Personal Chef Software: Why Chefs Need a Centralized Workflow in 2025
The world of private chefs, personal chefs, meal prep chefs, catering teams and more is only growing as of now, and will keep growing for years to come. Being a personal chef is supposed to be about the food, designing menus, cooking for their clients and creating exceptional dining experiences that people will remember.
But talk to almost any personal chef today, and you’ll hear the same frustration:
“I spend more time on invoices, proposals, grocery lists, etc. and backend work than I do cooking.”
That has become the reality of running a modern chef business in 2025. The work behind the scenes – managing menus, tracking clients, scheduling events, chasing payments, managing staff – eats into the enjoyment of actually doing the cooking and creating the event. And most chefs are left juggling all of it in a personally created combination of google docs, excel, email, whatsapp, notion, quickbooks, and more.
That’s because the truth is: there is nothing currently built for chefs.
This is why a new category of tools is emerging: personal chef software. Software designed specifically for chefs and catering teams – not generic small business owners. The goal of this is to simplify the business side of running a personal chef business, so chefs can focus on the fun and creative side.
In this blog, we’ll explain why the current systems are no longer cutting it, what personal chef software should include, and how these tools can save chefs time and money.
The Problem with How it Works Today
Most personal chefs don’t have a specifically curated system of tools built for running their business. Instead, they make do with a patchwork of tools:
- Proposals built in word
- Menus stored in Google Docs
- Clients tracked in your phone
- Payments collected through Venmo or Zelle
- Invoices tracked in Excel or in your head
Chefs create their own systems that work for them, so it’s not that they’re doing anything wrong. But they’re using tools that aren’t built for them and their workflows.
What ends up happening is that chefs have several disconnected workflows, forcing them to jump between different apps and workplaces to plan a single event. Tracking down details can be complicated and details can get lost. Chefs lose tons of time that could be spent booking new clients or sending new proposals because they are backed up on admin work. And for many chefs, they don’t have a clear view into their profitability.
These disjointed workflows end up causing chefs unnecessary stress.
What Personal Chef Software Should Do
If the current way of working is scattered, stressful, and time-consuming, then personal chef software should do the opposite: bring everything together in one place so everything is less scattered, stressful and time-consuming.
Based on conversations with dozens and dozens of chefs, here are the essentials:
- Proposals in minutes
Chefs need to quickly send professional, branded proposals. If it takes too long to get proposals out the door, they can lose business. The right software should make it easy to reuse templates, adjust pricing, and lock in client approvals fast.
- Menus should be organized and reusable
Chefs should be able to store and reuse menus, menu items, update recipes, and make quick edits for dietary restrictions – all from one central library.
- Events and Clients in one dashboard
Every booking, client note, and schedule detail should be in a single system. That way, when a client needs a change, chefs don’t have to scroll through dozens of emails. Everything is right there for them to edit.
- Invoicing and payments simplified
Sending invoices, collecting deposits, and tracking payments should feel seamless, not like the primary part of the job. It should be as easy as a few clicks, and it’s done.
- Profitability insights and revenue tracking
Chefs should know which events do best for them, which are worth it and which aren’t. And they should know this immediately, not within weeks. Software should make it easy to understand your revenues at a glance.
The Impact
Many chefs we speak to say the same thing: that they need to find a system that works better for them. Operating with a patchwork of tools is overwhelming.
That’s why we believe the impact of Traqly will be significant. Here’s what chefs tell us they’re looking forward to once everything lives in one place:
- Time back: Instead of juggling proposals, menus, invoices, and client notes across five apps, chefs imagine saving hours every week. Hours they can spend running events and booking more clients. The way they describe it is “more time equals more clients”.
- Less stress: Chefs talk about the stress of having to look in different places for different things. Is the grocery list complete, was the invoice sent, was it paid, do I have all the client info, etc. Having everything in one place to view at a glance would lift that weight.
- More professionalism: Chefs know that clients appreciate professionalism. To be able to create & send polished, professional proposals in a simple manner would immediately build trust and improve the likelihood of repeat business.
- Clarity on profitability: Real time insights will give chefs the visibility to run their business with confidence.
This is the future we’re building toward with Traqly: a tool that gives chefs back their time, their peace of mind, and their focus on what matters most – cooking for their clients.
A Better Way Forward
Being a personal chef is about creating experiences – not wrestling with proposals, invoices and spreadsheets. Yet, that’s where so many chefs end up spending their energy.
The good news is, it doesn’t have to stay that way. We are building Traqly to solve this problem – software built specifically for chefs and catering teams, not generic business owners.
We want to bring proposals, menus, clients, events, and payments all into one place.
Traqly is launching its beta soon. If you’re a personal chef, caterer, or believe you could benefit, we’d love to hear from you. Either send us an email at support@gotraqly.com or sign up for our waitlist at gotraqly.com.