Starting your own catering business can be a fun and rewarding experience, both personally as well as financially. When you are cooking at home for your family, or friends, and they love the different kinds of food that you can come up with, you may want to try your hand at catering. Before you do, there are some things that you need to think about, so that if you decide this is the right course of action, your business flourishes. Some of these are personal, and other have to be taken from a professional standpoint.

While catering can be rewarding, there are a lot of aspects that can be extremely stressful. If your business is popular, then you will have many different orders, events to plan and prepare for, and different menus. There will be deadlines that have to be met, and all of this can mean that you may be spending a lot of time away from your family, and have a lot of stress in your life. Even though your friends and family may like your cooking, this doesn’t mean everyone will, and you may have to deal with customers that are rude to you or have demands that you may not be accustomed too. There may be dishes requested that you aren’t familiar with, and you have to be able to deal with all of these aspects and more, so you need to be prepared.

Then there is the business aspects of starting your own catering business. There is capitol funds for buying extra equipment, a vehicle, hiring employees, and many other costs. There is licenses, insurance, and taxes. In addition to this, you are going to have to have a health inspector come in and sign off on your facilities. There is the process of setting up business plans, and this in itself is not easy task. You have to be able to come up with a plan that is attractive to people who you go to for funds, showing the whys and hows of your business. One of these is why people would come to your for catering, how you are going to make money, and show a profit.

In addition to all of this, depending on where you live, you may have a lot of competition, so you need to come up with ways to put yourself above other people who are also in the catering business. This means advertising, incentives for using your business above all the rest, and the what you are going to charge customers that will attract them to you, but still be able to show a profit.

You are also going to be in charge of hiring and firing employees, making sure your staff is motivated and doing their jobs well, making deliveries on time, and dealing with your customers in a polite manner. You have to be in charge, and be careful about who you are hiring, and not let your personal feeling interfere with this. You may have to fire someone you care about, and you have to be able to do this in order to keep your business going. That is why many people try to steer clear of hiring friends and family.

Now this isn’t to put a damper on your hopes and dreams. There are millions of people who start their own businesses every day, including catering businesses. Many of these people go on to be so successful that they expand to bigger facilities, and some even have the opportunity to sell their businesses for top dollar and use the capitol to start new ones. Letting you know all of the stresses and different duties and responsibilities is only because if you want to succeed, then you have to be aware of all of this. Otherwise, you are going to jump into starting a business without a full understanding, and you may not have the success you so well deserve.

If after reading all of this you are still excited about starting your own catering business, great. In fact, there are many different resources that can actually help you succeed. There are plenty of grants and government loans that can help you get the start up capitol you are going to need. There are websites, that can help you set up the right business plans, where to look for extra money, how to write a plan that will get noticed, as well as many other helpful tips and information you will need.

If you live in the home as a primary residence for less than two years, you might still be able to avoid taxes through reduced gain exclusion.  The reduced exclusion is based upon an Internal Revenue Service equation that uses the amount of time you actually resided in the home as your primary residence as the numerator and the denominator is the two required years.  By using this formula you calculate the exact amount of the gain exclusion.  You qualify for the exclusion if you can prove that the premature sale took place because of health problems, a change in employment status, or extenuating circumstances beyond your control.

If you state health as the reason for the premature sale, you must be moving in order to procure treatment or a cure for a disease, or to seek other medical care.  The qualified individual must be someone who resides within the home as his or her primary residence.  If you have a doctor’s validation of the health circumstances, the exclusion is usually granted immediately.

If employment is cited as the cause for the premature sale, you must have to move at least fifty miles away from the residence in question.  There are no exceptions to this rule.  You can try, but if you are not moving at least fifty miles away, chances are the exclusion will not be granted under these conditions.

If you claim unforeseen circumstances as the cause for the premature sale, your reasons could vary widely.  Death and divorce qualify as unforeseen circumstances.  A natural or man-made disaster would qualify under unforeseen circumstances.  If something intense happened that forced you to sell your home, the chances are good that you qualify under unforeseen circumstances.  The qualifying individual under unforeseen circumstances is anyone who resided in the home as their primary residence.

If you use your home as a business or rental property, the entire house qualifies for the exclusion gain.  Only if your gain was attributed to depreciation deductions before May, 1977 would you have to pay tax.  Remember, as well, that the rental property or business must have been within the primary residence in order to qualify.

If you are selling your home for a substantial profit, it is highly recommended that you consult with a real estate or tax expert in order to fully understand how the capital gains exclusions apply to your particular situation.  A home is usually a taxpayer’s largest investment and you cannot afford to make any critical tax errors when it comes to capital gains from the sale of your primary residence.  The wrong decision could have you in a lot of trouble with the Internal Revenue Service or cost you thousands of dollars in income.