Setting up Yesoma for a catering business

This guide walks catering-business owners through every part of Yesoma that matters for how catering actually works: per-head quotes that show the math, deposits that protect your kitchen and staff commitments, the three qualifying questions your first reply always asks, and the dietary + headcount workflows that prevent last-minute chaos.

1. Apply the catering playbook during onboarding

When you first sign in to Yesoma and reach the Set up your workspace step, select Catering from the industry picker. Yesoma will pre-load your workspace with:

• Eight services covering the most common catering formats — corporate box meals, wedding reception catering, private dinners, cocktail events with passed apps, buffets, boxed-meal delivery, bartending add-ons, and a custom scope for full venue takeovers
• Seven policies covering deposits, the cancellation and refund schedule, guest-count finalization, dietary accommodations, minimum order, service area and travel fees, and tasting sessions
• Eight FAQs written for the questions catering customers ask before they commit
• Eight reply templates, including the first-reply that asks the three qualifying questions, a per-head pricing breakdown, a formal proposal, a deposit reminder, a final headcount reminder, a day-after thank-you with a review request, a quote follow-up, and a no-availability reply with alternate date suggestions
• A follow-up cadence with three automated nudges (same-day first reply, three-day quote follow-up, and day-after thank-you)
• A review request set to fire one day after the event, when satisfaction is highest

Everything pre-loaded is a starting point. Go to Settings → Services, Settings → Policies, and Settings → Templates to edit any wording, price, or timing before you take your first inquiry.

2. Per-head pricing in Yesoma quotes

Catering pricing is almost always per-head, and this trips customers up constantly. They see "$85/head wedding catering" and read it as $85 total. Your job in every quote is to show the math explicitly.

In Yesoma, when you send a quote from an inquiry, the quote editor lets you add line items. For per-head services, use this structure:

• Line item 1: Service name — e.g. "Wedding reception catering (multi-course, plated)" — unit price $85.00 — quantity [guest count]
• Line item 2: Any add-ons — "China and flatware rental" — flat fee
• Line item 3: Travel surcharge if applicable — flat fee

The quote total is calculated automatically. The line-item format makes the math visible: a customer booking for 120 guests sees "$85.00 x 120 guests = $10,200" before they scroll to the total. This eliminates the single most common point of confusion in catering quotes.

The catering playbook seeds your services with priceType: starting_from for most formats, which means Yesoma labels the price as "starting from $X/head" on your service cards and in automated messages. The actual final total is always confirmed in the formal proposal after you know the confirmed guest count.

3. The deposit and payment schedule

Catering businesses run on deposits. Kitchen prep time, specialty ingredient orders, and staff scheduling all happen well before the event — and they're all committed the moment you agree to a date. If a client cancels without a deposit on file, you absorb those costs with no recourse.

The catering playbook configures a two-payment schedule by default:

• Deposit at booking: 30–50% of the quoted total, depending on the service. Weddings and private dinners require 50%. Corporate and buffet events require 30%. This is due when the client accepts the proposal.
• Balance due 14 days before the event: The remaining amount. This gives you time to resolve any payment issues before the event, not on the morning of.

When you're ready to formally confirm a booking, go to the inquiry in your inbox, open the Send proposal panel, and set the deposit amount and due date. Yesoma will track payment status and surface a reminder to you (and optionally to the client) as the balance date approaches.

The deposit reminder template in your playbook reads naturally — it doesn't lecture the client, it just explains that kitchen capacity and staff are reserved on a first-confirmed basis. That framing tends to work better than a generic "payment due" notice.

4. The three qualifying questions every first reply asks

The catering first-reply template your playbook loads asks exactly three things:

1. Event date — including whether the date is flexible, so you know if there's room to work around your availability
2. Guest count — because without this, any quote you send is fictional
3. Event style — corporate lunch, wedding, cocktail party, buffet, private dinner, etc. — because the format determines the per-head rate, staffing model, and equipment

You cannot write an accurate quote without all three. The template holds back on any pricing until you have this information, which is intentional. Caterers who quote blind — "weddings start at $85/head" — get ghosted because the customer can't connect a generic rate to their actual event. Caterers who ask first and then quote specifically ("for your 85-guest Saturday wedding, the total starting point is $7,225") convert at a much higher rate.

To use the first-reply template, open the inquiry in your inbox and click Reply. Select the First reply — catering inquiry template from the template picker. Yesoma will pre-fill the body, inserting the customer's first name from their contact record automatically. Edit, send, and the follow-up cadence starts the clock.

