wide as 45 miles. What happens if someone asks for a job outside your service radius? Should you charge a travel fee?
This is actually a business decision and something to think about now. You could have a firm "I only travel to this area" policy or you could be open to traveling for hours. Time and money are not the only factors here, however. You have to first think about the safety of your clients. Are you able to pack up a large quantity of groceries and travel for three hours?
Once you've established this criteria, you can be open to the next question. "If I do accept a job three hours away, would the client be willing to pay for my travel time?" Just because a client appears to have money to spend doesn't mean they're going to pay you $50 or $100 an hour each way to travel to their location.
Before bidding for any job, it's important to ask the location of their event.
- Is this an area you want to travel to?
- How much would you charge for the travel time?
- Will it be per mile or per hour?
- What happens if the location is only 30 miles away, but it takes three hours because of heavy traffic?
You are the business owner, so these are decisions you'll need to make or at least think about before the situation arrives.
Best Wishes & Much Success to You, Virginia Stockwell
10 Things to Do Before Starting Your Personal Chef Business
Ten-Step Actionable Checklist of things to do before investing in this new business so you're prepared when your first paying client comes along.
for Free
Personal Chef Mentor
Virginia Stockwell
Virginia Stockwell is a personal chef business mentor from California, now living in Austin, TX. She's had careers as a chiropractor and Realtor, then finally found her calling as a personal chef. Starting in catering in 2005, she began her personal chef business in 2012, quickly growing to a waiting list of clients thanks to her local marketing expertise. She now empowers home cooks and professional chefs to start their own meal prep and dinner party businesses, creating a life of hours and income they control. She lives the life of a minimalist both personally and professionally, reads cookbooks like novels, and is locally famous for her taco and margarita parties (check out "A Taco Walks into a Bar" on Amazon).
How to Price Your Personal Chef Services
Personal Chefs do not charge by the hour. They also do not calculate food costs like restaurant chefs.
This is a self-paced course you can begin immediately.
$94 >>
Business Plan for Personal Chef Services
Design a custom plan with the help of prompts so that you know where you’re going and what you need to do next...
Because a goal without a plan is just a wish.
Lead Generating Website
How-To
How-To
Anyone can create a website, but it takes know-how to design a lead generating website. You'll learn how to capture leads while you sleep, what to include on each web page, and common mistakes personal chefs make on their websites. Give potential clients a five-star first impression of your company by showing off your culinary skills in a benefit-driven style.
This course is included when purchasing the all-inclusive personal chef business program above.
Bookkeeping
for Personal Chefs
for Personal Chefs
Lesson 1 - Bookkeeping 101
Lesson 2 - The IRS & You
Lesson 3 - What's Tax Deductible
Lesson 4 - Record Keeping
This course is included when purchasing the all-inclusive personal chef business program above.
Chef-Client Contract
Customized to Your Business
Customized to Your Business
Without this important document, there are too many "what ifs" that could lead to lost money. You'll walk away with customized contracts for both meal prep and events to fit your personal chef business model.
This course is included when purchasing the all-inclusive personal chef business program above.
101 Marketing Tactics to Attract New Clients
You know all there is about cooking and pricing your services. The only struggle you have now is bringing new leads into your business. You'll receive 101 action oriented marketing tactics that you can begin implementing today. Find what's working best for you and do more of it. Marketing tactics for both introverts and outgoing personalities are included. Start implementing the tactics today.
All-Inclusive Program
PERSONAL CHEF
BUSINESS PROGRAM
All-Inclusive Program
BUSINESS PROGRAM
Go from "I don't know where to begin" to running a profitable personal chef business so you have control over your own hours and income.
Modules Included:
1 - Define Your Competitive Advantage
2 - Determine Pricing
3 - Meal Prep 101
4 - Dinner Party 101
5 - Become Legal & Insured
6 - Create a Lead Generating Website
7 - Craft a Marketing Plan
8 - Test Various Marketing Strategies
9 - Bookkeeping
10 - Social Media
10 Things to Do Before Starting Your Personal Chef Business
Ten-Step Actionable Checklist of things to do before investing in this new business so you're prepared when your first paying client comes along.
for Free