These Tips will Help you to Start your Own Restaurant

If you want to turn your dream of starting your own restaurant into a reality, then you need to have a recipe for success. You can find out everything you need to know, right here.

Choose the Right Concept

The first thing that you need to do is have the right concept. You have to decide on the type of restaurant you want to run and even the customers that you are going to serve as well. A restaurant that is aimed at people in the city will have a very different menu when compared to a countryside restaurant, who specialises in locally-sourced produce, for example. You also need to think about how original you want your restaurant to be as well. If you are working in a competitive market, then you need to make sure that your restaurant has an original concept. This will help you to really stand out and it will also make it much easier for you to achieve success. For example, if you know that there are luxurious restaurants in your area, create something that is family-friendly. If you know that there’s a lot of fast food restaurants but none of them are Mexican, then this is the idea you should be using.

Research

Running a restaurant requires a lot of market research. You need to work out how you are going to be attracting customers and you also need to research suppliers too. Find out which competitors are present in your industry and also work out the cash costs and even operational logistics of starting your business too. A lot of experts agree that if you want to get the best experience when running your restaurant then you need to have worked in a restaurant first. This will give you the chance to see how operations work as well as helping you to see what happens behind the scenes. If you want to skip this step or if you don’t quite believe that this is the best way for you to gain the experience you need, then restaurant research is more important than ever.

Food Costs

Food costs will quite possibly be your biggest expense. It’s so important that you source your food from reputable suppliers and that you also remain loyal. If you do, then this will help you to build good relationships which can then lead to bigger discounts and better pricing. Margin pricing is also a vital concept. You need to make sure that your margin stands at around 65% after you have paid for the ingredients. For example, if the ingredients in a dish are going to cost you $5, then you should really be charging $15 for the dish. Your drink margin should be at around 20% for alcohol and it should also be 50% for any soft drinks you have. If you have this kind of information, then you can be sure to help yourself out with the cost of ingredients.

Premises

Location is vital for your restaurant. You have to make sure that your location is suitable. If you want to open a sandwich bar that is going to cater to office workers, then you have to make sure that you are able to set up in a busy city centre. This will give you the chance to take advantage of passing trade. Of course, rent is going to be a huge expense for your business so you have to make sure that you do everything you can to make sure that you are getting a good deal. When you are choosing your location, it helps to look at things from your customer’s perspective.  You may need to invest in a cooled chiller as well.

Hire some Staff

If you do not provide your staff with a good wage, then this won’t be doing your customers any favours. You may find that you end up losing your staff to your competitors and this is the last thing that you need. If you aren’t sure how much to pay your staff or how many staff you need, then you should take note that your staff should not account for more than 50% of your total costs. When recruiting, you have to make sure that you do it face to face. If you do, then you will increase your chances of finding higher quality staff members who are able to provide your customers with the best possible experience. Of course, when you are hiring staff, you need to make sure that they work well under pressure and that they are also passionate about what they do.

Business Plan

A business plan is crucial as it will help you to secure the funding that you are looking for. It should forecast your growth and it should also help you to show your restaurant concept too, Now is the time for you to know your target demographic and for you to also understand what they are going to be looking for. The more you do this, the more you will be able to stand out as being good at what you do.

Funding

The costs involved in starting your own restaurant can be significant. This is even the case long before your first customer comes in through the door. For this reason, you have to make sure that you secure your funding early. A lot of restaurants don’t make profit in the first year and this is understandable when you look at all the expenses, but that being said, you need to make sure that you have enough to power you through this difficult time.

Foods and Regulations

Cooking and even serving food will require you to meet certain regulations. If you are not careful then you may find that you end up breaking the law and this is the last thing that you need when you are trying so hard to run your business. Of course, you will also need to make sure that you look into the food hygiene checks that you will have to do, as this needs to be understood before your restaurant opens its doors for the very first time.


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