5. Dietary accommodations and headcount finalization

Two operational deadlines define catering more than almost any other service business. Your playbook bakes both of them into your policies and the headcount reminder template.

Dietary accommodations — 14 days before the event

Gluten-free, vegan, nut-free, halal, and other dietary requirements need to be confirmed at least 14 days before the event. That's when your kitchen orders ingredients, assigns prep teams, and plans plate assembly. Requirements that come in after the 14-day mark are genuinely best-effort — not a negotiation position, a logistics reality.

Your dietary accommodation policy (loaded from the playbook) explains this plainly and notes that you follow cross-contamination protocols but cannot certify a fully allergen-free environment. Most catering customers understand this; they just need to see it stated clearly so there are no surprises.

Final headcount — 10 days before the event

Final guest counts are due 10 days before the event. After that, your invoice is locked: reductions don't reduce the bill (food is ordered, staff is scheduled), and additions above 10% of the confirmed count may not be possible.

The Final headcount reminder template in your playbook fires 10 days before the event via the follow-up cadence. It shows the current count on file and asks the client to confirm or update. Customize it in Settings → Templates if you want to adjust the tone or add your specific cancellation terms.

To trigger a manual version at any time, open the client's inquiry and select the template from the reply panel.

6. What your reply templates look like in action

Your playbook loads eight templates. Here is how they connect to a typical catering inquiry:

Inquiry arrives — a prospective client messages asking about wedding catering for 120 guests next October.

Send the First reply — catering inquiry template. It asks for date, guest count, and event style. The customer confirms: October 12, 120 guests, plated dinner reception.

Quote stage — you have enough to price this. Send the Pricing reply — per-head breakdown template, filling in: service type "wedding reception, multi-course plated," per-head rate "$85," guest count "120," total "$10,200," deposit "$5,100 (50%)." The template explicitly shows the math so the customer sees how the total is reached.

Formal proposal — once the customer is ready to move forward, send the Formal proposal sent template via email. Attach your formal PDF proposal. The template body reiterates the per-head math, the deposit amount and payment link, and the balance due date.

Deposit not received after a few days — send the Deposit reminder template. It explains the first-confirmed principle without pressure.

10 days before the event — the follow-up cadence automatically surfaces the Final headcount reminder template. Confirm the guest count and any remaining dietary requirements.

Day after the event — the cadence automatically queues the Day-after thank you + review request template. It thanks the client by name, links to your Google review page, and mentions referrals. Send it the morning after while the memory of the food is still fresh.

If you can't take the date — use the No-availability reply template. It offers two alternate dates and a referral option. Saying "here are two other dates" converts far better than a flat "we're booked" — even if the client can't use those dates, they appreciate the effort.

All templates use {{customer_first_name}} for the name token, which Yesoma fills automatically from the contact record. Bracket placeholders like [date], [guest_count], [per_head_price], [total], and [payment_link] are filled manually before you send. Yesoma highlights unfilled brackets so nothing ships with a raw placeholder.

Common questions

Can I change the deposit percentage for different services? Yes. Go to Settings → Services, select the service, and edit the Deposit notes field. The field is free text, so you can set different percentages for different event types. The deposit reminder template references [deposit_amount] as a manual placeholder so you always fill in the actual number before sending.

What if a client wants to add guests after the 10-day cutoff? The guest-count finalization policy (loaded from your playbook) says increases above 10% after the cutoff may not be possible. In practice, whether you can accommodate depends on the event and your kitchen capacity. The policy gives you something to point to if you need to decline — it's not in the terms so you don't have to say no from scratch every time.

How do I set up recurring corporate accounts for weekly box-meal orders? The boxed-meal delivery service in your playbook notes that recurring accounts are billed weekly. Manage those accounts as customers in Yesoma and use the inbox to track each delivery order as a separate inquiry under the same customer. There is no subscription billing built into Yesoma today — recurring clients are best handled as a standing agreement with a monthly invoice sent manually.

When should I schedule a tasting? The tasting policy in your playbook sets complimentary tastings for weddings of 50 or more guests, scheduled 8–12 weeks before the event. For smaller events, tastings are $25 per person. You can note tasting availability and timing in the formal proposal, or bring it up during the quote conversation. It's a strong conversion tool for weddings — use it proactively.