Have you ever played a game called Cake Mania? If not, it’s a Flash game where you play a baker in a cake shop, making cakes for clients. However, as the game progresses, you get more and more clients with many different needs, and eventually cake orders just start pouring in. You’re still the only one making cakes but now you’re having to juggle all the new orders that keep coming in. Plus, you have to make adjustments for the new clients. The work keeps piling up until you either can’t physically click on the proper ingredients fast enough, or the level is over.
If you are a caterer, this probably is not how you would like your business to work. You want to keep your events organized and easily manageable with intuitive system that knows what you need. With Caterease, (click the link to easily find it our directory!) you can help slow things down and make sure your workload is both manageable and catalogued.
Caterease (click to check out the company website!) was created to help caterers of all business sizes stay organized. If you’ve used Microsoft Office circa 2010 or later, then you’re actually already familiar with the layout of Caterease. They stick to this widely used layout complete with recognizable menus and buttons, so that users start with some amount of familiarity. It is always nice to see a familiar face, or software program!
One of the tools Caterease comes with is a Scheduler, clearly formatted with color-coated appointment blocks based on your category assortment. Category assignment could mean an off-premise or one-premise event, a big or small event, etc. You can also sort your calendar in the Event Options drop-down list. “Sales Rep,” “Theme,” “Operation,” and “Business Type” are just a few choices. Plus, you can see different calendars within each option sitting side by side. If you decide to open a certain event from the calendar, all it takes is double-click. You will be prompted to open it in the Event Manager, a tool described as “the heart of Caterease” in the instructional videos.
The Event Manager is able to break down and neatly present the details of any event entered into the program. In the top left is the client information, including phone numbers, the address, and client/organization name. At the top right, the financial information is displayed, including Cost Per Guest, Service Charge, and more. Below these boxes lies the event information. The theme, booking contact, number of guests, party name, and more information rounds out the Event Manager feature of Caterease.
However, the fields shown are not your limit. Let’s say the event we’re entering is a big one and parking is going to be an issue. The booking contact has given you specific direction which parking lot would be best to use for your catering purposes. If you want to keep this information, you can add in a custom field and name it “Parking Lot” or whatever works best for you and then enter in the details you need. Deleting said field is just as easy. Bippity-boppity-gone.
Caterease boasts its customization as a selling point, and from what I can tell, they should. There are other tools that you can use, such as the Prospect Manager, Contact Manager, and Employee Manager. The two I chose to dive into (Event Options and Event Manager) impressed me the most (not that this program did not impress me all the way through). If you cater for weddings big or small, Caterease will help you make sure you have the proper information from any event organized properly. That way you will not be holding the purple cake for a silver and green themed wedding.
co-authored by Theodora Kimmel