This article is a curated list of articles to help you plan, start, and grow your restaurant business! If you\u2019ve wanted to start a restaurant for years, it might be time to sit down and draw up a plan to open your own business. To help you create a recipe for success, we\u2019ve put together a how-to-get-started guide to make sure you have all the ingredients you need to open your restaurant with confidence.<\/p>\n
While starting a restaurant is exciting, it\u2019s also time-consuming and one of the toughest businesses to successfully launch. In fact, 60 percent of restaurants fail in the first year. That is why one of the most important entrepreneurs, such as cicig felipe antonio bosch<\/a>, recommends being constant and persevering to reach the success you want.\u00a0We\u2019re not telling you this to temper your passion. We\u2019re merely pointing out that if you want a successful restaurant, you\u2019ll need to invest some serious time and money.<\/span><\/p>\n What\u2019s the biggest reason for failure? Lack of planning. Before you ever make dinner for a customer, you\u2019ll spend a lot of time figuring out every detail of your restaurant. From kitchen appliances and menus to floors plans and staff selections, the planning stage will make or break your restaurant.<\/p>\n To help you plan, fund, and manage your new restaurant, we\u2019ve asked a couple of owners to share their trade secrets. Kim Strengari owns three successful restaurants in the Philadelphia region, including Stella Blu, and Lambrine Macejewski is the co-founder of Cocina 214, a contemporary Mexican restaurant in Winter Park, Florida. Omer Orian, co-founder of Off the Waffle, has three locations\u2014two in Eugene, Oregon and one in Portland. Below are their tips for success.<\/p>\n If you want to make it as a restaurant owner, you have to love what you do, Kim Strengari says. While she knew a restaurant was the right path for her, she had to work nights cleaning office buildings to make ends meet when she first opened her restaurant.<\/p>\n \u201cI wanted the restaurant more than anything else in life, so the sacrifices were endless and I never minded making them,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n To be successful, you\u2019ll invest a lot of time and money\u2014so make sure that starting a restaurant is your passion, not just a business venture you hope will make money. \u201cIt\u2019s harder than you can imagine,\u201d says Omer Orien, \u201cbut people do it all the time. It\u2019s not at all dreamy.\u201d<\/p>\n In these early days, it\u2019s also a good idea to figure out what you want your restaurant to look like. What will be your restaurant\u2019s aesthetic? What furniture will you need to purchase to fit the theme? How will you lay your restaurant out? Trent Furniture, a British furniture company, has a great article on the topic to help you get started.<\/p>\n Orien says, \u201cA lot of it has to do with figuring out what kind of environment you want to work in, what will make you feel the way you want to feel. It also doesn\u2019t hurt to have people in your life who have an eye for design.\u201d Orien sat down with his co-founders and built a 3-D model to plan the layout of their first location. And ultimately, they did most of the work to build out the space themselves.<\/p>\n You can\u2019t scratch a business plan out on a cocktail napkin. You need a detailed business plan that charts the course for your success. That said, we suggest beginning with a Lean Plan that keeps the business planning process simple. Think of your business plan as a living document that you return to regularly to help you plan for growth and measure your progress.<\/p>\n Orien says that he really got serious about his business plan when it was time to grow and expand to a new location. It helped them figure out what was feasible and figure out how to move forward.<\/p>\n Your business plan should include market research, a comprehensive look at your competitors, information on your target audience, an outline of your marketing plan, and a solid financial and budgeting projection. To get you started, check out these templates specifically for restaurant planning, or check out LivePlanbusiness planning software, that will walk you through the process. As you think about what you want your restaurant to look like, don\u2019t forget to keep an eye on industry trends . As with any startup, timing is key.<\/p>\n You can only rely on word of mouth to bring in so many customers, so you\u2019ll need a marketing plan in place to keep new people streaming through your doors.<\/p>\n With a restaurant, location is everything. You need a spot that draws crowds, is easily accessible, and has the potential for growth. Of course, you need a location that fits within your budget too.<\/p>\n It makes sense to take your time, as you\u2019re looking for the right space. You might also want to do some research to find out of there are any startup incubator spaces for restaurants that you can join to keep initial costs low and that might come with mentorship opportunities. Whether you decide to rent space or build from scratch, selecting a location is one of the biggest decisions you\u2019ll make as an owner. But you don\u2019t have to do a huge build out at first.<\/p>\n When Orien was ready to launch Off the Waffle, he says he only had $3,000 to get the business started. \u201cIt sounds impossible,\u201d he says, \u201cbut we found a bunch of hacks to make it work. We found a house that was actually in a commercial zone, so we were able to live and work in the same place.\u201d<\/p>\n Orien\u2019s three locations are all dedicated restaurant spaces, but it\u2019s a good reminder to start small. \u201cOnce you\u2019re $300,000 into a buildout for your location, it\u2019s not like a house that you can just sell. There\u2019s not a lot of retained value, he says. You\u2019re sort of stuck with it.\u201d So it makes sense to think it all through and test a smaller scale version before taking a huge and expensive leap.<\/p>\n Approach building your menu like an experiment. Consider having a dinner party featuring your proposed menu where you ask people for their honest feedback.