This career is not capital intensive. If you are starting as a fresher, learning classes would cost you Rs.1,000 upwards.

Vegetables for the designs may cost you between Rs 200 - Rs 5000 for vegetables. Once you are an expert, you can start your own classes at home or visits on demand.

Earning Estimates

Basic salad decoration assignments will fetch you anything from Rs 500 to Rs 3000, depending upon the scale of work and client's budget. If you also teach salad decoration, you can easily earn around Rs !0,000 a month. You can increase your revenues by tying up with caterers, hotels and event management companies. That would give you an additional revenue of Rs.10,000 upwards in fees and commissions.

Spreading the Word

In the beginning, word of mouth is enough to get you small assignments. Don't be shy working for your relatives and friends. Once you gather some experience, you can advertise in newspapers and other media.

Timings and Assignments

You can accept or reject assignments as per your convenience. You can also fix the timings of your classes according to your daily schedule - either two hours daily or six, five, three days a week or only on weekends..On the day of assignment, be prepared to spend around a day and half working on it.

If you have a hectic job and still want to pursue this path, you can conduct classes during the vacations.

(With inputs from salad decoration artists Usha Renake, Sai Classes and Kavita Thakkar, Kreations)