Did you know that 58% of people in the US eat out at least once every week? The restaurant industry is continuing to grow and if you are able to capitalise on this, then there’s no reason at all why you shouldn’t be able to come out on top. If you want to find out more, then simply take a look below.
Choose a Concept and Brand
When you start a restaurant, it’s vital that you have a very clear concept about your brand. Your restaurant concept will include the service that your brand is going to provide and the food you are going to serve. This will go hand-in-hand with your brand and it will form the identity, the brand and the mission of your restaurant too. Remember that your restaurant should emanate a specific atmosphere and it should also communicate who you are as well. This will help you to create a memorable experience for your customers and it will also help them want to come back time and time again. If you choose a functional and unique concept that targets a certain demographic, then this will help your concept and your brand far more than you realise. So think about it, are you brightly lit and casual with a mobile point of sale? Are you a Mediterranean restaurant with plenty of flowers and plants? The more you can think about your energy and your brand, the more likely you’ll be to come out on top.
Form your Menu
Before you even think about opening up your own restaurant, you will need to think about the food items that your menu is going to have. Deciding what is going to be on your menu is super important and you will also need to think about the equipment you need too. At this point, you have to remember that your menu doesn’t need to be fully designed, and it doesn’t need to be fleshed out either. You should however have a solid idea of what you would like to serve at your eatery. This will help you to boost your profit and it will also help you to update things as you go along.
Write a Business Plan
Writing a thorough restaurant plan is super essential if you want to reach out to investors or if you want to apply for a restaurant loan. It will also help you to develop your strategy so you can find out how feasible your idea is. The main components of your restaurant plan should include your business offerings, your management, a company overview and a market analysis.
Obtain Funding
It’s your job to make sure that you estimate the total cost that you need to pay to try and get your restaurant started. You will also need to work out how much you need to keep your restaurant running on a day to day basis. You can then create a budget and you can also predict from year to year how much you are going to need to stay in business. After this, you then need to assess how much money you have available to use for your funding. Remember to include the costs of your licensing and apply for a loan if you need to.
Choose a Location
If you want to choose a location, then it helps to plan out the overall design of your restaurant. If you are going to have a bar, remember you’ll need room for a walkway and for some restaurant bar stools. This will add on to the amount of square footage you need, so keep that in mind if possible. Visibility and accessibility need to be your first and foremost concern, so make sure that you are going to get a lot of cars driving by or that you are going to have plenty of space for parking. The demographic is also very important. You have to make sure that the target market of your restaurant matches the overall demographic in your area. Lastly, you need to think about the competition in the area. Some nearby restaurants can help you with marketing, but you need to have enough distance so that you can guarantee a good pool of clients who won’t be drawn to another place.
Permits
If you want to open a new restaurant then you have to make sure that you have all of the right permits and licenses. It can be very worthwhile for you to have some kind of legal counsel when you are filing for any kind of permit. This will help you to make sure that you complete all of the right steps along the way.
Find a Food Supplier
A consistent and reliable source of income at a very good price has to be established if you want to ensure the success of your business. A wholesale restaurant supplier can really help you out and it can also help you to get access to the prices you need. Remember that you’ll need to seek out restaurant equipment too, as this will help you to really make sure that you have everything you need to get started.
Design a Layout
When you start a restaurant, you will need to put a lot of thought into how you are going to organise your entire layout. This will help you to establish your menu and your theme as well. Your primary goal should be to create a systematic flow, from the front of the house all the way to the back. When you have a basic level of workflow established, you can then work on designing your restaurant layout.
Hiring the Right Staff
One major step of you creating your restaurant would be for you to hire the right staff. You need to consider all of the roles that need to be filled and you also need to look into your human resource management and your supervisors too. Dishwashing, food cleaning, prep and food services also need to be thought about as well.