If you have recently started or are thinking about starting a business in the catering and hospitality sector - all the advice, information, goods and services you could possibly need to succeed will be served up on a silver platter at Start Your Own Catering/Hospitality Business.

Start Your Own Catering/Hospitality Business is part of a series of new features that were introduced at the last Business Startup Show, and we are pleased to annouce they are running again for this, our 26th show on the 17th and 18th of November, 2011.

Start Your Own Catering/Hospitality Business will have its own dedicated area at The Business Startup Show, existing as an 'exhibition within an exhibition'.

From fine dining to festival food stalls to beachside fish and chip shops - the catering and hospitality sector is broad, and also one of the most popular sectors for people looking to enter the world of self-employment.

According to the Office for National Statistics, the catering and hospitality sector had the fourth highest rate of business births in 2008, with 22,000 hotel and catering startups.

However, the sector also saw the highest percentage of failures, with another 22,000 business deaths. Only 34.2% of hotel and catering businesses started in 2003 had survived.

Don't let these statistics put you off of achieving your dream of owning your own wine bar, restaurant, cafe, catering business or coffee shop, or whatever format your catering/hospitality business takes. Just ensure your entry into the industry is as well-prepared as possible.

Do your research, refine your business plan, and get the advice you need before making a financial commitment. You'll then need to prepare budgets to buy or hire the necessary equipment to fit out your base - be it a mobile food van, restaurant or cafe - with food preparation/storage equipment and facilities. Then, start thinking about front of house design, branding, furniture, menus, suppliers, complying with hygiene and food and safety standards, staff, advertising and more...

It's an overwhelming to-to list, particularly for someone going into this industry for the first time. That is where Start Your Own Catering/Hospitality Business comes in. You can visit for free, liaise with our exhibitors and advisers, and come out with everything you need to know to help you get your foot in the door of your new catering/hospitality business - and give this business its best chance of keeping its doors open for a very long time.

There is much money to be made in the catering and hospitality industry for those who do it cleverly. There were 164,105 hotels and restaurants in the UK in 2008. Turnover (excluding VAT) for the sector was £75,526 million. Of this figure, enterprises with no additional employees accounted for £3,171 million (4.2%); those with between one and four employees produced a turnover of £11,922 million (15.8%).

If you want to be part of this success story and fulfil your dreams of self-employment in this industry, make sure you attend Start Your Own Catering/Hospitality Business at The Business Startup Show.