How to Succeed as a Private Chef
You are starting a private chef business and want to be as successful as possible. Let me, an experienced private chef of over 8 years, help by sharing three of the most common mistakes I see private chefs make. I'll also tell you what to do instead to make sure your private chef business is booming instead of struggling to get off the ground.
Keep reading to learn How to Be a Successful Private Chef. I'll tell you the Top 3 Ways to Succeed as a Private Chef and tell you the steps to take to achieve your dreams.
With these expert tips, I'll help you start a successful private chef business and grow to a full-time business in two years or less. Learn even more tips like these in my FREE virtual group mentorship program!
How to Be a Successful Private Chef
Grow your private chef business to a full-time career in 2 years or less!
#1 Prioritize the Client's Vision
As a private chef, you undoubtably have a passion for food and cooking and you want to share that with others. The beauty of owning your own business is that you can choose who to work with and how you want to operate. However, your private chef clients are hiring you for a specific reason. That reason isn't that you went to a top rated culinary school, that you studied under a well-known chef, or that you can sous-vide anything and everything.
Your client is hiring you to meet *their* need. Your background and credentials contribute to meeting their need, but it's not the whole picture. I often see chefs planning meal prep menus that don't make sense for the real lives of their clients. They get totally lost in their own ideas and expectations. They are planning menus that make sense in a fine dining restaurant and not for an every day dinner for a family. Now, if you are a private chef hosting private dinner parties-- that's great! Now, if you're a private chef planning meal prep for families, you need to adjust your menus to suit the tastes of your clients. If you are unable to cater your meals to your client's tastes, they will inevitably fall off and stop hiring you.
How to be a Successful Private Chef Tip #1:
You can easily remedy this mistake by checking in with your client and asking them for feedback about the menus and how the meals are tasting. Occasionally, you can send out group emails to past and current private chef clients with a questionnaire to get a deeper understanding of what your private chef clients love, what they need more of, and how to improve on your service.
#2 Find a Balance Between Business and Personal
Working with private chef clients can be tricky. It's an intimate environment-- you are most often cooking in people's homes and interacting with their family members.
I have seen both ends of this spectrum. Private Chefs who are overly personal-- they talk too much, they are too casual, and they make the client uncomfortable because a line has been crossed. At the end of the day, your client is paying you for a service and not to be inconvenienced by too much chit chat and oversharing.
On the other side of the spectrum, I have seen private chefs who are too focused on business that they lose the customer service piece. Again, you are in someone's home. If you are not communicating and acting like you can't be bothered to exchange pleasantries with your client, that's very off-putting.
My clients have told me I straddle this line well. I am friendly, approachable, and extremely professional. I focus on my work and make sure that I'm leaving room for the client to still feel at home while I'm using their space.
Imagine you are hiring someone to come to your home *every* week. The relationship you have with that person is very important! You don't want to dread that person coming to your home because they take up all your time with endless small talk. And you don't want to be uncomfortable because there's an awkward, silent person in your house for hours at a time that you have to tip-toe around.
How to be a Successful Private Chef Tip #2:
Be friendly, professional and respectful. Let your private chef clients feel safe and at ease in your presence. Be mindful and aware of your surroundings and what you can do to make the private chef experience the best it can be for your client. Especially after 2020, you'll see more and more of your private chef clients working from home. You need to accommodate their lifestyle to be a successful private chef.
#3 Price Your Service Right
Pricing your service is one of the most important things you will do in your business. It can also be the most challenging. It takes a lot of time and effort to determine the right pricing for your area. You don't want to over or underprice your private chef service, so do your research.
Along those same lines, an amazing piece of advice I got very early on in my private chef career was "Stop offering so many discounts." A discount is underselling your service and communicates a low value to your client. Your time, your work, your experience are all valuable. If a client can't afford your service without a bunch of discounts-- they aren't the right client! Price your service at the appropriate amount and stick to it. You can offer discounts to your loyal customers at appropriate times, but they shouldn't be used as an advertising scheme to get clients.
How to be a Successful Private Chef Final Tip #3:
Overcome your imposter syndrome and make sure your prices are competitive in your market. Price your service what it's worth for your area and trust that the right clients will come along and happily pay for your amazing talent. Your prices convey your value, and trust me, your private chef service is worth more than you might think.
BONUS TIP! Are You Ready to Learn How to be a Successful Private Chef?
The benefits of mentorship in any career field are numerous. As a private chef, you are a solo entrepreneur trying to figure everything out on your own. But here's the thing, you DON'T have to do it alone anymore!
BONUS TIP for How to be a Successful Private Chef: join my FREE, Virtual Private Chef Mentorship program.
Don't forget to check out my additional private chef resources to help you on your path to becoming a successful private chef from home.
