Hard Truths of Running a Private Chef Business

When people ask me about starting Vendador, they usually want to hear the about what we have achieved: the beautiful dinners, the satisfied clients, the freedom of building something yourself. And those things are real. But there's a whole other side to this work that nobody really talks about until you're deep in it.

I want to pull back the curtain on what it actually takes to run a private dining business. Because if you're a chef thinking about doing this, or if you're just curious about what happens behind the scenes, you should learn of the hurdles and how not to let those demotivate you from running a small business.

If you're running your own business or thinking about starting one, even outside of hospitality, I'd love to hear from you. What's the hardest part for you? What are you figuring out right now at the start of the year?

You'll Be a Generalist Before You're Ever a Specialist

When you start a self-funded business, you wear every single hat. Chef, accountant, salesperson, logistics coordinator, social media manager, dishwasher, you name it.

And naturally, you're going to be terrible at most of it in the beginning.

I remember those early days during COVID when I started cooking out of my house, posting on Instagram, delivering meals on Friday and Saturday nights. Then someone asked if I'd do a private event, and I realized I'd made in one day what I'd normally make in a week. The business model shifted immediately.

But suddenly I wasn't just cooking anymore. I was figuring out how to price events, how to talk to clients, how to order the right amount of ingredients, how to pack everything efficiently, how to get licensing in place, how to budget a kitchen alone. I had no idea what I was doing in half these areas.

The temptation is to feel discouraged. But here's what I learned: you don't have to be great at everything and it can be a joy to accept that. You just need to reinvest every bit of profit back into getting help in the areas where you're weak.

Every dollar I made went back into the business. First it was plates. Then silverware. Then napkins. Then hiring my friends to help me with events. Little by little, I started building the infrastructure that would let me focus on what I actually do best.

You Can't Be EverywherE

That also brings me to the next difficulty. This one took me longer to learn than it should have.

I love cooking. It's my favorite part of the business. But as Vendador grew, I realized I couldn't be at every event, cooking every dish, managing every detail. I had to trust that I'd selected and trained my team properly so I could focus on the activities that bring us the business we need.

That's uncomfortable. It means letting go of control. It means trusting people to represent your standards when you're not in the room.

Stop Worrying About Profits (At First)

It's not about making money. It's about creating a better client experience so that people keep referring you, so they keep telling everyone about you. The best compliment any client can give you is a referral. That’s how profits can come. And that only happens if you obsess about their experience. This is our core focus no matter what.

Life is about service and community. The more value you bring to the people around you, the more you'll be rewarded for it.

I don’t ask "how much profit did I make?" I ask "did they have an incredible evening? Would they tell their friends about this?" That's the metric that actually matters.

Operations are Harder than Cooking

People don't realize this, but working in restaurant kitchens for 12, 14, 16 hours a day is not how you learn to run a private dining business.

You can learn inventory management. Ordering. Timing. Accountability. Taking ownership of your station. Knowing which tasks to start at what time and being so proficient that it becomes second nature. That’s the easy part.

When cooking is second nature, that’s when you can take on the operations required to run other aspects of the business. My kitchen runs smoothly because of my restaurant experience, my business runs smoothly because I forced myself to read books, take classes, ask mentors and learn to work from a computer for long hours at a time all while patiently going back and forth to City Hall for licenses, permits, new IDs, etc.

Why I'm Telling You This

If you're thinking about starting a private dining business, I want you to know what you're getting into. It's not just beautiful plated dinners and happy clients that you see on social media, though those things are real and deeply rewarding and the reason I am excited to get out of bed everyday.

It's also wearing every hat and saving every penny until you can afford to hire someone who can do it better than you.

But if you're willing to dive all in, if you care more about creating value for people than about protecting your ego, it's also one of the most fulfilling things you can build!

I wasn't really sure this is what I wanted to do when I started. But when I began to see some signs of success, I said: let me just dive all in on this and see where it takes me.

I've been on that journey ever since.