Catering Business Plan (Hearthside Catering LLC)

Executive Summary

Hearthside Catering LLC is a small, owner-operated off-site catering business based in Austin, Texas. Laura and Michael Bennett founded the company to serve planned events between limited guests, operating out of a shared licensed commercial kitchen at 1480 Industrial Way, Unit B, Austin, TX 78758.

The business is structured as a multi-member LLC with both owners holding equal 50% stakes and working full-time in the business from day one.

The Opportunity

Both Laura and Michael spent years working in Austin’s food and events industry before starting Hearthside. What they kept running into was a consistent gap: small businesses, nonprofits, and families planning mid-sized events had limited access to reliable, affordable catering that didn’t come with the minimums and overhead of a large-format operation.

The bigger caterers in Austin are built around weddings and corporate galas. The smaller operators often lack the consistency clients need to book them repeatedly. Hearthside is built specifically for the space in between.

Services and Business Model

Hearthside takes bookings for planned events across Austin, handling everything from a 25-person office lunch to a 150-guest nonprofit fundraiser. There are three ways clients can work with them:

• Drop-off catering for meetings and office events
• Buffet-style catering for larger group functions, and
• Plated meals for smaller gatherings.

Pricing is pretty straightforward. Clients pay between $22 and $38 per guest, depending on the format and what’s on the menu. The business does not serve alcohol. Since all events are planned in advance, same-day bookings are not accepted

Every booking follows the same process. Guest count, menu, service format, and price are all locked in before Laura starts prepping a single dish or Michael schedules a single staff member. It’s how Hearthside keeps food quality consistent and events running without last-minute chaos. Since everything is planned in advance, same-day bookings aren’t something the business takes on.

Target Market

Hearthside’s primary clients are corporate offices, nonprofit organizations, and families in the Austin area planning events that fall within a predictable scope. Austin has over 40,000 small businesses and 563 corporate offices, with the corporate base growing steadily through recent relocations.

Travis County’s nonprofit sector runs predictable annual calendars of fundraisers and community events. These clients book repeatedly once they find a caterer they trust, which is the foundation on which the revenue model is built.

Funding Request

Hearthside Catering is asking for a $35,000 small business loan from PNC Bank, N.A. Laura and Michael are contributing $15,000 from personal savings, bringing the total startup capital to $50,000.

The money will cover:

• Catering equipment and small tools
• Starting inventory of food and supplies
• Deposit and prepaid rent for the commercial kitchen
• Licenses, permits, and insurance
• Initial marketing
• Vehicle setup and cash for day-to-day expenses

Financial Highlights

Year 1 net income is modest relative to Years 2 and 3, reflecting the one-time startup costs and the time it takes to build a reliable booking base.

Business Overview

Location and Legal Structure

Hearthside Catering is located at 1480 Industrial Way, Unit B, Austin, Texas 78758. The business operates from a shared, licensed commercial kitchen. This kitchen provides approved cooking space and basic equipment needed for food preparation.

Using a shared kitchen allows the business to serve events across the Austin area without the cost of building or renting a private kitchen. This helps keep startup and operating costs lower and makes it easier to get started.

The business is set up as a multi-member Limited Liability Company (LLC). This structure helps protect the owners’ personal assets and allows profits to be shared between the owners.

Ownership

Hearthside Catering is owned equally by Laura Bennett and Michael Bennett, each holding a 50% membership interest in the LLC. Both are full-time working owners with no outside investors or silent partners involved in the business.

• Laura Bennett

Laura handles everything in the kitchen: menu planning, ingredient sourcing, prep scheduling, and food safety through to service. Her background is in professional kitchen operations, and that experience is what keeps food quality consistent across every booking.

• Michael Bennet

Michael manages the operational side of the business: client inquiries, event logistics, staffing, on-site setup, and day-to-day administration. He comes from a background in operations and client coordination for small service businesses, which is reflected in how the booking process is structured.

Both owners are hands-on at every event. That direct involvement is a deliberate part of how Hearthside operates and a level of accountability that larger catering operations can’t match at this price point.

Business Model

Hearthside Catering provides off-site catering for planned events. Clients book events in advance and confirm menus and guest counts before the event date. Pricing is charged per person and depends on the type of service selected.

