Thinking of Opening a Restaurant.

So you have decided that after all this time you have reached the point and you want to open your own restaurant, for the following reasons. It would be fun, I will be rich, I love to cook and everyone likes my food, it will be my place and I will hang out with all my friends and customers will become my friends and I will become a famous restaurateur, T.V. show book deals and travel the world. 

And why not all this could happen, but the fact is that if you think that any of the above are a good reason to open a restaurant then you are probably going to be disappointed.

Fist it will be fun, well yes it could be but owning a restaurant mean you are working when other people are off enjoying themselves. Forget weekends, holidays, your kids’ birthdays, Valentine’s Day, Christmas and New Year’s Eve. Those are work probably going to be work days.

You might get rich, you may open a restaurant and draw a wage, without actually cooking, managing or waiting on tables. But after wages, food cost, rent, utilities, repairs you might not. You might only make 8% to 10% if you can get people through the door. So if you are just looking for the money then think again.

I Love to Cook, cooking for a hobby is one thing, doing it for real is another. Cooking for friends and family is not the same as cooking for customer who are paying hard cash for your food. It is hot hard and stressful.

A Place to Hang Out, if you want to hand out with friends and play the host, have a party. Do not invest in a business you have no intention of running. If you are just going to use it to hang out with your friends, who is going to run the business. If you do not care why should your staff or customers?

You are going to be famous! It’s a fantasy, Celebrity chefs are everywhere these days. They have TV shows, cookware lines, commercials, food lines, book deals. Some even have restaurants. But think how many people work in catering and then think how many are famous.  Also think about before they was famous and it was all long days and hard work! You might make it big in the world of entertainment with your restaurant, chances are, you will not.

And finally just because you are a success in one business doesn’t mean you will be successful as a restaurant owner. Because you are successful in other areas, it does not mean that you will naturally be successful in the restaurant business.

What you do need it is to know that it will be hard work, long hours, constant attention to detail, constant watching cost, stock and then there is the staffing problem , good staff are hard to find and difficult to keep . You may have zero experience but you can learn and will find that it can be a very fulfilling and worthwhile experience.

But basically it is hard work. It may seem glamorous and fun, but it all boils down to hard work. Ask anyone in the food business, and they will tell you about long hours they put into it. It’s important to understand all the various jobs that are involved in running a restaurant. From bookkeeping, to cooking to PR, as the owner you are responsible for it all.

So you know that it is going to be hard work so now what.

First what kind of restaurant do you want to be fast food, fine dining, gastro pub, café, coffee shop, Indian, Chinese, and Italian the list goes on. You will know what you like to eat and cook and that probably will influence what kind of restaurant you want to open. But there is also franchise and with this you have pros and cons instant name recognition and built-in marketing, but owners must be willing to follow a stringent set of rules.

You need a venue, location is vital to the success of any restaurant. There are several factors to consider when searching for that perfect restaurant location, including population base, local employment figures and accessibility. And then there is the cost and making it fit to what you want to do.

Then once you have your location you need a Business Plan. Evan if you are not going to a bank you will need a plan. An outline setting your restaurant out and how you plan to make it profitable. Costing’s, market research, time lines.

The next big thing is getting to open. The longer you are shut before you open you are not making any money.  Fitting out your restaurant kitchen, dining room and bar is the largest part of your start up budget. Also if there are any building work or renovation on top of that. Shop around look for deals, do you want new or used equipment and leased equipment, or leased to buy. Understanding what you need and not what you want is important. You do not want to be buying unnecessary furniture and equipment, or suddenly deciding that knocking through that wall just after you have fitted the kitchen would be a good idea. Many restaurants never open as the money runs out as this is not planned. Get a time line and draw it out plan it out.

While you are doing this you need to be thinking about your menu, knowing how to price the menu will help increase your profit margins, giving you more money to invest into your restaurant. But you have to price it in what the market will take. Sourcing suppliers, organising deliveries and having everything ready to go on opening night.

And hiring the right staff for your restaurant. You can have the best food in the world but if you have bad service people will not come back. And do not hire a chef to flip burgers. What you need to do is sit down and go through what the service it that you want to offer, set that out and get the right staff. Experience reliable staff is important to help you succeed. 

The old saying “Failure to plan is planning to fail.” Well, this couldn’t be truer than in the restaurant industry. Restaurants have a notoriously high failure rate. The more you plan the better equipped you are, but no matter what you do you will never pan for everything.