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How I started my catering business with Sh5,000

Nancy Ng’ang’a, 20

After my attachment following a course on foods and beverages, I, like others before me, was all set for tarmacking in search of a job and demonstrate my worth but was challenged by my mother and a brother to start my own catering business (mother is a retired chef having worked with a number of hotels).

According to the reasoning, it would have been difficult to land a sustainable job in a short time given the limited vacancies available in the job market, with the possibility of ending up doing what I hadn’t trained for.

I took the challenge, and with a startup capital of only Sh5,000, mainly a loan, registered my business as World Class Caterers and Events, printed few business cards, prospected around and hired culinary items after getting the nod to offer catering services at an event.  

The taste of the first success was good – but what I got went into paying the crew of the five and for the hired items. It had been a few months down the line and it is challenging as well.

Some of challenges include offering services and by the end of the day, when I’m expecting to cash in handsomely, I’m talked into coming another day to be paid. When you realize there is a crew to pay, it is not comforting.

Also, I have to hire items to fit with the occasion depending on the number of guests but I’m slowly building the business up. Also, there is the problem of some people seeking catering services and seeing I’m the face behind the business, assumes me as a young girl who doesn’t know any ropes or cannot deliver to their expectations and wishes to take advantage of me.

What determines charges per event is the number of guests, the menu and location of the event and you have to factor logistics as well. Catering services on offer covers events like weddings, graduations, birthdays, corporate events, ruracios, disc jockeying (DJ) services and so on.

What I can say is, you don’t need a high startup capital for an investment to viable in the market but you can begin with the little you have and build up with the time.