(problem)

So this is what I was seeking your help or advice on.

My main business is a private chef that relies on new and existing custoemers. I live a town close to the eastern affluent areas of Long Island known as the Hamptons which is busy in the summer. Other then Florida in the winter it is probably one of the best place to be a private chef. The private and personal chef field is growing by leaps and bounds. Amongst wealthy New Yorkers it is a viable option for homeowners to choose a private chef for dinner as an option to a restaurant. Many of the homes I cook in here in the summer are brand new $250,000 kitchens, larger then most apartments. You get the idea. Many people are entering this field. Myself I have a formal culinary education backed with over 20 years of cooking experience since my late teens. However many people entering the business are from less experienced backgrounds. Since the industry is not regulated by Licenses, just about anyone can call themselves a chef and they are in business. You have retired people looking for a second career who already have a good retired income, you have new students out of college since curriculum is in a few small colleges for personal chef and then you have people that always love to cook deciding that they now are chefs. As a guy that worked hard my whole life to become a real chef this used to really bother me. For me someone without the proper background just decididng they are chefs is like someone who likes to help people calling themselves a doctor. I belonged to a personal and private chef association that basically gave housewifes a 600 dollar course and certified them as personal chefs and it made me sick because these people would be contacting me to give them business and never return the favor because they lacked the years of experience in the business, I was eventually banned from the forums for trying to get my point across. The work as private chef is getting harder as the economy worsens and their is more unqualified competition. I just recently had a former friend and employee that who wanted me to hire a friend of her because she loves to cook so much and she needed some extra money. I hired her in the summer and she made some great money but admittingly she wasnt such a great cook which I could use since most of my parties require advanced knowledge. After about a month she was no longer available to work. The summer went by and I worked with my Maitre d to Labor day. I just found her ad in the paper with her cousin who is a trained chef as advertising practically the same as me. Now that she learned where I advertise, how I get my clients, charge and so on. Something I really would never tell any competitor. This made me realize that I am getting old and dont want to be miserable cooking and worrying about cutting myself or back,foot and knee pain no less the mental worrying of if I am going to work or not. Or the peak and valleys income of the field. Food is more popular then ever and I keep moving forward but it is not a trend that I can change. It is like fighting a tidal wave. I originally started out with and had some really great ideas for the future, but get stuck in the grind when it comes to making money.

Basically there is a trend here of new chefs trying to get there name out and dont know how to do it.

Positive
When I first started my business I named it needachef.com, because for many years I was in sales and found out that if people want something they could easily change there mind and and perhaps not want it or want something else. But if they needed something , it would be hard or almost impossible to change there mind. Even now when I get a call or a new customer contacts me they automatically think I am part of a large network that I am just a suscriber or franchise owner of needachef.com. Originally I wanted to have several chefs on Needachef.com , that would I would do a bio on and make sure they were qualiied, so last year I created the Hamptons Chefs Society to use as a blog and for local chefs to express their ideas. This is also to act as my blog to needachef.com hopefully leading needachef.com in its own direction. Many people contact me from all over the world needing chefs. I wish I had an easy to use interface where someone could type in there zip code we could match them with a chef in the area. Right now there are only 2 organizations that do that , they are American personal and private chefs association at personalchef.com and the uspca.com, both offering certification course and levels as well as listings. I dont know if I need a cerfication level or can just offer an alternative for people to find chefs without certifiacation. I know what I would like to do I just need some guidance i doing so . I hope you can look at this situation and perhaps offer some suggestons. Thanks