Fire Horse for caterers
Nobody plans an event with one caterer. They send the same date to a handful and book the one who answers first and follows up. We make that you - and we chase every proposal that went quiet.
No contract, cancel any time, running before your next booking season
One inquiry · four caterers
You · 11 minutes
Date confirmed open, per-head range given, tasting offered.
Caterer two · next morning
Second in the door. Still in the running.
Caterer three · three days
She had already paid a deposit.
Caterer four · never
Form went to an inbox nobody watches on weekends.
Illustrative example, not a real account
A shop we run this for
13 → 50+
Google reviews, in a matter of weeks
ECHA HVAC in Sacramento started at thirteen reviews. We asked their past customers as well as their new ones, answered everything that came in, and the count did the rest. Different trade, same review engine - and reviews decide more in catering than in almost any other local business.
Where catering work leaks
A plumber loses one job when the phone rings out. You lose a Saturday in October, and there's only one of those.
The inquiry that sat overnight
Event inquiries arrive on evenings and weekends, when you're on site serving somebody else's event. By Monday she has two proposals and a favorite.
The proposal nobody chased
You built a menu, priced a bar, laid out a floor plan. Then silence. Nobody says no to a caterer - they just book somebody who asked twice.
The corporate client who forgot
The office that ordered every month until the person who booked it changed jobs. Nobody in your kitchen noticed, because nothing broke.
The pattern is the same as every trade we work in: the business that responds first and follows up wins the work. See the sourced figures on the homepage.
Your numbers, not averages
Not missed calls - proposals. Count the ones you sent last month that never got an answer either way.
The whole thing, in order
Found
Your listing shows the events you cater and the reviews to back it.
Answered
Her date gets a yes or no within minutes, not next business day.
Quoted
Head count, budget and dietary needs collected before you cost it.
Chased
The quiet proposal gets asked again until the date is booked or released.
Asked
The event turns into a review and a reason to call you again.
Miss one gate and the rest doesn't matter. Everything below sits on one of these five.
01 · Answering
The first question every inquiry asks is whether you're free. Connected to your calendar, it answers that in seconds - then collects head count, venue, budget and dietary needs while she's still interested.
· Date availability answered instantly, evenings and weekends
· Head count, venue, budget and dietary needs collected up front
· Per-head ranges you approve, never a final price
· Books the tasting or the call, not a callback
· Chat and live voice on your website, same brain
It can hold a date provisionally for 48 hours and tell you it did. It never confirms a booking without you.
Open proposals · by event date
14 open · $126,400
Wedding · Oct 18 · 120 guests
$9,400
Proposal sent 9 days ago · no reply · date still held
“Hi Megan - still holding October 18th for you, but I'll need to release it Friday if you're going another way. No hard feelings either way, just don't want you to lose the date.”
Replied in 40 min · deposit paid
Corporate lunch · Sep 4 · 40
Sent 4 days ago · follow-up 1 sent
$1,850
Anniversary party · Aug 30
Closed out · booked elsewhere · date released
$4,200
Illustrative example, not a real account
02 · Proposals you already wrote
A proposal costs you a menu, a costing and an evening. Then it goes quiet, and it sits on your calendar as a maybe that stops you selling the date to anyone else.
We follow up by text and email in your name, on the schedule you set, until you get a yes or a no. A no is worth almost as much as a yes: it hands you back a Saturday you can still sell.
Held dates with a deadline
A provisional hold with a real release date converts better than an open-ended maybe, and it's true.
Deposit reminders
The booking isn't real until the deposit lands. We chase it so you're not the one asking twice.
Final numbers before the deadline
Head count and dietary confirmations chased on your timeline, so the kitchen isn't guessing on Thursday.
Works alongside the calendar and invoicing tools you already use. If your proposals live in a spreadsheet, that's fine too - we've started there before.
03 · Reviews and repeat work
Catering reviews are worth more than in any trade we work in - nobody hands over a wedding on price alone. The trouble is the ask has to land in the right week, and by then you're three events down the road.
· Review request timed to the event, not the invoice
· Every review answered, usually within the hour
· Venue and planner referrals asked separately, in their own words
· Corporate accounts nudged when the standing order goes quiet
The venues and planners who send you work get their own thread. One good relationship there is worth more than a month of inquiries.
Six days after the event
Illustrative example, not a real account
Standing order · gone quiet
Meridian Group · monthly board lunch
Ordered every month for two years. Nothing since April.
“Hi - we've had the board lunch pencilled in out of habit and realized we haven't heard from you since spring. Same menu, or should I send over a few new options?”
Illustrative example, not a real account
04 · Your listing and your site
Catering is judged on pictures. We keep the listing stocked with recent ones, tagged by event type, with the services filled in properly - weddings, corporate, private, drop-off - so you show up for the search that matches what you actually want to cook.
On the site, the same three additions as any trade: a way to check a date, a way to text, and a number that tells us where the booking came from.
Send us photos from every event you're proud of and we'll do the rest. It's the one thing we'll keep asking you for.
How this works
Same ladder for every business we work with. Most caterers start on Reputation in the quiet months and move up before booking season.
Start here
Get found, get chosen.
$397/mo
Step 2
No inquiry sits overnight.
$897/mo
Step 3
Everything, running together.
$1,094/mo
Website build is separate: $3,500 one time, and the finished site belongs to you whether you stay or not. Hosting is included with any monthly plan. Ongoing edits and new pages are $197/mo, optional.
Caterer questions
Will it quote an event without me?
No. It gives per-head ranges you approve and books the tasting or the call. Every real number comes from you, because a wedding quote depends on things a chat can't see.
Can it double-book my calendar?
It reads your calendar and can place a provisional 48-hour hold, which shows up as a hold and nothing else. Confirming a booking is always yours.
Does it handle allergies?
It collects and flags dietary requirements so nothing gets lost between the inquiry and the kitchen. It never promises that a dish is safe - that answer comes from your chef, every time.
Most of my work comes from venues and planners. Does this help?
Yes, and differently. Those relationships get their own follow-up thread rather than the customer sequence, and a strong review count is what makes a planner comfortable recommending you to a client they can't afford to disappoint.
We're a drop-off and corporate lunch business, not weddings.
Then the repeat-order side matters more than the proposal chase, and we'd set it up that way. Standing orders that go quiet are the biggest leak in a drop-off kitchen.
Is there a contract?
No. Month to month. Cancel any time and service runs through the month you've already paid for.
We'll record a short video showing where the bookings are leaking - your listing, your inquiry response, your open proposals - and send it over. No call required.