We offer:

• Buffet-style meals
• Plated meals for smaller events
• Drop-off meals for meetings and office events

Clients can choose between food preparation only or food preparation with delivery and on-site setup. Hearthside doesn’t operate a restaurant, food truck, meal service, or serve alcohol. And, events are capped at 150 guests at launch.

Clients pay a deposit at the time of booking. The remaining balance is due before or on the event date. Revenue is recorded after the event is completed.

Business Goals

Hearthside Catering’s goals are focused on stability and controlled operations:

• Reach 96 events in Year 1 and grow to 180 annual events by Year 3
• Achieve break-even operations within the first year of launch
• Build a repeat client base across corporate offices, nonprofits, and private events in Austin
• Keep food costs at or below 35% of revenue through consistent menu management and batch preparation
• Retire the PNC Bank loan balance down to $15,780 by the end of Year 3
• Maintain direct owner involvement in every event without taking on full-time staff beyond Laura and Michael in the first two years

The business is designed to grow through steady bookings and careful capacity management rather than rapid expansion.

Market Analysis

Laura and Michael have both worked in the city’s food and events space long enough to notice something consistent: the clients who needed catering most reliably (offices, nonprofits, families planning mid-sized gatherings) were also the ones who had the hardest time finding someone who would actually take their booking seriously. That observation is what Hearthside is built around, and the local market data backs it up.

Austin’s Local Business and Event Landscape

1) Small Businesses

(Source: U.S. Small Business Administration)

Austin has over 40,000 small businesses operating across the city, and the corporate base is just keeping on growing. For instance, companies like SpaceX, NinjaOne, and NXP Semiconductors just expanded their Austin presence in 2025.

A blossoming small business ecosystem means recurring needs for office gatherings, training sessions, and team events throughout the year.

2) Corporate Offices

The corporate presence adds significantly to that base. Austin currently has 563 corporate offices, with the footprint growing steadily through 2025 relocations.

SpaceX added 400 jobs, NinjaOne brought 300 positions, and NXP Semiconductors expanded with 18 new roles.

Peerspace booking data from Austin shows over 32,000 guests reserving corporate event spaces citywide, with an average of 49 attendees per event across roughly 5-hour sessions, mostly in the evenings.

That average attendance sits right in the middle of Hearthside’s 25 to 150 guest range, and the frequency of those bookings points to a client base that needs catering on a regular schedule rather than once a year.

3) Non-Profits

The nonprofit sector adds another layer. Travis County organizations have received close to $2 billion in recent city funding, and those organizations run predictable annual calendars of fundraisers, board dinners, and community events.

Michael dealt with nonprofit clients directly in his previous work and noted they’re among the most reliable repeat bookers when they find a caterer who understands their budget constraints and doesn’t treat a 60-person fundraiser like a low-priority job.

Event Frequency and Demand Patterns

What Laura noticed, running kitchen operations for events, was that the busiest periods weren’t the obvious ones. They’re during Spring and Fall. They bring the corporate peaks with conferences, planning retreats, and quarter-end meetings.

But the calendar stays full between those windows with recurring office lunches, nonprofit meetings, and weekend family celebrations. Venue booking data from Austin confirms this pattern: corporate events average around 49 attendees, squarely within Hearthside’s service range, and they book consistently rather than clustering around a single season.

That consistency matters for how Hearthside is financially structured. A business built around predictable recurring bookings from offices and nonprofits is more stable than other seasonal ones.

The Local Market Gap

Austin’s culinary sector contributes an estimated $9.6 billion to the local economy. The catering segment within that is active; over 239 catering-related positions were posted locally in a recent period, but the growth hasn’t translated into better options for mid-sized planned events at accessible price points.

Laura put it plainly while planning the business: the clients she kept hearing from weren’t looking for a showpiece caterer. They wanted someone who would show up with good food, handle the logistics without drama, and be available to book again next quarter.

The larger Austin caterers focus on weddings and large corporate events because their overhead requires higher-margin bookings. Smaller operators may take these jobs, but they often lack consistent processes, staffing, and pricing, which makes repeat bookings uncertain.

