How to Start a Catering Business in Nigeria

Start with a menu and event size you can produce consistently. Office lunches for 20 people, small birthday trays, or one standard meal package are easier to test than advertising weddings, corporate events, buffets, cakes, and daily delivery all at once.

Define who the offer is for, what is included, the minimum or maximum quantity, and the normal ordering lead time.

Measure ingredients and expected yield instead of cooking entirely from memory. Standard portions make cost, purchasing, quality, and customer expectations easier to control.

Record the cooked yield and waste from a test batch so you know how many real portions the recipe produces.

Think through sourcing, storage, preparation, cooking, holding, packaging, transport, and serving. The exact requirements depend on the food, premises, location, and current rules, so verify what applies to your operation.

Do not accept an event size that forces unsafe storage, rushed preparation, or transport conditions you cannot control.

Include ingredients, cooking fuel and power, water, packaging, labour, kitchen overhead, transport, waste, and a contingency. Use current ingredient prices and measured yields.

An illustrative 20-person lunch might use ₦45,000 ingredients, ₦8,000 packaging, ₦6,000 utilities, ₦12,000 labour, and ₦9,000 delivery and contingency for an ₦80,000 cost base. Those are example numbers, not a recommended market price.

Set the package price from the cost base and the profit the business needs, then define what changes the price: guest count, premium ingredients, serving staff, equipment hire, special dietary requirements, distant delivery, or rush timing.

Do not absorb every late customer change. Use a quotation for custom events and confirm changes before purchasing extra ingredients.

If you need to buy ingredients before the event, decide what deposit or payment milestone confirms the booking. Tell the customer what the payment secures, when the balance is due, and how cancellation or significant changes are handled.

Verify payment independently before marking the booking paid or issuing a receipt.

Before accepting a large event, test the menu at a smaller quantity and time every stage from purchasing to delivery. Record yield, waste, packaging failures, staff requirements, customer feedback, and delivery timing.

Use the results to improve the package and determine the largest event size you can currently handle reliably.

Use accurate photos of food you prepared or images you are entitled to use. Show portion size and package details clearly enough that customers know what they are ordering.

Referrals, office contacts, event planners, WhatsApp, local communities, and repeat customers can be useful channels. Do not use fake testimonials or unrelated food photos.

For every order, confirm customer, date, venue, contact person, guest count, menu, quantity, allergy or dietary information when relevant, payment status, transport plan, equipment, and delivery or serving time.

A checklist reduces the risk that one forgotten detail ruins an otherwise profitable event.

Save standard packages in Catalogue, create custom quotations for event-specific scope, issue invoices when money is due, record verified payments and receipts, and capture ingredient, transport, staffing, and other business expenses.

Review the actual event margin after delivery. High revenue can hide weak profit when waste, transport, and labour are not recorded.