12 Catering Business Mistakes That Cost You Money and Clients

Caterers mostly lose money and clients not because of the food or drinks but because of organisation: slow replies, verbal agreements, forgotten equipment and a confused team. Below are 12 typical catering mistakes and how to fix each one. Most are solved with a single rule or a checklist.

1. Replying to enquiries a day later

A client looking for a caterer messages 3–5 companies at once. Many reply "within a few hours" or "in 1–2 working days", and by then the client is already talking to whoever answered first.

Fix: first reply within an hour in working hours, quote within 24 hours. All enquiries in one list. More in how to respond to catering enquiries fast.

2. Quoting without a written brief

Without a brief you price "about 80 people, standing reception". Later you learn that 15 are children, the bar has to run until 2 am and the venue has no tables.

Fix: 10–12 standard questions before every quote — date, times, venue, guests, format, alcohol, budget, allergies, what the venue provides, on-site contact.

3. Accepting changes verbally

"Let's add 10 more guests and mojitos" on the phone — the team prepares more and it never reaches the invoice. Or the opposite: the client is sure you agreed a discount.

Fix: every change is a new quote version that the client confirms in writing. Lock the final guest count 5–7 days before the event.

4. Forgetting equipment

Forgotten ice, an extension lead or a crate of glasses an hour from the warehouse means either a trip back or improvising in front of the client.

Fix: a packing list built from the event (guests, menu, format), not from memory, with who loaded and who checked. A ready list is in the catering event checklist.

5. A confused team

The bartender learns the address that morning, a waiter arrives at 18:00 instead of 16:30, two people think the third is bringing the ice.

Fix: everyone has a shift with address, arrival time and role, and has explicitly confirmed it. The day's timeline goes to the team 1–2 days before and again that morning. How to organise it: how to schedule bar staff shifts.

6. Working without a deposit

Without a deposit the date isn't booked. A client can "change their mind" a week before the wedding, and you won't find another Saturday booking in July at that point.

Fix: 30–50% when the quote is approved, the balance before or right after the event as agreed. Cancellation terms in writing on the quote.

7. Underpricing small events

An event for 15 guests needs the same van, setup, bartender and ice as one for 40. With the same per-guest price, the small job barely breaks even.

Fix: price tiers by guest count. A typical structure in Latvia: higher per guest for small events, lower for big ones — for example €36 up to 29 guests, €33 from 30, €30 from 50 (excl. VAT).

8. Having no minimum order

Without a minimum you get requests like "a bar for 8 people for 2 hours" that eat time to quote and then to deliver.

Fix: a minimum of 20 guests or a fixed minimum spend per job. Both exist on the market, for example a flat price for events up to 29 guests. Include delivery up to a set distance, with a surcharge beyond it.

9. Losing glassware and kit

10–15 glasses from every wedding, a couple of shakers, jiggers — over a season that adds up, plus constant last-minute restocking.

Fix: count everything going out and coming back. Write breakages and losses against the specific event straight away. If one venue consistently costs you glassware, build it into the quote or agree terms with the venue.

10. Not following up after the event

The event ends — and silence. The client was happy but never wrote a review, and a year later doesn't remember your name.

Fix: a call or message within 1–3 days, a Google review link, a reminder after 10–11 months. Details in what to do after a catering event.

11. Running endless free tastings

Tastings close deals, but three free tastings for a client who then books someone else is a lost day and lost produce.

Fix: tasting only after a preliminary quote is agreed, 3–5 items, up to 4 people. A second tasting is paid and deducted from the order.

12. Keeping information in five places

Quote in Excel, changes in WhatsApp, team in Telegram, venue details in the manager's head. Mistakes 2–9 almost always start here.

Fix: one record per event holding everything: client, venue, quote, team, equipment, change history. The step-by-step plan is in how to improve your catering business, and moving off spreadsheets in moving from Excel to a CRM.

Summary: mistake and rule

How this works in Garnify

In Garnify, each event has one record with the quote, team and equipment list. The client approves every quote version from a link, shifts are confirmed through a Telegram bot, and on return the warehouse checks that every glass came back.