The business is running and the work comes in, you plan for other activities and the unexpected happens. All part of a normal week. The weekly routine was established fairly quickly but still surprises pop up from time to time.

Chef in native habitat!

A typical week is market on Saturday deliver orders etc, cleanand tidy kitchen Sunday. Monday is admin and paperwork, ugh! Tuesday planning and marketing – looking for new ways to promote and spread the word, responding to customers with quotes etc. Wednesday is planning for the market, orders and any other customer requirements, shopping, ordering meat, fish and other ingredients. Thursday is prep day and some cooking, Friday is cooking and packaging.  The Saturday is market. Then we start the week again.

That is a typical week but it can be added to with customers placing  orders, or discuss quotes, menus etc. I do try and take some time for networking with other businesses and attend seminars, breakfast networking sessions and other events. Just to get the business known and generate some opportunities. A recent seminar I went to pushed me to revisit my blogging, Tweeting and Facebook marketing. So it was a useful morning for me.

The biggest challenge of the week is balancing the work for the week and the potential work for the future weeks. It is a tricky thing to do as you get focussed on the most immediate task ahead.  Which means time management is important! I am finding that out in spades and so far I have been pretty good on that. My cooking training especially “mise en place” has been a great help in planning and getting the preparation done before carrying out the task.

I think that cooking is probably about 35% of my time. The rest is all the other stuff that needs doing. So there you have a week in the life of a chef. The best bit is the customer feedback at the market or after an event. I am fortunate that I have great customers who offer honest comments and keep coming back for more. Thanks to them I enjoy the work I do. Love it in fact!