This business idea is for someone who loves to cook, and would feel comfortable sharing their cooking skills with others eager to learn new recipes.
Everyone loves compliments on their cooking. And there are a lot of people who would love to cook wonderful, chef-like meals, but have no idea how to begin.
Let's face it, a fancy cookbook recipe is not always the best way to figure out how to make a new, exotic dish.
If you have a few great dishes up your sleeve, Oriental, Latino, or anything out of the ordinary, you can make money teaching classes.
Even if you just have a knack for making those complicated recipes come out perfectly, you can be a cooking teacher.
All you need is a kitchen, a place to buy your more exotic ingredients, and some great recipes. If you can cook, you can teach.
Begin by putting an advertisement in your local newspaper. And if your area puts out a list or calendar of events and classes, list your class there.
Hang up posters with your class info. All ads should include menus for each class, so that people will know exactly what they can learn, a price, and a must-bring list for the class.
You should also post what your student limit is. This could be between 1-3 students minimum, probably no more than 5 or 6 maximum. You've heard the old adage about too many cooks in the kitchen... it stands true for a cooking class also.
If you are industrious and get a hold of a space with several stoves and sinks, like a home-economics lab in a school, you could probably take on more students.
And if you are holding the cooking classes in your home, be sure to check local codes to see if this is possible.
Plan your menus ahead of time and require students to preregister so you can buy the right amount of ingredients.
It's a good idea to have several dishes, you can demonstrate in front of the class and then assign students to each dish.
Plan to have a sit-down meal at the end of class to taste all the great food your class has prepared, and show the students how to present the foods as an added treat.
Generally, cooking classes will run about 2 hours. Test and time your recipes first and add on about 30 minutes for instruction time.
Stick to recipes that don't include very advanced maneuvers, unless you plan to build up to that level over several weeks.
Charge your students enough to cover the ingredients and time, about $10-$25 per hour (plus ingredients) should be appropriate.
Remember that this hourly wage will be multiplied by the number of students you have.
Charge higher fees for individual, one-on-one classes.
Always tell your students where they can find special ingredients, and provide the recipes in print for each student so they can cook the recipes at home too.
It is your decision whether to hold one-time classes or ongoing ones. You could have a monthly fee, with one or two classes per week, each week building on skills learned the week before.
Alternatively, you might try themes; Italian, Mexican, Indian, German, Chinese, or Polynesian food, for example.
Another idea is to have a new style of food each week.
This creates an ongoing interest and will keep students returning for more classes.
Invite people to bring friends to class to build your client base. If you are short of clients, you might offer a slight discount to previous clients who bring in new students.
And if your classes take off like wildfire, schedule more. The great thing about cooking classes is that you can do three or four of them in a day! It's up to you how much you want to earn.
