Owning a successful restaurant is hard because of the competitive market. With so many restaurants opening, it can be hard to find your unique niche. Common wisdom has it that 90% of restaurants fail in the first year. But actually it isn’t quite that bad. The actual number is is about 26%. But another 19% fail in the second year and 14% more fail in the third year of business for a total of 59% failure rate in the first 3 years. So obviously there is more to running a successful restaurant than just knowing how to cook grandma’s famous baked beans. If you have a desire to succeed, you need to study the secrets of successful restaurateurs. [note: the proper spelling is without an “n”.]
Location is Everything
Legendary marketer Gary Halbert used to ask his students this question, “If you and I both owned a hamburger stand and we were in a contest to see who could sell the most hamburgers, what advantages would you most like to have on your side to help you win?” The students’ answers vary. Some say “superior meat from which to make their burgers”. Others say “sesame seed buns”. Others mention “location”. Someone usually wants to be able to offer “the lowest prices”. But Halbert says the one advantage that trumps them all is “a starving crowd”. Now some may say this is actually a function of location. But without keeping this factor in mind you might misjudge what makes a good location.
When it comes to choosing the perfect location, you have a few choices. For example, it’s always great to find a property near colleges because students love reasonably priced meals (and always seem to be hungry). On the other hand, if you want to run a high-end restaurant, you may want to think about the business quarter and try to attract people during their lunch break or business meetings. But be sure to keep Halbert’s advice in mind and find the location with the “starving crowd”.
Getting Started
Starting a restaurant can be a very expensive proposition. According to Restaurant Engine “the median cost to open a restaurant is $275,000 or $3,046 per seat. If owning the building is figured into the amount, the median cost is $425,000 or $3,734 per seat.” So if you are on a limited budget (and who isn’t?) you might want to start small. Unless you have a lot of restaurant experience and a Culinary Arts degree, consider getting a food truck and visiting events (this will put you in front of a starving crowd) and give you experience preparing food and dealing with customers. If this small venture succeeds you can consider looking for opportunities to expand into things like catering, etc. and then when you do open your restaurant you will be prepared and experienced.
Create a Business Plan
This will be your guide through every part of the process – from choosing the space and hiring the staff to running your restaurant. If you have some experience, you can probably > do this on your own, but sometimes it’s better to hire a professional to help you with this. Think about this as a great investment in your future, and let someone with more skills help you learn all the tricks of the business. You need to pay attention to more details than you can imagine and, after a while, it can be tough to keep up with all the tasks you need to do.
Think about the Interior
Many people say that great atmosphere in their favorite restaurant is quite important, so you need to think about the style of your restaurant and make sure it’s in accordance with the type of food you want to serve. Think about some of the best restaurants you’ve visited and try to find the most appropriate aesthetics for your interior. The interior should follow your menu and the type of dishes on it to keep everything in the same style, just to avoid too much going on in one place.
Equip the Kitchen
Your staff deserves the best-equipped kitchen in the world, and it’s your job to provide them with a great working environment. The basic kitchen equipment consists of a great gas stove, enough baking ovens, a large fridge and a freezer. Local codes often require that restaurants have special equipment, for instance they might require that you have a professional range hood with special fire prevention capabilities. When it comes to other essentials, talk to your chefs and see what types of kitchenware and gadgets that they require.
Hire a Great Staff
Start by finding a great chef who can create amazing meals every single day, and a menu that will attract people. Don’t rush into making a final decision, but organize a tasting and invite people whose opinion you value. Satisfying your customers’ taste buds is what will attract them to come again, so don’t be afraid to offer your new chef an enormous salary.
Apart from that, it’s crucial to find the rest of the staff who will know how to do their job properly. You’ll need additional kitchen staff and this is a decision your chef should be included in as well because they all need to work together and get along. When it comes to waiters, make sure they know how to work with a full restaurant and manage different types of customers.
The only thing left to do is to create a marketing plan and start promoting your restaurant. Your satisfied customers will prove to be your best recommendation, so try to attract some local bloggers and experts who could spread some good opinions about your new restaurant.
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