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The $900 Question: Should You Outsource Private Events or Keep Them In-House?

Should you outsource private events or handle them yourself? Run the numbers on a typical 50-person party. The math might surprise you (it did us).

👨‍🍳 EasyMenus Team
• Nov 21
Tags: Australia , Canada , Europe , Ireland , Private Event Menus , Singapore , USA

Should you outsource private events or handle them yourself? Run the numbers on a typical 50-person party. The math might surprise you (it did us).

The $900 Question: Should You Outsource Private Events or Keep Them In-House?

TLDR: Most venue owners outsource private events without running the actual numbers. When you do the math on ONE typical 50-person birthday party, the difference between outsourcing ($0 profit) and handling it yourself ($650-800 profit) becomes painfully obvious. Here's the calculator.

Sarah's calling about her mum's 60th birthday. Fifty guests. Wants a proper sit-down meal. Three courses.

You've got two options:

Option A: "Let me get you some caterer recommendations."
Option B: "We can absolutely handle that. Let me send you a menu."

Most venue owners pick Option A without ever calculating Option B.

Let's fix that.

The Real Numbers on a Typical Private Event

I'm going to walk you through the exact economics of ONE private event. We'll use a 50-person birthday party because it's probably the most common booking you'll get.

Pull out your calculator. We're doing this together.

The Event: Barbara's 60th Birthday Party

Guest count: 50 people
Format: Three-course seated dinner
Your quote: $25 per person = $1,250 total revenue

Now let's break down what that actually costs you.

Your Actual Costs (If You Handle It)

Food cost:

  • Starter (soup or salad): $2.50 per person
  • Main (chicken, fish, or vegetarian): $8 per person
  • Dessert (cake or pudding): $2 per person
  • Total food per person: $12.50
  • Total food cost: $625 (50 × $12.50)

Food cost percentage: 50% (high, but this is a special event with better ingredients than your daily menu)

Labor cost:
You're already paying your kitchen and front-of-house staff. Saturday night shift happens whether Barbara books or not.

Incremental labor cost: $0-100 (maybe one extra server for 3 hours if you're being generous)

Let's say $50 to be conservative.

Other costs:
Tablecloths, napkins, maybe some flowers: $75

Total cost to deliver: $750

Your Profit If You Handle It

$1,250 revenue - $750 cost = $500 profit

That's for ONE event. On ONE Saturday night.

Now let's look at the other option.

What Happens If You Outsource

You give Barbara the caterer's number. The caterer quotes her $1,200-1,500 for the same meal (they need to make profit too, so they charge more than you would).

Barbara books the caterer. Your function room gets used. Maybe you charge $200 room hire fee.

Your revenue: $200
Your costs: $50 (basic room setup)
Your profit: $150

So outsourcing nets you $150. Handling it yourself nets you $500.

You just left $350 on the table.

And this is ONE event.

Scale This Across a Year

Most pubs and restaurants with function rooms get 20-40 private event inquiries per year. Birthday parties, corporate lunches, small weddings, anniversary dinners, funeral wakes.

If you're outsourcing all of them, let's do that math:

Conservative scenario (20 events/year):

  • Outsource profit: 20 × $150 = $3,000
  • In-house profit: 20 × $500 = $10,000
  • Money left on table: $7,000

Realistic scenario (30 events/year):

  • Outsource profit: 30 × $150 = $4,500
  • In-house profit: 30 × $500 = $15,000
  • Money left on table: $10,500

Optimistic scenario (40 events/year):

  • Outsource profit: 40 × $150 = $6,000
  • In-house profit: 40 × $500 = $20,000
  • Money left on table: $14,000

This isn't theoretical money. This is actual profit walking out your door because you assumed outsourcing made more sense.

"But Wait, Creating Custom Menus Is Expensive"

Right. This is usually where the math flips.

The traditional calculation looked like this:

Per-event menu creation cost:

  • Design time: 2 hours × $30/hour = $60
  • Printing: $80-100 for professional copies
  • Total: $140-160 per event

So suddenly your $500 profit becomes $340-360 profit. Still better than outsourcing's $150, but the gap narrows enough that outsourcing starts looking easier.

Plus there's the hassle factor. Design, print, revisions, reprints if something changes. By hour three of messing around in Canva, you're thinking "why don't I just call the caterer?"

This is exactly why venues outsource.

The economics WOULD favour outsourcing if menu creation cost $140 per event.

But that was old math.

The New Economics (Digital Menus)

Digital event menu platforms flipped this calculation.

New per-event menu creation cost:

  • Time to create: 10 minutes
  • Printing cost: $0
  • Platform subscription: $12.50/month = $0.42 per event (based on 30 events/year)
  • Total: ~$0.42 per event

Your $500 profit stays $500 profit (minus 42 cents if we're being pedantic).