Hearthside is structured specifically for this middle client segment, and its operating model is steady enough to deliver reliable, repeatable service.

Competitive Analysis

Hearthside Catering operates in a local market with a mix of restaurant-affiliated caterers, independent event caterers, and office-focused drop-off providers. The competitors below represent the most relevant alternatives for clients seeking catering services in Austin.

Competitive Positioning

While there are ample catering service providers in Austin, most of them aren’t actually built for the kind of work Heathside does.

The larger names like Austin Catering, Contigo, and Urban Cowboy are strong operators, but their businesses are structured around weddings, large corporate events, and high-ticket social functions. They aren’t optimized for a 40-person office luncheon or a nonprofit board dinner.

The Peached Tortilla sits closer in size but leans heavily into weddings and upscale social events, with creative menus that come with premium pricing to match. That’s a different client entirely.

Hearthside sits in the space these businesses don’t really compete for. Events between 25 and 150 guests, clients who need reliable food and clear pricing without the overhead of a full-service operation. Corporate offices, nonprofits, families planning a celebration that doesn’t need wedding-scale logistics.

The owner-operated model is yet another plus point. Laura and Michael handle every booking directly. There’s no handoff to junior staff or account managers. That consistency is difficult for larger operations to match at this price point, and it’s what keeps clients coming back.

Catering Services

Hearthside Catering prepares food for planned events in a shared licensed commercial kitchen and delivers it to the event or sets up on-site based on what the client needs. The business handles small to mid-sized bookings only (no restaurant service, food trucks, or daily meal programs). Every booking has a fixed menu, confirmed guest count, and set price before anything goes into production.

Catering Services Offered

The company offers three core catering formats that cover the most common needs of its target clients.

1) Drop-Off Catering

Drop-off catering is designed for office meetings, trainings, and small events where food is delivered ready to serve and no on-site service is required.

2) Buffet-Style Catering

Buffet-style catering is suited for nonprofit events, family gatherings, and group functions where guests serve themselves.

3) Plated Meals

Plated meals are offered only for smaller events that require individually portioned meals.

Menu Structure

Hearthside Catering uses a fixed menu to keep food preparation simple and costs low. We do not create new menus for every event. Instead, we use the same menu sections for different kinds of events.

The menu includes appetizers, boxed lunches, hot entrées, side dishes, and desserts. Each section has only a few items that can be prepared in larger batches. This makes planning easier, reduces waste, and helps keep prices stable.

Menus are locked in before an event is confirmed. After that, changes are limited, so food ordering, preparation time, and scheduling stay on track.

Service Levels

Clients select one service level at the time of booking. Each level defines the scope of work and is used to price the event accurately.

Service Boundaries

Hearthside keeps its service scope intentionally narrow. The business handles planned events only, with a guest cap of 150 at launch. Alcohol service, same-day bookings, and daily meal subscriptions are outside what the business offers. These limits aren’t arbitrary; they exist to protect food quality and keep operations consistent across every event the business takes on.

Marketing and Sales Strategy

Hearthside Catering focuses on repeat bookings rather than chasing a high volume of new leads. The business puts $4,000 into a one-time marketing launch covering the website, branding, and initial local outreach. After that, marketing stays lean and targeted. The goal is straightforward: make it easy for the right clients to find the business and book with confidence.

Primary Client Acquisition Channels

Hearthside Catering receives qualified event inquiries and bookings through three main channels: its website and online listings, referrals from local event planners, and direct outreach to Austin-based corporate offices as well as nonprofit organizations. These sources typically generate inquiries for events between 25 and 150 guests.

All inquiries from these channels follow the same review and booking process to confirm fit before acceptance.

Secondary Marketing Channels

Hearthside Catering uses a small number of secondary channels to support visibility and relationships, not to drive large volumes of inquiries.

These channels help maintain steady awareness and trust while staying aligned with the business’s event size, service limits, and booking approach.

Sales Process and Booking Flow

Each booking follows a structured sales process:

This process makes sure every booking is properly scoped before any kitchen time or staffing is committed. Once the guest count, menu, and service level are confirmed and the quote is accepted, pricing is locked, and production planning begins. No prep work starts on an unconfirmed event.

