Everything you need to know about becoming a home caterer!

The role of a home caterer involves wearing many hats. In practical terms, their responsibilities include designing, preparing, and serving meals for special events, formal dinners, or everyday meals.

Contrary to popular belief, he’s not just a chef—he’s a full-fledged event planner! More often than not, he also offers services to handle food service, tableware, and furniture. He can also provide staff specifically dedicated to serving guests or managing the reception.

Weddings, corporate dinners, community events, birthdays, and more—these are all great occasions to hire a caterer! Are you interested in trying your hand at freelancing?

You've come to the right place!

What training is required to become a home caterer?

Entry into the catering profession is not regulated by the government. As such, there is no requirement to hold a specific degree. However, it is essential to demonstrate specific skills through high-quality training.

Some of the most common training programs include:

• Professional Chef Certification
• The Professional Certificate in Deli and Catering
• Vocational Baccalaureate in Butchering, Deli, and Catering
• The Technology Baccalaureate in Hospitality
• The BTS in Hospitality and Restaurant Management

How do you choose your legal status?

If you wish to work alone, we recommend that you choose one of the following legal forms:

• EIRL (Entreprise individuelle à responsabilité limitée). As the name suggests, the entrepreneur is only liable for the amount of capital he or she has contributed to the company. His or her personal assets are protected in the event of bad business, and cannot be used to recover any debts.
• EURL (Entreprise universelle à responsabilité limitée). It offers the same advantages as the EIRL, but its manager is considered a self-employed worker. It benefits from a specific social protection scheme, less effective than that of salaried employees.
• The SASU (Société par actions simplifiée unipersonnelle) is particularly flexible. Its day-to-day operation is set out in the articles of association. The Chairman of the SASU is covered by the general social security system.
• The micro-entrepreneur status status is particularly easy to set up, manage and wind up. Your social security contributions are calculated on the basis of your gross sales. This is capped at €176,200 for sales activities and €72,500 for services.

If you wish to bring in partners or employees, we recommend that you consider incorporating a company:

• La SARL SARL (limited liability company): Run by a day-to-day manager and an annual general meeting attended by all partners, the company requires at least 2 partners and a minimum share capital of €1. Partners' liability is limited to the amount of their capital contributions to the company. Administrative formalities are simplified, and you can choose your tax regime.
• La SAS SAS: A minimum share capital of €1 is required, and at least two partners are needed to set up a company. An SAS is managed by a Chairman, who may be a natural or legal person. It therefore has a solid Internet organization and simplified governance.

What are the regulations governing this profession?

The food service industry is subject to strict hygiene regulations.

Home catering services must strictly adhere to all official health protocols.

You are directly responsible for ensuring that the food products you sell are safe and uncontaminated. All your kitchen utensils, food preparation areas, and transport equipment must be thoroughly cleaned.

How can you build your brand and attract customers?

Home catering services cater to both private and business clients. They can provide services at private residences or at a company’s premises.

To reach individual customers (B2C), it’s probably most effective to create accounts on popular social media platforms and share your passion for your work. Instagram and Facebook are, without a doubt, an excellent way to build your brand and grow a community of followers.

To reach business customers (B2B), list your business in online databases and other business directories (Yellow Pages, etc.). Additionally, creating a Google My Business listing is essential for reaching a wide audience within your service area. Don’t hesitate to launch an email campaign to reach local businesses that are likely to use your services.

Word of mouth is still a sure bet, as are handing out flyers at local businesses, vehicle branding, and advertising in local newspapers!

One valuable factor that is too often overlooked when it comes to ensuring the success of your project is using the services of a registered office provider.

A domiciliation company offers legal domiciliation services to individuals and legal entities. Approved by the local prefecture, it provides its customers with a registered office as well as a postal, commercial and administrative address.

Choosing your own home means you have to publicly disclose the address of your home, threatening your privacy. At the same time, you won't have to rent commercial premises, and can improve your local SEO ranking on search engines, thanks to your headquarters' keywords!

You can also reduce your tax bill by choosing a commune with a low CFE (Contribution Foncière des Entreprises) tax rate.

With SeDomicilier, you can obtain your certificate of domiciliation in less than 5 minutes, in a 100% online process. What's more, all your services are then available in a personalized, secure virtual office!