How to Grow a Catering Business

Ensuring that your catering business is constantly growing is an essential part of running a company. No matter what type of food outlet you’re running, keeping a close eye on your cash flow and pleasing customers is no small task. There are many factors that contribute to your overall growth, all of which need to be addressed within your business plan. After all, when it comes to restaurant dining, customers are unforgiving.

If your business fails to make a flawless first impression or generate an appealing atmosphere, your customers will likely take their business elsewhere. Undoubtedly, this will prove detrimental to your business’s long-term growth, causing you to miss vital opportunities and lose ground in your local area. Don’t let your catering business’s growth come to an abrupt halt. If you’re looking to start a new project or are having issues regarding your cash flow, all is not lost. With our expertise and in-depth knowledge of the catering industry, Rangewell can help source the perfect funding solution for your business, including Growth finance, Asset finance, Merchant Cash Advances and much more.

Growth Finance

Essential for expanding your catering business and gaining a foothold both locally and further afield, growth finance is excellent for funding projects that can stimulate growth in your business. Offered as a fully-customisable loan solution, it bestows upon your business the capital necessary to undertake essential expansion projects in full confidence. Just some of the potential projects your business can undertake include IT installation and updates to decor and furniture. It could even be used for supporting your business during periods of low revenue.

Asset Finance

Having the right equipment for your ingredients is vital for harnessing a full flavour sensation within every dish you serve. Whether it’s utensils, multi-fuel cookers, fridges, fryers, extractors and so on, with asset finance your business needn’t compromise on quality. Asset finance allows you to acquire precisely what you need when you need it most. Host to a rich blend of loans, leasing and hire purchase solutions, asset finance is an ideal acquisition method favoured among many SME businesses.

• Leasing

Leasing allows you to borrow equipment for a fixed period of time without experiencing the burdens that come with ownership. It allows your business to gain everything it needs for creating unique dishes and beverages in exchange for manageable monthly payments. Once the leasing term has expired you can either return the asset, extend the leasing term or present a buyer.

• Hire Purchase

Securing the equipment you need can be expensive, especially when bought in bulk. On your own, it may require you to hand over large chunks of your capital, capital you’ll need as your business continues to grow. If you’re seeking to purchase equipment but don’t want to lose this essential capital, there is a solution available.

With Hire Purchase, you’ll need to pay a lump sum in the region 10% of the asset’s total worth before you can begin using the equipment. From here on, you’ll then make monthly payments plus interest. Once the final payment has been made ownership of the asset passes on to you.

• Loan

With a loan, you can borrow from £5,000 to as much as £1,000,000, and it comes either secured or unsecured. Secured loans boost the lender’s confidence to offer you larger sums by using personal assets such as your home and equipment. If a business fails to repay the loan, the lender can seize the assets to recover costs.

Meanwhile, unsecured loans aren’t secured using assets, but instead, require you to express a commitment to repay the loan in due course. You’ll also need to demonstrate, in detail, your business’s ability to afford the monthly repayments.

Merchant Cash Advance

Merchant Cash Advance (MCA) is another means of supporting your business, offering you a safety net when in the midst of low revenue periods. This means of finance requires your business to offer card payment options to your customers, such as Chip ‘n’ Pin, and for you to present your latest sales reports for two or more consecutive months. This solution offers you a sum ranging from £5,000 to £100,000, which you’ll begin repaying when you expect to receive more business again. When repaying your MCA you have two options available to you, which you’ll need to decide upon before entering an agreement. These are fixed monthly repayments and percentage of your future monthly card sales.

• Fixed Monthly Repayment: By using this repayment method you’ll be agreeing to make fixed payments each month.
• Percentage of your future monthly card sales: However, with this method, you’ll be making monthly payments based upon your card sales. So if you experience a boost in card sales, you’ll pay more for that month and vice versa.

At Rangewell, our values are simple – we’re on your side. We support a wide range of SME businesses of every shape and size, for finding every type of finance. Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn for business tips and tricks, and feel free to call us on 0203 637 2340 if you’d like to chat about what we can do for you.