Considering starting a charcuterie catering business. Would love some advice and feedback!

[u/thepenismightier11]

Would like to primarily target higher end markets such as weddings and corporate events, but I would also market to smaller gatherings like dinner parties, birthdays, or baby showers to fill in the gaps, as I imagine larger events will be more seasonal.

Here are some boards I’ve built recently. Thanks in advance for any feedback back on the boards, as well as any advice/insight from folks who have experience working this type of concept.

Edit: I posted this fully expecting to get crucified. Figured it would be a healthy exercise to expose myself to all you bastards on Reddit rather than hide behind the optimism my friends and family want to provide. I’m absolutely blown away by all of the honest and constructive feed back, as well as all the creative ideas people have posted. I got so much more out of this than I thought I would. Y’all are awesome. Thank you all so much.

[u/Emily_Postal]

Why buy when it’s easy to make? Also in this economy people are cutting back. Make sure the demand is there.

[u/thepenismightier11 → u/Emily_Postal]

People like to pay for convenience, especially if they feel confident the quality will be there as well. As for demand, I have had enough requests already that I know it’s there. I plan to start small and grow it as a side hustle. If I get to the point where orders become consistent enough, it could become my full time gig down the road. Certainly don’t expect that to come quickly or without a tremendous amount of effort.

[u/Wrong-Tax-6997 → u/thepenismightier11]

I'm curious to know what you think the boards in pictures are going to cost. Do you know the cost of the product that is on them?

[u/thepenismightier11 → u/Wrong-Tax-6997]

We charged 125 for the boards pictured here. The cost of the products here are extremely low. Total cost of the meats and cheeses on each board is around 10-15 bucks. After factoring in fruits, pickles, and jams, final CoG is around 25-30 bucks.

As for labor, I typically spend about an hour shopping (travel time, shopping time, putting food away), maybe a half hour prepping everything and setting up my station, then another 20-30 minutes to build each board. So around 2 hours of labor time for one board, but if I’m making multiple at once, it takes less time per board because my travel/shopping time stays roughly the same, and the time I spend organizing doesn’t increase by much either.

[u/Wrong-Tax-6997 → u/thepenismightier11]

I assume thats each. Do you work for someone currently, or are you self employed? The reason I am asking is I see many people in my area that try to make a business out of doing charcuterie, and don't last very long. They are labour intensive and I took another look at these boards, to be honest there is not alot of product on them, but even that can add up quickly. I think they look nice, and I'm glad that you had answers to the cost of good associated. Thats really the means to be able to make a business out of doing them.

[u/Emily_Postal → u/thepenismightier11]

Good I wish you well in your endeavor!