We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Armando Salcedo a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Armando thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Looking back, do you think you started your business at the right time? Do you wish you had started sooner or later

I wish i did start my business sooner, only because I was still working my regular job during the week and picking up events for my business on the weekends. It was very hard to manage both once I got very busy. I was scared to leave my job and start my business. I had job security there. When starting a business you really don’t know when your next client will be coming. I got very busy with my business during the pandemic and I had no choice to leave my job and pursue my business full time. I filed for an LLC in 2021 and I’ve been gratefully busy ever since.

Armando, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name Is Armando , Owner and executive chef of A.S. Gourmet catering & Events. I’ve been in the catering/ hospitality business for about 10 yrs now. I worked at many catering companies as my 9-5 job. Loved it all and then found the courage to cater family events. Slowly requested to cater other events including weddings. In 2018 I catered my first big wedding of 500 guest. Now we have became very familiar with weddings and corporate events. We offer all type of services including family style, plated, buffet style dinner etc.
I’ve come so far in the last 4 years. I’ve learned so much about the industry and we provide all the ins and outs of a well planned event. We work very closely with the most talented planners and we work with amazing vendors that a provide all the best product for your events including decor and rentals.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

To be honest, we have been so lucky with our clientele. The majority of our clients are from word of mouth referrals , guest that attended events in the past and the most effective Social media. Instagram has been my best and most reliable source of marketing. We have a great following that sees all our work and we are very active on social media post. New clients wants to see the product before buying and instagram is a great place to post all your events and food etc.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

When I started my business. I just wanted to start a catering company where all my staff loved coming to work. Each event is different so it’s never boring. I worked at a company where it wasn’t fun to go to work anymore. I tell my staff at every shift. lets do our job, but lets have fun while doing it. I want to provide a safe and fun space for everyone. Ive also discovered that clients notice a happy staff member and they are attracted to that and my kind staff is always recognized when clients write us a review.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://asgourmetcatering.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chefmando
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/a-s-gourmet-catering-los-angeles-2