What stage of the personal chef business are you in?

What stage of your personal chef business are you in?

Sometimes you’re in two stages at once or may choose to stay in one stage forever.

The three stages of business

• Startup
• Monetization
• Scale

You're likely currently in the start-up phase where you’re taking the time to invest in yourself and understand how to become an entrepreneur in your new personal chef business.

The monetization stage is when you’re making a profit and learning the most effective ways to market your particular business model to which your community responds. 

At stage three, you’re ready to expand into new opportunities to add to your personal chef business. You may consider franchising or certifying others to become personal chefs under your brand. 

Stage 1: Startup 

When in the startup stage, it’s easy to get stuck perfecting your logo or website when you should be concentrating on getting new clients.

The other imperfection of this stage is comparing yourself to other personal chefs who have been in business for years. It’s important to remember that they were new in the business at one point as well. Everyone has a first day in business and everyone has to start somewhere.

In the start-up stage, you're developing your services and figuring out who you brand is going to be. At this stage, you’re still trying to make your very first sale so you can validate your new business. Instead of over thinking and over planning, what if you got yourself out there in the marketplace to find out who in your community is interested in your services.

Initially, you have an idea of what you'd like your business to look like, but may not be entirely sure who your target market will be, so you’re making the mistake of targeting everyone. You may be trying out different types of advertising and marketing to see what works, what people are willing to pay for, and how you can meet their needs. Learn more about marketing here >>

It’s not uncommon to offer multiple services to see what the market likes best and often times, it’s not what you think it’s going to be. You’re still trying to find the intersection of what you offer and what potential clients are willing to pay for.

The biggest challenge is that there is no predicable revenue. It’s also hard to know what to focus on. It’s easy to get distracted by busy work like social media posting, creating beautiful images, focusing on creating a gorgeous website, logo and copy. That is busy work. 

It’s recommended to set up your website and brand, but not spend too much time on it. You’re going to be changing a lot as you grow, since you’re still learning. Focus on just in time learning and don’t over-research. Just do what you need to research for right now, not what may be needed in the future.

Stage 2: Monetization Stage

It’s possible to be in the startup and monetization phase at the same time. The monetization stage is when you’re finally making a profit. You’re gaining social proof and testimonials.

In this stage, the most important point of concentration is discipline and developing habits as an entrepreneur. You're still figuring out your business model and haven’t been in business long enough to figure out the seasonality of your business.

You can be perfecting your elevator pitch and streamlining your offer while focusing on the services that generate the most income for your business. It’s the time to organize your business into systems to save time. You're setting your business vision and goals.

Once you’ve made a few sales, you've learned who to target for future sales. You're figuring out your niche and what makes your cooking or technique special.

You're starting to see recurring revenue. You've figured out how to reach potential clients and how to have them hire you. You have referrals coming in. You're growing to a place where you may be beginning to max out your schedule. Learn more about the comprehensive personal chef business program here that can help with just that >>

Most personal chefs stay in this stage, but if you're an ambitious personality, you may be thinking "what's next". You know that in order to create even more revenue, you’re going to have to free up time, so you begin considering hiring assistants to help out. 

At this stage, you may be tempted to rebrand, but that would be creating even more work. This is the time to minimize new projects and instead continue networking. Focus on profit.

Stage 3: Scale Stage

In this stage, demand exceeds your time. Your current revenue is predictable and you’re ready to add new streams of income. You're well known in your community.

As a growing business in the expansion stage, you’re on the lookout for additional networking opportunities while systematizing your business and improving your craft.

This is the time to think about what your goals are in business.

• Do you want more income?
• Would you like to improve your cooking skills?
• Do you want more free time?

You could begin offering additional services. You could franchise or sell your business.

It’s time to really own that you're the CEO of your business and you're ready to hire people. This is the time to build a database of processes and training videos. This is also the time to build a savings account for operating expenses. 

Your business is always growing and evolving.

Your business is always growing, learning and evolving. You may start off specializing in one thing and later change your specialty. Social networking and methods for getting new leads will always be changing as well. To continue being a successful business, you must adapt while not leaving your values and mission of your business.

So, what stage are you currently in with your personal chef business? What stage would you like to be in? Have you created a plan to reach that goal? Learn more about business planning here >>

Best Wishes & Much Success to You, Virginia Stockwell

Check out all the ways to accelerate your personal chef business here >>