I help passionate cooks start successful a personal chef business so they can get paid to do what they love *cook* without spending thousands on culinary school or sacrificing every night/weekend/holidays to restaurant work or catering.
New video published every week with tips, how to, info, and more to help you decide if starting a personal chef business is the right path for you.
Get your Free guide How To Do A Weekly Meal Prep Service for a paying client here: www.chefshelley.co/how-to-do-weekly-meal-prep-services-yt
Hey chef Shelley, I’m going to start meal prepping for myself like I would a client to really get some practice in… and I was thinking on my Instagram page to make those story highlights on my page labeled “Meal Prep” or something and just have pictures of all the wonderful foods I made for myself to showcase my skills I guess then when I’m ready to start my business and start meeting people and telling them about my business, I can send them over to my Instagram or something… you think that’s a wise idea? Soon I am getting your program so I’m sure you have modules on how to show your skills to potential clients and such. Just curious if it’s a waste of time.
What if the client and their small kids are home? My personal chef friend said he had the kids coming into the kitchen a lot to show him their toys. While cute it sounds disruptive and potentially unsafe if you have hot things on the stove. Have you ever had that happen? How do you set the boundaries with a client like this?
@@Nourished_in_Style you said the answer; you set boundaries with the client. If they keep doing something you think is disruptive and unsafe then you get to decide whether to let them go.
I contacted a charity event and donated a one time service as a silent auction entry. I then bought a ticket to the event and placed a business card holder with my business cards next to my donated service. It sold very high so I was pleased to help with that charity and was able to deduct it and my ticket on my taxes. But most importantly I got 7 regular clients from people who picked up my business card. It was that easy. I chose to take the tax deduction instead of using funds from my advertising budget.
I want to do a creperie but start from home because renting a kitchen is just too much for me. I’m not even cooking just adding fruits to crepes. Can I get my home kitchen permitted with a fridge, 3 basin sink, and prep table. That’s literally all I need.
The best advice is do not try to be better than anyone else, go for your best, try to be better than you were last service. Sadly you and I both know my Family is terrified of me being a Personal Chef to suit their own selfish needs, now if I cared, would I be here typing this? 😅
In addition to the meal plan app I use, I write down what I’m cooking for the client and put a number of what I’m doing first before I go to their house.
I’ve never used a pressure cooker cause I was raised on “low and slow” but for personal meal prep seems like that will be best, so I need to get one and practice !
Really hope this program is still available in 2026 because by then(hopefully sooner) I’ll have my cooking fundamentals down and some self development and ready to start this personal chef journey! Thank you Shelley… I’m over here working as a line cook at a deli restaurant(slightly miserable) and I finally feel like I have purpose now and hope
I have many recipes on documents on my computer hard drive. How do I add them to my "Copy me that" without recopying them? Can I down load or scan the document ?
I'm in the process of learning how to open my own takeout business from home (I'm in California) and I'm thinking about the personal chef route. it would be a huge drop in income from my career as a technical writer, but it beats unemployment and at least I'd be doing something that I love. Something to consider.
Things to consider: Doing takeout from home is very different from personal chef services. Making a decent profit with takeout is based on volume because you’re selling food. With personal chef services, you’re working 1-on-1 with a client and cooking just for them so it’s a premium service which has a much higher price. Just depends on what your goals are as far as how much you want to work, market, and make.
@@ChefShelleyB You're totally right, but everything you've talked about, especially the marketing, applies to takeout. My biggest problem is getting clients, but maybe I need to network more. Trouble is, I'm not sure exactly who to talk to.
I know for home takeout businesses they put a cap on how much you’re allowed to make before you need to go to leasing at commercial kitchen. And of course, I don’t know how much you’re making as a technical writer. But I do know that if you are doing full-time personal chef services and catering, you can make well over six figures. Something to consider.
I really want to become a private chef; I was wondering if you think going to culinary school abroad would be worth it. I want something different, but I am scared that my certification wouldn't get anywhere and I don't want to waste a ton of money and it not get me anywhere? Any advice would be appreciated.
My expertise is not being a private chef nor going overseas nor doing culinary school sorry! If you decide you want to start a personal chef business in the US there’s a ton of info here to help you!
The cold calling part😂 I loved the sense of humor. Just starting this and it seems to hard to find great professionals on RU-vid to research from. Thank you for precious tips🙏🏼 and keep on succeeding more and more!
You don't have to pay for an LLC every year. Whether you need a business license at all depends on where you live check with city/county. You can do anything you want, just depends on if you're will to take the consequences if there are any.
I’ve seen some bigger chefs and famous online cooks have events where people buy tickets to go and they serve their food, have you seen that? What you think about that?
What do I think about that for personal chefs? You get to setup your business and do whatever services you choose to do. I'm sure it's very easy for bigger/famous chefs to sell out an event because they have an audience to sell to. That would be challenging for someone who's just starting out. Lots to take into consideration
Great tips I’m a well season Chef. Quick question Chef to Chef. How much would you charge per week three dishes a week those dishes perfectly be portioned out for seven days.
Hey Chef Shelley!! What if I were to offer meal prep at the full price rate. But every 2-3 guaranteed referrals they bring me I offer them a discounted week for their loyalty??
Your clients should give you referrals because you’re awesome. You can do a referral reward program just make sure you’re clear about how many cook days the new client pays for before the referrer gets the reward etc.
Do you mean work for a biz that sends out personal chefs? For me it’s worth a little bit of paperwork to get 100% of the profit. From what I’ve seen, they don’t pay very much.
@@ChefShelleyB thanks for the advice. I think I probably will go in that direction but I was hoping to fast track the process. I’ll just have to do a bit more digging
Thank you for the motivation! I’ve had “normal” people tell me no one will pay that… no YOU won’t pay that, I’m offering a luxury service and there ARE people who WILL ! 🎉
