Matt,
That will be a very long answer to both. Too many different variables....
Ok the easy one... Licenses and permits can be regulated by state, county and even city rules. Look at where you are planning and talk with the local bussiness regulations and their requirements. They will have the answers or the agencies you need to talk with. Someone on the forum may live in your area and have some more detailed info. But make sure you do your homework if you plan to be mobile. Things can change from city to city.....
Profite really depends on how you set up your bussiness plan. Even thoe you are mobile you will still have overhead to pay for, that needs to be factored in, but the big tickets things will take time to pay off, but the small ticket things will need to be covered event to event. Small ticket things to me are fuel, food, event fees, plates and anything else that is needed to execute the event you are at. Big ticket things are equipment cost, licenses, permits and anything else that covers multiple events.
Labor cost will vary. Even thoe you are doing this and sometimes have family helping. People still need to get paid for their time, so have pay scale planned, either by the day or by the hour. That is really up to you. I try to pay by the day so I can easily factor my event cost and the people go into it knowing what they are making.
Food cost is everything you use to make your dish. I have family who don't get that runs and sauces eventually get costly. Your yield out of the meats you are using will fluctuate, but they will stay fairly close, so wedge before you cook and weigh after. Then figure what portion size you want to use, it will vary depending on price and event type.
So now that you have your expense costs and the projected amount of guest you can figure your sales price. The price will vary slightly depending on your location, event type and even the time of year. I really can't tell you what to charge, but do reaserch of what others charge for the same or similar items and stay close to it. You don't want to go in and be way out of line and either sell too high or sell too cheap.
Hope this helps.
