Today we’d like to introduce you to BreAna Powell.
Hi BreAna, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
With me being the only child on both sides of my parents, I was very independent growing up. I was always at home by myself when I was a teenager most of the time while my parents worked. Of course, I would have standard rules such as not to open the door for strangers or not to cook while nobody is home. So most of the time while I would be home I would cook a lot of things by microwave. As I got old enough to use the stove it became a habit for me. Trying new recipes putting one thing with another. Sauces was my favorite things to make you could make almost anything with a sauce and noodles. When I was around 13 or 14 years old, during the summer I would make lunch plates and sell them to local salons, barbershops, or any local businesses. My signature dish was spaghetti, a side salad, garlic bread and a drink. Just in one day, I made $200 just from selling those plates. I’ve always known I wanted to cook and go to school for it. Once I graduated high school I went straight into Culinary Arts in San Antonio, Texas. Going to Culinary school was the best years of my life. It was like taking a breath of fresh air. The opportunity to learn from so many different varieties of people in the industry.
In my classes, I would have classmates from 18-65. I’ve always been the type to continue to learn and expand my brain to different cultures and cuisines. In May 2020 I finally received my degree in Culinary. In August 2020 because of the pandemic, I was laid off from my job working at for 7 months. This gave me the opportunity to try to start my own business. Since a lot of restaurants were shut down, I came up with my own business, Scratchdishes. Scratchdishes was based off of originally meal preps and private catering delivery. I started off receiving lots of orders for meal preps every weekend. Then as the months went by, I started getting asked to cater for small parties no more than 70 people. I would give my clients a menu and a quote of my different catering options. I received a lot of help and support from my family, my great aunt who was in the catering business for over 40+ years, and my mom who was an event planner for 10 years. Since my first meal prep and my first catering gig, I have progressed and got better ever since. It became a hobby for me, although I still keep my full-time job working as a chef at an assisted living facility, ScratchDishes is my baby. I hope in the future to one day open my own catering business full time and have my own ghost kitchen. Since I started in 2020 My business has not stopped growing ever since.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Nothing about having your own business is easy. With Culinary, it’s best to have the knowledge and education is a plus so that you’re not learning different things along the way. There have been times where I have had to “learn the hard way”. The cooking and presentation are the easiest for me because cooking is like breathing to me. It comes so naturally with the different recipes and preparation. Some things I have struggled with setting up, breaking down, and the heavy equipment that I have had to move such as chaffing dishes, props, and ice chests. I’ve always been the independent type to not always ask for help. I always thought I could do it on my own. Now that my business is growing and I’m receiving more clientele I have had more support along the way. When it comes to the financials and marketing side that could be challenging as well. However, it’s better for me to teach myself and do it myself so that I am educated on where my money is going.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Scratchdishes is based on meal preparation, private party catering, or large party catering. I came up with the name ScratchDishes because I’m passionate about cooking fresh foods from scratch. I am known for mostly meal preps and/or private catering services.
What sets me apart from others is my professionalism, Culinary background knowledge, and food presentation.
I am mostly proud of how I have gotten better with my professionalism and my presentation of catering.
I mostly charge for the total cost of food based off of how many people are attending and event, my labor, supplies and mileage.
I have 3 options to choose from when I do my catering. I offer for just a drop off: $100
For drop off and set up: $150
For the Full Scratchdishes Catering experience: $350
*This does not include food cost, and mileage.
For my meal preps: $50 for 5 meals
For 10 meals $75
For 14 meals: $120
*This does not include specific protein options such as Filet Mignon, crab, or jumbo shrimp.
Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
My advice to those starting out is to always prepare ahead of time so you won’t weigh yourself out or stress yourself. Always market your work take pictures lots of pictures of everything that you do even if it’s something small like cooking a meal at home. Take pictures and post on social media, social media is going to be your main platform for your start up business. Never give up on yourself, don’t get discouraged or down because you’re not getting enough clients or work. There are times when I will go months with no events or meal preps, but that gave me enough time to work on something for my business whether it’s building my website, coming up with new recipes, trying to market more revenue. Owning a business is always something to do you should never be bored while starting a new business.
Contact Info:
- Email: bresp12@yahoo.com
- Instagram: Scratchdishes
- Facebook: Scratchdishes