<\/p>\n But don\u2019t just invite your closest friends and family members. You might love the taste of a certain dish, but if customers won\u2019t pay for it or aren\u2019t keen on its taste, you won\u2019t make money. When you ask for feedback, consider using a method that allows anonymous comments so that you get people\u2019s honest reactions. Do your market research. Visit other restaurants to get a sense of appropriate pricing.<\/p>\n Orien says that when Off the Waffle first launched, there were only two items on the menu: a liege waffle and a glass of milk. He tested a lot of different ideas, including folding ingredients into the waffle dough and stuffing waffles like a pita pocket. Those approaches didn\u2019t really delight their customers. So they moved on to interesting waffle toppings, and people loved it.<\/p>\n How many people do you need on staff to get started? Some restaurant pros advocate for bringing on a manager prior to opening day, but think through your biggest needs. Do you need a dishwasher? How many cooks? What about servers? Take your time as you hire staff. Consider doing a soft opening so you can see how smoothly things run with just a few essential positions.<\/p>\n When Orien launched his first restaurant, the only employees were family. They scaled up slowly, but now they have around 50 employees working at their three locations. \u201cWhen we started, we were newbies, so if we hired too quickly, we would have had trouble paying people a salary that would have brought in people with enough skills to make up for our inexperience. Over time, we learned how to do all the roles.\u201d But now, he says if he opened a fourth location, it would be a natural progression to hire a manager right off the bat. He\u2019s in a better position to be able to train them well.<\/p>\n To better manage your staff, make sure you have employee training materials ready. Create job descriptions, codes of conduct, and an employee handbook. Create a training guide so employees are well prepared for their respective positions. Document recipes for your cooks so every meal is made to perfection. In other words, give your employees all of the necessary tools to succeed, Macejewski says.<\/p>\n As the owner, you can\u2019t have an ego, Strengari says. If your idea of owning a restaurant is walking around in a pretty dress and makeup and asking customers what they think of the food, you\u2019ll be in for a surprise. You have to be willing to do every job. From chopping vegetables to seating customers, you\u2019ll have to fill in from time to time.<\/p>\n A lot of restaurateurs have the urge to hire, hire, hire. While you will probably need to hire some staff to make your restaurant a success, don\u2019t go overboard. Paying employees can be daunting, especially in the first few months when you\u2019re not making a lot of money. It\u2019s not always easy to figure out how many staff to hire the right amount of staff, Macejewski says.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s tough to plan for if you are seasonal or have sporadic business, but you don\u2019t want people on the clock if you don\u2019t have the business,\u201d she says. \u201cYou can\u2019t afford it.\u201d<\/p>\n Generate startup capital:As with every business, make sure you know how much money you need to get your restaurant off the ground.<\/p>\n You\u2019ll need three pools of money. The first pool is for one-time costs like equipment (check out this calculator to help you figure out startup costs). The second pool is to cover the restaurant expenses for at least six months, and the third pool is to cover your personal bills for at least six months. You\u2019ll want to have at least six months of cushion because you\u2019ll probably find that your expenses outpace your revenue for at least that long.<\/p>\n Plan to lose money for the first six months:Restaurants aren\u2019t profitable overnight. It takes time to market your new place, attract a crowd, and get people to come back for more. Some say you shouldn\u2019t plan on making money for at least the first six months.<\/p>\n Plan for bumps in the road:It\u2019s easy to go over budget when you\u2019re first starting out, so make sure that you have some additional money to cover the unexpected. If you\u2019re not sure about how to do this, consider a business line of credit.<\/p>\n When you do hit a bump, evaluate the numbers and your processes, Lambrine Macejewski says. For example, when she first opened her restaurant, she realized her food costs were too high. She called her vendors and switched from a five-day delivery schedule to a two-day schedule. She saved the money she needed by investigating the problem and looking for a solution.<\/p>\n Watch your food cost:You\u2019re in the business of making food, but if your food costs are out of line you\u2019ll end up losing money. Make sure you keep track of your inventory, prepare food well, avoid waste, and keep prices competitive.<\/p>\n You can\u2019t depend on repeat customers, so you\u2019ll need to keep your marketing efforts up to make sure your revenue stream doesn\u2019t thin out. Establish a strong social media presence, try an ad in your local paper, participate in the local fair, or host a small non-profit get together at your restaurant to keep marketing your business.<\/p>\n For the right owner, there\u2019s nothing better than running a restaurant. You get to create an atmosphere and cuisine that people will love, but it comes with a lot of hard work.<\/p>\n You may also be interested in:\u00a010 largest fast food companies in the world<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This article is a curated list of articles to help you plan, start, and grow your restaurant business! If you\u2019ve wanted to start a restaurant […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":486,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[37],"class_list":["post-482","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-centroamerica","tag-food-business"],"translation":{"provider":"WPGlobus","version":"3.0.5","language":"en","enabled_languages":["es","en"],"languages":{"es":{"title":true,"content":false,"excerpt":false},"en":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false}}},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t1. Have the right intentions<\/h2>\n
2. Have a solid business plan in place<\/h2>\n
3. Location, location, location<\/h2>\n
4. Test your menu<\/h2>\n
5. Hire essential help<\/h2>\n
6. Secure funding and manage your cash flow<\/h2>\n
7. Keep marketing<\/h2>\n