Catering Business

4 Catering Business Success Stories [2024]

Pat Walls

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Updated: October 6th, 2024

A catering business is responsible for providing food & beverage-related services for vast types of events.

Catering businesses are known to be more flexible than other businesses because they don’t have to worry about location or pricing and can even work 24/7. They can cater anywhere and offer any price point that they want.

However, starting a catering business requires a lot of planning.

To start a successful catering business , you'll need to plan and prepare menus, manage budgets, handle clients, and more.

In addition, catering allows you to meet more people and show off your cooking skills.

In this list, you'll find real-world catering business success stories and very profitable examples of starting a catering business that makes money.

1. Spokeo ($72M/year)

Harrison, the CEO and Co-Founder of Spokeo, started the business in 2006 with his college roommates. They originally created a social network aggregator but had to pivot when they ran out of money. After changing their site to sell subscriptions, they discovered that people were willing to pay to search for others, leading them to enter the people's search market. Today, Spokeo generates over $6 million and helps over 15 million users a month.

How much money it makes: $72M/year
How many people on the team: 169

Pivoting From Social Media Aggregator To $6M/Month People Search Tool

Spokeo is a people information service helping over 15 million users a month search and connect with others through organizing over 14 billion records into easy-to-understand reports generating over $6M per month.

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2. New York Food Truck Association ($2.4M/year)

Ben Goldberg, founder of the New York Food Truck Association, came up with the idea after realizing that the food truck events market in NYC was untapped. He pivoted his own food truck business to focus on events catering and corporate marketing, leveraging his industry expertise. Within the first year, the business did over $1 million in revenue with consistent 50%+ year-over-year growth.

How much money it makes: $2.4M/year
How much did it cost to start: $25K
How many people on the team: 5

How Starting The New York Food Truck Association Resulted In A $200K/Month Business

How a former food truck owner founded the successful New York Food Truck Association which generated over $1M in its first year of business, providing local vendors with high-margin ancillary revenue streams, and saw consistent growth of 50% YoY.

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3. Elegante Catering ($240K/year)

Since the launch, Elegante Catering has focused on online marketing and SEO to attract and retain customers. The founder leveraged their previous experience in online marketing and utilized targeted blog posts and social media to drive traffic to their website. Additionally, they prioritized customer feedback and created menus based on customer preferences to ensure customer satisfaction and retention.

How much money it makes: $240K/year
How much did it cost to start: $500
How many people on the team: 10

How I Found Success With A $20K/Month Catering Company After Starting Many Businesses

Elegante Catering founder, Nestor Nidome, details his journey from failed DJ business to a $20k/month catering company, emphasizing the importance of online marketing and customer feedback as key contributors to his success.

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4. Bradford Bakery ($48K/year)

Amanda Bradford, founder of Bradford Bakery, came up with the idea for her business after years of working in the culinary industry and realizing her passion for baking and providing comfort through food. She used her expertise and access to affordable ingredients to create a menu that catered to the Texas clientele. Through word of mouth, strategic marketing, and community involvement, Bradford Bakery has seen a 550% increase in SEO and a growing client list.

How much money it makes: $48K/year
How much did it cost to start: $500
How many people on the team: 2

I Opened My Dream Bakery With Just $500 [Based In Texas]

From pastry chef to owner of a successful bakery, learn how Bradford Bakery achieved a 550% increase in SEO in just a few months through community outreach, building a website, and utilizing social media and advertising on platforms like Facebook and Groupon.

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Read by 4,773 founders