have a friend who basically bootstrapped a catering company. started a few years ago and over the past 12 months has finally started to gain a lot of momentum.

his main way of growing was networking and basically getting out there to let people try out his food. he most certainly lost a bit of money in his first year, but he would take just about ANY opportunity to work, and when he wasn't working he was out promoting - food shows, catering small local festivals, etc.

just going after businesses is a bit broad. I run a business but I have almost 0 need for any catering service. and if I did it would be very rare and not a huge $$ job.

who you want to know/market to/network with: people in charge of organizing events. could be government events, local fairs and festivals, concerts, business conferences, whatever. obviously you'll have to start small unless you have a large staff etc.

also: wealthy people. even better if they are wealthy from having their own business. rich people love to throw dinner parties, or work parties for clients or friends. prom parties for their kids or their little Billy's birthday or whatever.

specific example: he set up a booth at a small festival in the city. I believe that he was hired to cater for the volunteers and staff. wasn't a huge festival so there wasn't a TON of staff, so he managed to do everything by himself. he also would chat with people and advertise/network a bit with anyone who would come near him.

he walked over to this other tent that was set up with some luxury cars and shit. just walked over with a plate of food and chatted them up and let them try a nice little unique snack for free (forget what it was, but he typically makes stuff that is a little bit more restaurant-y for a food tent at a festival.

anyway long story short the owner of the company liked his food nad liked the guy and has hired him like a dozen times for everything from new years party to the opening of a new dealership to just small intimate dinner with a few other friends.