Do you love to cook? Are your friends and
family always trying to get a dinner invite every time they see you? If you’ve
dreamed of a career in the food industry but aren’t really sure about the best
way to go about it, you should consider starting your very own supper club.
Supper clubs happen as regularly as you want them to, so if it’s not your full-time
job, then you don’t need to stress about it. They can also be whatever size you
want. They are designed to be intimate, so no one is expecting you to cook for
a hundred people a night. Interested? Here’s some tips to help get you started:
Define Who You Are
It’s all very well saying that you are
going to start your own supper club. You probably have tons of ideas, recipes
you want to try, and themed events that you want to explore. Yet when starting
out, it’s best not to get ahead of yourself. In order to attract guests during
your opening weeks, you need to have a set vision of who you are, and what you
want to do. Now, this might involve a changing and varied menu each month exploring
new cuisines, or it could be settled on one theme or style. Whatever it is you decide
to go for, you need to make that decision early on and stick with it – so long
as it’s feasible of course. Without an exact vision in mind, you are going to
struggle to set up your supper club, and customers aren’t going to be
interested in trying you out.
Practice
You might have all your plans nailed down,
know exactly what you want on your menu, and how you want your supper club to
run. But don’t rush into anything. Try it out on family and friends and ask for
honest feedback of what they think. Of course, this will always be a little bit
biased, but it’s still an important thing to do. It’s easy to run head-first
into a project but by taking things slowing and working it all out in an exacting
way, you’ll end up with a supper club that runs smoothly and tastes great too. Remember
as well that you’ll be inviting paying guests eventually, so they’ll expect to
get their money’s worth.
Pick the Right Venue
Many supper clubs are held at home, which
gives them that wonderful mix of restaurant quality food and relaxed
atmosphere. Yet by hiring out a venue for a few days a month, you can give your
guests much more room, and you will have a much bigger kitchen to work with.
Hiring out a venue can also help you form the theme that you are looking for
from your supper club. Is it cool and chic, or rustic and laidback? The venue
you choose will depend on the atmosphere that you are looking to create, as
well as the food that you are preparing. Luckily, supper clubs are becoming
more and more popular in the city, and so there are loads of supper club venues
for hire in London.
Start a Mailing List
Your mailing list is going to be the
primary way that you advertise new supper clubs and get people signing up for
them. To create a list initially, you’ll have to market online through social
media, but soon the majority of your customers will find out about you through word
of mouth. If people like what you do, then they are bound to tell their friends
about it. Having a basic website where people can add their name to the mailing
list and book tickets for your next event is essential. You can put pictures up
of past events and explain to everyone how it works and what they are to
expect. Once you have a developed mailing list, you’ll soon find your tickets
sell out fast!
Reward your Loyal Customers
Those who have been with you from the start
and are regulars at your supper clubs will soon make themselves known, and it’s
only right that you reward their loyalty. You can do this in any number of ways
but the best one is probably through giving them freebies. Why not offer a free
ticket after someone has attended five of your events? Or a bottle of champagne?
Anything that you can do you make your customers feel valued is a major plus.
Even for first time customers, giving them something that they can take home
will be a wonderful memento of the night. This can be anything from a magnet to
some sweet treats that they can eat later at home and remember the wonderful
evening they’ve enjoying your supper club.
Encourage Photos
While you might not exactly like your
customers having their phones out at the table, it’s important that you
recognise the importance that social media has when it comes to creating a
following. While word of mouth is likely going to bring in many of your
customers, everyone likes being able to post pictures on their social media,
and every little bit of publicity helps. Creating a unique hashtag for each event
and having a general one that covers your whole supper club will help others to
decide if it’s something that they would like to attend as well. Using these
hashtags, you can set up a photo competition for each of your supper clubs,
with a prize to the one who captures your dish the best. Plus, if everyone is
taking pictures, then your presentation just has to be perfect!
Everyone loves good food and good company,
which is what makes a supper club such a fun event to host! It’s not as
difficult as you may think to get started, and they key is to keep things small
and take things slow while you find your feet.
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