Now the gap between outsourcing ($150) and in-house ($500) is back to $350 per event.

Over 30 events per year, that's $10,500 you keep instead of handing to caterers.

Break-Even Analysis

Let's figure out how many events you need to do before digital menus pay for themselves.

Digital menu platform cost: $12.50/month = $150/year

Profit difference per event: $350 (in-house vs outsource)

Break-even point: $150 ÷ $350 = 0.43 events

You break even after HALF AN EVENT.

If you do one private event in January, the platform pays for itself by January 15th. Every event after that for the entire year is pure incremental profit.

The Hidden Cost Most Venues Miss

There's another number most venue owners don't calculate: opportunity cost of empty space.

Your function room sits empty Tuesday through Thursday most weeks. You're paying rent/mortgage on that space whether it's used or not.

Let's say your function room is 800 square feet. Your total venue is 3,000 square feet. That's 26.7% of your space.

If your monthly rent is $4,000, the function room costs you $1,067/month just sitting there.

Now imagine you start actively marketing private events:

Scenario: Add 6 weekday events per month
(Corporate lunches Tuesday-Thursday, the slots currently sitting empty)

6 events × $500 profit = $3,000/month additional profit

That's $36,000 per year from space that was previously generating $0.

The function room goes from a cost center to a profit center. Same space, same kitchen, same staff. Different menu system.

Real Example: The Crown Inn

The Crown Inn in Warwickshire runs about 35 private events per year now. They used to do maybe 10 (and outsourced half of those).

Owner told me: "We thought we needed a caterer because creating individual menus was too much hassle. Turned out we just needed a better system."

Their numbers:

  • 35 events/year at average $600 profit each = $21,000
  • Previous system: 10 events, 5 outsourced = $4,500 total profit
  • Difference: $16,500 more per year

They're not in London. Not a fancy venue. Just a decent pub with a function room that they're actually using now.

The unlock wasn't hiring more staff or upgrading the kitchen. It was fixing the menu creation bottleneck.

What About Larger Events?

The math gets even better with bigger events.

100-person corporate lunch:

  • Revenue: 100 × $30 = $3,000
  • Food cost: 100 × $12 = $1,200
  • Incremental labor: $150
  • Total cost: $1,350
  • Your profit: $1,650

If you outsource that, you're maybe making $300-400 in room hire.

You just left $1,250 on the table.

One corporate client who books quarterly lunches = $6,600/year profit you're either capturing or missing entirely.

The Non-Financial Benefits

Profit matters, but there are other reasons to keep events in-house:

Customer relationships: You build direct relationships with event bookers. They come back for regular dining. They recommend you to friends. The caterer gets that relationship if you outsource.

Marketing: Every private event is 50-100 people experiencing your venue and food. That's organic marketing. Outsourcing means they're experiencing someone else's food in your space.

Control: You control quality, timing, dietary accommodations. When you outsource, you're hoping the caterer doesn't mess up in your venue.

Staff morale: Your kitchen staff WANT to do special events. It breaks up the routine. Outsourcing everything signals "we don't trust our team to handle this."

Frequently Asked Questions

What if I don't have a function room? Can I still do private events?

Yes. You can close your regular dining room early one night per week for private bookings, or reserve a section. The math still works - you're serving a set menu to a group instead of individual orders, which is actually easier on your kitchen.

How do I price private events vs my regular menu?

Most venues charge 15-30% more for private events. You're providing exclusive space, custom menu, and dedicated service. A $20 regular menu item becomes $24-26 in a private event package.

Won't my kitchen be too busy to handle private events?

Book private events for your slower nights (Monday-Thursday). Those nights you're already paying staff and covering overhead. A Tuesday corporate lunch uses capacity that would otherwise sit idle.

What about deposits and cancellations?

Require 50% deposit at booking, non-refundable 14 days before event. This protects you from no-shows and covers your prep costs. Standard practice for private events.

How do I market private events if I've never done it before?

Start by telling your existing customers. Put a notice on your regular menu: "Function room available for private parties - ask for details." Email your customer list. Most venues get their first few bookings just from letting people know the option exists.

The Bottom Line

You don't need a fancy calculator to work this out. The numbers are simple:

Outsource: Make $150 per event (maybe)
Keep in-house: Make $500 per event
Difference: $350 per event you're leaving on the table

Multiply by 20-40 events per year. That's $7,000-14,000 in profit you're currently giving away.

The only thing stopping most venues is menu creation hassle. Digital menus solve that for $12.50/month.

Start your 14-day free trial - no printing costs. Create one event menu. Run the numbers yourself. If it doesn't make financial sense for your venue, cancel. But at least you'll have calculated the real opportunity cost instead of just assuming outsourcing is easier.

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