If your passion is food and work with people, you may think to start a business opening a restaurant.
Consider that like opening a bar, creating a restaurant from zero is not easy, and the competition is huge.
The key to success in the restaurant business is to plan well.
You will need patience, motivation, money to invest at beginning and experience managing a restaurant.
Also remember that on average 90% of restaurants fail in their first year. Of those who survive, 90% fail in their second year.
But if you win, the fact of own a successfully restaurant can be very rewarding.
In this article you will find the steps involved in opening a restaurant and the tips in order to succeed.
1 . Decide Your Restaurant Type
Before starting your adventure in this business, you have to decide which kind of restaurant you would like to open :
– Fast service, low prices : like many fast foods, you will give to customers quick prepared tood that can be eaten fast or taken to go ;
– Upscale restaurant, high prices : everything is focused on the food, the ambience, the service, the dinning is extremely pleasant.
Of course your decision brings you the responsibility to decide prices commensurate with the given service.
2 . Visit Some Successful Restaurant in Your Area
A wise idea is to visit each restaurant in the area where you wish to open your restaurant and take notes on what you like and what you don’t.
Of course you want to check the competition.
So, write down what makes a successful place to eat and, on the contrary, such as local instead are going wrong and with few customers.
Familiarise with the laws, regulations and other requirements of your country is necessary.
3 . The Theme of Your Restaurant
This is probably the most important decision you need to take.
To help your choosing, consider that people tend to visit restaurant close to where they live, so take a look to how many restaurant there are in your area.
Start to think about the menu and how you want your restaurant looks : for istance a Japanese theme with sushi and sashimi served or an Italian restaurant with pasta dishes in the menu.
Or else a South American place, with mexican food for istance or a restaurant dedicated to music or some other passion that you may have.
4 . Your Business Plan
You have to consider the amount of money you want to invest, with relation to the location, theme and future income statement.
It would be best to start with money you have, otherwise you need to seek loans to start your business.
You should also need an accountant and interior design or architect.
Your business plan is also used to request finance ( in the mentioned case that you do not have enough money) from banks or investors : so be sure to arrange everything.
Think if you want to operate independently or to start with a franchising business.
The amount of investment will vary a lot depending on your choices.
5 . Decide the Location
Before selecting the location for your restaurant, consider the potential clients in the area and make sure you understand the competition.
Also, think about the trends and consider the more people live in that area, the more potential customers you could attract.
For istance you may decide to open your restaurant next to an industrial area, in order to have more possibilities to gain customers.
Finally, look for vacant premises, for rent or sale, that can be suitable for your restaurant.
6 . Select the Furniture
When you have made all the previous listed decisions, another step is to choose and purchase the furniture.
Tables, chairs, furniture for your dining area, kitchen equipment, everything for your restaurant supplies.
Your furniture should of course fit with your choosen theme.
Set also computer systems for sales, orders, stock level and payments like salaries and purchasing stock.
7 . Licences
You should apply for all the licences that you need in your restaurant : you should get a permit to serve food, a permit to serve alcohol, and all your employees will need food handling permits.
Of course this depends from the country where you live : in some you do not need so many licences, in relation to other countries.
8 . Restaurant Staff
You will need staff for both the kitchen and the dining area.
A large establishment will require more staff in both areas. The kitchen requires a head chef to organize and oversee food production.
You should need cooks to do the cooking and plating and people to make sure the kitchen is fully prepared for whatever situations may come up.
A dishwasher to do the dishes and work on pealing vegetables.
The dinning area requires buspeople to clear and set tables. Waitresses to take orders from the customers to the kitchen and deliver the prepared food.
A front end manager to help deal with any problems and do do the imeadiant surpervizing of the waitresses and bus staff.
Consider that the amount of employees you will need depend on the size of your restaurant.
9 . Opening of Your Restaurant
It is time to open officially your restaurant !
You may choose to make a VIP opening, also for media and celebrities and why not, to your suppliers.
Or you can directly organize the public opening party and that’s all !
It is now time to make money and have fun with your new business ! Good luck !
