Savory Gourmet Catering , Claudia Coviello
“A friend mentioned SCORE, and it was there that I met my small business mentor. His advice seemed simple at the time but turned out to be invaluable: shoe leather. He told me that I was clearly passionate about what I wanted to do and that I should use my shoe leather and get out there: talk to everyone, give samples, and introduce my talents to the world. It’s hard work and it’s old school, but it works.”
Is there a recipe for entrepreneurial success? You might want to ask Claudia Coviello that question. The chef, who trained at the prestigious Culinary Institute of America, began her career as many chefs do: working in other people’s kitchens. Coviello spent nearly a decade perfecting her craft in hotels and country clubs before she decided to turn up the heat on her career by starting her own business.
Savory Gourmet Catering began life with some tremendous assets: the considerable culinary skills of Chef Coviello and her own vision of success. What the new business was missing, however, was one critical ingredient: customers.
How SCORE Westchester Helps Small Business Owners
Claudia was kind enough to share with us her SCORE small business success story.
“I was frightened that I didn’t have the know-how to start a small business,” she said. Chef Coviello had surrendered a lot of security when she went out on her own. She had no regular income coming in, no health insurance – a frightening situation. “A friend mentioned SCORE, and it was there that I met my small business mentor.
His advice seemed simple at the time but turned out to be invaluable: shoe leather. He told me that I was clearly passionate about what I wanted to do and that I should use my shoe leather and get out there: talk to everyone, give samples, and introduce my talents to the world. It’s hard work and it’s old school, but it works.”
SCORE Westchester: Experienced Small Business Mentors
“I didn’t expect it to work!” Chef Coviello confesses. “But I followed my small business mentor’s advice.” She was well aware that it took time to perfectly prepare any dish, and it took time for her marketing efforts to generate results. “It didn’t seem to generate work fast enough, but it did generate work and that generated more work and so on. I’ve been in business now for 7 years – going on 8 – and it has been one of the most satisfying experiences in my career.” Looking forward, Chef says, “I hope to continue to grow and inspire others for many more years.”