Repeat Business and Retention

The business focuses on repeat bookings. Office clients, nonprofits, and event planners tend to return when service is reliable, communication is clear, and pricing stays the same. After each event, the business checks in with clients to keep in contact and support future bookings.

Operations Plan

Hearthside runs entirely around confirmed bookings. There are no fixed daily office hours, though the owners are generally reachable Monday through Friday for inquiries, quotes, and event planning. Kitchen access and staff scheduling are arranged based on what’s booked, which keeps labor and overhead tied directly to actual event volume rather than fixed weekly commitments.

Operating Schedule

Operations follow a variable schedule based on booked events. Food preparation and event execution may take place on weekdays or weekends, depending on client needs and event timing.

Scheduling approach:

• Food preparation may begin one to two days before an event, depending on menu complexity
• Delivery and on-site setup are scheduled within fixed time windows
• Non-event days are used for menu planning, supplier coordination, equipment checks, and client communication

This structure allows the business to avoid idle labor and unused kitchen time while remaining responsive to event demand.

Workflow and Event Execution

Each catering engagement follows a consistent workflow to ensure accuracy and cost control.

Event workflow

The event workflow outlines the step-by-step process used to manage each booking from initial inquiry through event completion.

This process ensures pricing, scope, and timelines are locked before production begins.

Kitchen Usage and Production Setup

The catering operates from a shared, licensed commercial kitchen at 1480 Industrial Way, Unit B, Austin, TX 78758. Kitchen access is maintained through a monthly agreement that covers scheduled prep time based on confirmed events.

The facility provides commercial ovens, ranges, and refrigeration. Hearthside owns its service equipment separately, which includes chafing dishes, transport containers, prep tools, food carriers, and coolers.

Kitchen time is reserved only after events are confirmed. This approach keeps fixed overhead low and allows production capacity to scale with demand.

Licensing, Compliance, and Food Safety

Hearthside Catering holds all required state and city food service permits and operates only from approved, licensed kitchen spaces. Health department approval for kitchen use is kept current at all times.

Food safety is handled through food handler certifications for owners and staff, clean practices during food preparation and service, and proper temperature control during storage and delivery. The business also carries general liability and product liability insurance to help protect daily operations.

Staffing and Labor Management

Hearthside Catering runs on a two-owner model. Laura handles all culinary work, like menu planning, kitchen prep, and food safety, through to service. Whereas, Michael covers the operational side: client coordination, logistics, staffing, and on-site setup. Both owners are hands-on at every event.

For larger bookings that need extra help, the business brings in part-time prep assistants and event servers on a per-event basis. There aren’t any guaranteed hours; they’re scheduled only once an event is confirmed, and the guest count is set. At launch, there are no full-time employees beyond the owners. The Labor scales with the booked events, not the other way around.

In short, the business operates under a working-owner model and heavily relies on founders to handle day-to-day duties.

Financial plan

This financial plan outlines the startup costs, operating expenses, and funding needs for Hearthside Catering. The projections are based on an off-premise, event-based catering model with controlled event volume and no restaurant operations. Costs are structured to scale with confirmed bookings rather than fixed daily operations. The plan focuses on cost control, cash management, and steady operating stability rather than aggressive growth assumptions.

Startup Costs

Source of Funds

• Small Business Term Loan: $35,000
• Owner equity contribution: $15,000 combined
• Total startup capital: $50,000

Financial Assumptions

Income Statement (P&L)

For the purpose of this financial model, rent is held constant at $2,200/month to simplify the example. In a real-world scenario, as revenue grows from $161k to $345k, an operator should anticipate ‘stepped’ rent increases or higher hourly usage fees at a shared kitchen to accommodate increased prep time and storage needs.

In this plan, we show the money that actually hits the bank account. In the real world, when a customer pays a $1,000 bill with a credit card, the bank usually keeps about $30 (3%) as a processing fee. We have subtracted these fees from our total sales for simplicity, but as you grow, you should always remember that the bank takes a small ‘slice’ of every card payment.

Cash Flow Statement

Opening balance sheet at Launch

Balance Sheet

Break-even Analysis