It takes special talent to be a professional caterer. But it takes a lot more than talent. It also takes many resources and a great deal of desire. Even with these things in place and a lot of creativity, starting a full service catering business from scratch takes guidance and persistence to make the dream become reality.
Joyce Wince attributes a great deal of credit to Francis Tuttle's Business and Entrepreneurial Services Coordinator, Shelley Cadamy. "Shelley and the Francis Tuttle BIS Team are a wonderful resource and partner for any small business," explains Joyce.
"I had the cooking and catering skills to be successful, had the desire to make a living by catering "fabulous food for those who wish to entertain," and had a number of valuable resources to help get it off the ground. What I needed was some guidance to make it happen."
"I've been around the food service business since I was eight, when my dad owned a small grocery store, complete with a meat market, and later purchased the drive-in restaurant next door." Couple those experiences with having grown up in a large family, and you get an understanding that "Taking care of people" is a natural for Joyce.
"Traversing the potential landmines of a startup-talking through ideas, asking the right questions, navigating the process of obtaining all of the necessary licenses and permits-those are steps that Shelley assisted with to give my dreams substance. It would have been more trial-and-error without her expertise. Her knowledge of business planning, coupled with her expansive network of talent, helped me by filling in gaps that I was not aware of."
Joyce and her staff opened for business in June 2005, at 109 N. Littler in Edmond. In addition to providing professional catering services, and cakes, pies and cookies for pick-up, Joyce takes catering to another level in her interesting & innovative corporate lunches-not the usual sandwich, chips and a cookie.
"After visiting with many people who have experienced 'the same old business luncheon,' I was determined to provide substantial portions, especially of sandwich meats, salads or other lighter fare alternatives, too."
During football season, Joyce offers tailgate meals, as well as cooking classes in the fall and online ordering of casseroles, breads and desserts. These and more may be found at www.joycescatering.com, and as her web site says "With Joyce, it's all taken care of."
Asked to consider one word or phrase to describe Shelley and the Francis Tuttle BIS Team's value, Joyce immediately responded with "Priceless."