Catering children's birthday parties can be a profitable business if you know what you're doing. Parents who are pressed for time appreciate having a professional take care of the food for their child's birthday. By specializing in children's birthday party catering, you have a more specific target customer, which can make your advertising efforts easy. It can take a lot of work to get your children's catering business set up, but you'll then have a business that you enjoy running.

Research local regulations for catering businesses. It's important to understand the local laws regarding catering companies. For example, some cities will require you to have a separate commercial kitchen. If you plan on making the food in your home, you may need to change the zoning on your home from residential to commercial. Laws vary by state and city, so talk to local representatives.

Plan and test several recipes to create a menu of options. You should have a wide range of options for your catering business. When planning menus, take children's tastes into consideration. Make the old standbys--hot dogs, pizza, macaroni and cheese--into something more special for birthdays. Parents, however, probably want foods that are healthy. How can you create healthy meals that kids will want to eat?

Brush up on your cake decorating skills. The cake is often the centerpiece of a child's birthday party. Cultivate a variety of cake decorating skills so that you can create a cake to fit with any birthday party theme.

Register your business with local and federal governments. You'll need to file the paperwork to register your business with the government. This makes you eligible for certain tax deductions.

Get the funding you need to start a birthday catering business. If you don't have enough money to purchase all of the equipment you need for your business, talk to your local bank about an SBA loan. These are low interest rate loans for business owners. Because your business is new, the bank will base its decision on your personal credit score.

Advertise your children's party catering company within your local community. Post fliers, place advertisements in newspapers and send mailings to families with children. Just get the word out. Realize that the best advertising for a children's party catering company is going to be word of mouth. When you do a good job catering a party, the other parents will take note and ask for your card.