How to Plan Your Restaurant Startup

If you love food – like, more than life itself – you may want to consider a restaurant startup.

First things first.

You have to figure out exactly what kind of establishment you want to have. While you can go in any direction you choose, generally, a fast-food or family operated restaurant startup is best for beginners. Regardless, you need to learn as much as possible about what it takes to run that type of business.

Determine a food concept.

Once you clearly formulate your idea, begin to draft the menu. This exercise will help you align your food concept with what you’ll actually be serving, although, your menu will undoubtedly change many times over until you finally solidify it. You may even play around with pricing, but it’s a little early in the game to implement the estimates.

Do your research.

You have to decide on the location of your restaurant startup, therefore, you must research zoning laws. You should also familiarize yourself with local customs and cuisine, what your competitors are serving, where you will obtain your ingredients, and how you will acquire services of special personnel if needed. Furthermore, you need to think about the kitchen equipment you’ll need for food preparation, storage, and cleaning (like Fog Tank). Clearly, there are a lot of factors to consider.

Keep researching.

You have to be in the know about your industry. While there are tons of different trends that come and go, you must figure out what your future clients care about, as well as what’s important to you. One way to do this is to wear many hats. Try your hand at book keeping, serving, cooking, cleaning, or hosting. This will help you understand what types of responsibilities you and your staff will be taking on.

Figure out the atmosphere.

When considering the type of vibe you want in your restaurant startup, ask yourself the following questions: Do you want to create a specific ambiance? Does it align with your food concept? What kind of clientele do you want to attract? Will you feature in-house entertainment? Do you have ideas about interior design, furniture, utensils, dishware, and server uniforms?

Expand your mind.

While you can always hire a consultant or a business strategist, you should take business and accounting classes to make sure you’re on top of your game. Every successful restaurant and restaurant startup has a business savvy owner behind it; one who knows how to make smart business decisions. It is crucial that you are fully aware of what your business venture is going to cost you – rent, insurance, permit fees, as well as payroll for your employees.

Get creative.

Marketing is one of the most interesting but deceptively difficult aspects of running a successful restaurant startup. You have to know what you will do to attract and retain consumers, and grow your business. If you’re going to create a marketing plan, you should read books and attend seminars about the best ways of doing so. If not, research PR and marketing firms that can take your restaurant startup to a new level.

Make a plan.

A business plan will either make you or break you, therefore, make it as accurate as humanly possible. You will need: a comprehensive description of your concept and target consumers, an outline of your menu and potential pricing, different types of financial information – including loans, long-term income, and expenditure – a marketing plan, an employee hiring and training summary, and, of course, disaster management and exit strategies.

Register Your Restaurant Startup.

Once you have your location and venue, register your restaurant startup, and take care of licenses and permits.

Now you’re open for business!