When I first started my personal chef business, I had no idea what I was doing as I had no mentor to answer my questions. I couldn't find any help online to basic questions, like what should I wear to meal prep sessions in client homes?

I knew that it had to be some sort of uniform, meaning that I would wear the same style at every cook session. I chose a black t-shirt and jeans. Looking back, wearing street clothes was not showcasing my business in a professional way.

Attending a Chamber of Commerce networking event, I saw many of the members wearing polo shirts with a logo. "What a great idea," I thought. It seems so obvious that a professional shirt with company logo would be part of a uniform, but truly when first starting a business, you don't know what you don't know.

I researched and learned that company shirts are rather inexpensive and printed clothing could include an apron as well.

If you're looking for a brand recommendation, I...

Every day I receive questions about the personal chef business. Some of the more common questions are probably exactly what you're wondering right now:

"How do I get new clients?"

"How can I obtain new leads?"

"The biggest problem I have right now is reaching new clientele." 

"My struggle is getting new customers."

The problem with this question is that it's completely the wrong question to be asking! 

The question suggests there is zero target marketing going on in the personal chef's mind since they seem to want just any client to cook for.

Successful personal chefs know that they don't want just anybody as a client. They want people that are willing, ready and able to purchase their services and understand their worth. These people are their target market.

Who is NOT the target market? The opposite - people who don't value your worth, ask for discounts, or balk at your pricing model. 

There are so many different ways to craft a career out of your culinary skills.

• open a restaurant
• start a catering company
• begin a personal chef service
• work for one family as a private chef
• cook and deliver from your home

Which one will work for you? It's even possible you may dabble in more than one in your lifetime. 

Personal Chef vs. Private Chef

The personal versus private chef is the most confusing to people. In summary, a private chef works for just one client while a personal chef has many clients.

As a private chef, you are an employee of your client and may receive benefits such as paid vacation time or health insurance. Sure, it's great that you have "for sure" income each month, but the drawback is that you are still an employee and lack the freedom of being your own boss. 

The contract between you and your employer will lay out the terms of the job to include days of the week you will work and how long you are guaranteed a...

Is this you:

• You pour your all into cooking for your friends and they're always complimenting you on your culinary skills
• People are always saying "you should open a restaurant!" but the thought of working every weekend of your life and 15-hour days does not appeal, never mind the $200K it costs to consider opening a space
• If only you could cook for families without a lot of overhead...

But how do you know if the personal chef business is right for you?

I'm going to give you a pre-launch business strategy.

But don’t take my word for it! Put it to the test and see what the checklist tells you.

If you're a cook or chef wanting to start and build a successful personal chef business so you have control over your own hours and income, it's helpful to have a starting point. What do you do first? How do you know if this business is right for you before jumping in?

#1 Define Your Why

Defining your Why is the most important step. If...

Have you ever thought about, "What are the worst case scenarios while cooking in a client's home? What could go wrong?!"

First, let's talk about stress. Stress is not welcome in the kitchen. What’s the point of stress? It’s not helping anything. Freaking out over the fact that the family used up all the olive oil at breakfast isn't going to make the olive oil appear. Being solution oriented is helpful, while stressing  out about a situation is not helpful.

Scenario #1 Missing Key Ingredients

A client responds to your grocery list and says they have flour for your macaroni and cheese recipe. When you arrive, however, the kids went on a baking spree yesterday and used all the flour up.

What do you do? It’s time to improvise or head to the store. 

This is going to happen a lot. You may have taken inventory of their spices and kept great records, but upon arrival learn they just made a big pot of chili and...

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...

It wouldn't be fair to make generalizations such as ALL personal chefs do this or ALL personal chefs have this quality. That said, there are a few qualities that would help a personal chef excel in his or her business. 

#1 Personable 

First, it sure does help to be personable. You've probably met or even have friends who have said "I don't like people". Truly, that just means they don't have good communication skills and have difficulty expressing themselves or understanding the expressions of others.  

#2 Enjoyment in Helping 

If you don't enjoy helping others or have patience when it comes to working with people, you may not do well as a personal chef. 

Our profession is all about meeting people in their homes and making them feel comfortable with the fact that the chef is going to be all alone in their house, often having access to door codes and other private information. Making others feel at...

Are you as tired of fake news as I am?

Myth #1 Personal Chefs Work for the Rich and Famous

Reading headline news, you would think that all personal chefs work for celebrities and the ultra-rich. I suppose it does make great clickbait having a celebrity name in the title of an article. In real life, however, the people that hire personal chefs are those that value time over money.

Most of your clients will likely be average moms and dads with school aged children. They work all day on Zoom and homeschooling their kids then are delighted to have meals waiting for them in the refrigerator. They value their time and are willing to exchange money for time by having someone come into their home and prepare meals for them. The average client of a personal chef is definitely not a celebrity or ultra-rich.

Myth #2 Personal Chef Clients Don’t Know How to Cook

Most people know how to clean a house, but housekeepers are in constant demand. People...

It's a common question, "What kind of tips should I expect following a meal prep session or dinner party?"

A seasoned business owner knows that tips are not always part of offering a service. There are those who offer generous tips and there are those who are loyal customers, but never ever give monetary tips.

The reality is that just because your client appears to have money to spend doesn't mean you're going to receive a tip. As a business owner, you must come to this understanding quickly or you'll begin resenting your clients, which may result in the downfall of your business.

If you're going into a job expecting a tip, you're setting yourself up for potential disappointment.

You're in the service industry, therefore offering a service in exchange for money. Going into the job, your client is already aware of how much your service costs, so if you feel you deserve more, you should charge a higher service fee.

Offering to perform...

Before becoming a personal chef, I would peruse the internet for hours, trying to find the answers to what I thought were common questions about the personal chef profession.

Extremely limited information came up when searching for the answer to my question, "what should I be asking new meal prep clients at a consultation?"

I couldn't find a single article written by a personal chef. There were plenty of non-authorities sharing their idea of questions you should ask a personal chef when hiring as well as numerous culinary associations trying to get me to attend their schools and expensive groups, but alas no advice from someone in the profession.

Interestingly, the articles about "what to ask your personal chef" appeared to be written by someone clearly never having hired or interviewed a personal chef. The questions were highly redundant.

As a seasoned personal chef, I can share with you that when someone calls to set up a consultation about...