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Starting a new or acquiring an existing restaurant is an enormous undertaking. There are several steps you must take in order to begin the venture, and to have a successful opening. Months and months of careful planning are essential. Defining the Restaurant Concept The restaurant concept or theme is essentially the image you want to convey to the public. But before you can even begin the process you must decide on the concept. During the early stages, some of the specifics of the restaurant concept will be tentative. However, once you have identified a potential location and worked through some of the financial and operational issues, you may need to make modification to the concept. Nevertheless, it is still necessary to develop a working idea of the restaurant concept so that you can begin determining the requirements for starting the operation. Many of the decisions that must be made when starting a restaurant will be driven by your initial decision about the restaurants concept. Defining the concept includes determining the operations: 1.Menu 2. Atmosphere 3. Prices 4. Target customers The Menu Although the concept is more than just the food served to most observers, the menu is the shortcut way to describe the concept. It certainly is the most important element to consider when developing a potential restaurants concept. At the early stages, it is not necessary to determine a precise menu or recipes, however, a general idea of the menu is necessary so that the restaurateur can evaluate the following: 1. Potential competitors. The number of restaurants offering similar menus will be an important aspect of selecting a location. 2. Sources of supply. This is especially important if the proposed menu requires special or hard to find ingredients.
Each year, restaurant business magazines publish statistics that indicate the potential of restaurants in various major metropolitan areas. The two statistical measures are the restaurant activity index and the restaurant growth index. a. Restaurant Activity Index (RAI). This measures the tendency of the population in the area to eat out. An RAI of 100 means that the willingness to eat out is the same as the national average. An RAI of less than 100 indicates a less than average tendency to eat out. b. Restaurant Growth Index (RGI). This measures the relationship of restaurant supply and demand. An RGI of 100 indicates an adequate number of restaurants relative to demand. An RGI of less than 100 is a situation where supply exceeds demand. Conversely, an RGI greater than 100 indicates that the area could support additional restaurants. One major problem with these statistics is that they encompass entire metropolitan areas. They are not particularly useful when trying to determine a specific neighborhood location. Therefore, it is sometimes necessary to conduct some informal research to gauge the potential of a new restaurant in a specific area. One of the most effective ways to evaluate the potential for a new restaurant site is to consider the competition. Since it is unlikely that existing owners or managers will talk about their operation to a potential competitor, you must accomplish this task by observation. This involves:
a. Identifying all the restaurants in the immediate area and estimating the total number of seats. b. Identifying the like competitors (i.e., those restaurants identified in a.) that have a similar menu prices, concepts, or target audiences. c. Narrowing the like competitors down to five restaurants that are considered to be direct competition. This is usually done based on one or more of the following factors: Reputation Similarity of concepts Similarity of menu prices Proximity to the proposed location.
a. Obtaining (or compiling) a complete list of the available furniture and equipment. b. Noting the age and condition of each item. c. Identifying any equipment that is unusable or unsuitable for the new operation. d. Determining if any of the fixtures and equipment is leased. Starting a new restaurant is not cheap. In fact, the cost of building and outfitting a free-standing, full service restaurant can easily exceed $1.50 million (not including land costs). Converting an existing restaurant site, therefore, can result in large savings. However, you should approach any conversion with caution. There are reasons why restaurants fail, and understanding those reasons is critical. With this in mind, taking on a former restaurant site may not be a good bargain if the costs of overcoming the flaws are too high. Operating Considerations There are literally dozens of steps that must be completed after deciding on the restaurant concept and determining where to locate it, before it is ready to open. These considerations are divided into the following categories: a. Administrative matters. b. Accounting and control systems. c. Marketing and promotion. d. Purchasing and inventory.
a. Health permit b. Liquor license c. Music copyright license. The requirements for health permits vary substantially between jurisdictions, with some areas being stricter than others. Virtually all health permits are granted only after the restaurant passes a health inspection. Therefore, it is important to understand the local requirements early in the process to ensure that any planned kitchen or dining room configuration will be in accordance with the local health department rules. The local restaurant association can often provide information about required permits and licenses. A word about music copyrights. If the restaurant plans to play live or recorded music (including music played on a iPod), it must obtain a copyright license from the appropriate music licensing agency. The two primary agencies are the American Society of Composers, Authors & Publishers (ASCAP) and Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI). Insurance Coverage. Restaurants typically have a significant amount invested in their facilities. Accordingly, the restaurateur should arrange for appropriate insurance coverage. Some of the common coverage includes: a. Liquor liability. b. General liability. c. Workers compensation. d. Fire. e. Business interruption. f. Burglary. g. Glass breakage. h. Contents. i. Sprinkler damage. j. Key person.
a. Print Advertising. b. Radio and TV advertising. c. Direct mail. d. Neighborhood fliers. e. Coupon programs. f. Public relations. g. Special banners and signs on the restaurant. h. Special meals or promotions. i. Pre-opening meals served for selected parties (such as charitable groups or reporters). j. Social Media The level of promotion that will be necessary to publicize a newly-opened restaurant will depend, to a large extent, on the restaurants location and its reputation. A restaurant that is located on a corner at the intersection of two busy streets may only need to place a Now Open banner on the building to attract customers. Similarly, an established restaurant that is opening at another location will not need to work as hard at name recognition, since the operations name is familiar with the dinning public. A restaurant that is not well known or well located will have to develop a budget and marketing plan to alert the public to the fact that the restaurant is now open. Once the site has been determined, the restaurateur should evaluate the menu and determine its effect on purchasing and inventory requirements. This usually requires that you: a. Finalized the menu. b. Establish a recipe file.
The expense of starting a restaurant, coupled with the high failure rate associated with new restaurants, dictates a very careful evaluation of the financial aspects of any restaurant start-up or acquisition. Banks and other lenders are traditionally very wary of lending money to beginning restaurateurs. Consequently, the owners capital, as well as that of his or her family or friends is frequently at risk. If the restaurant is not properly capitalized from the beginning it may fail because it is often not possible to obtain loans to tide it over until the operation gets established. My recommendation to anyone considering starting a restaurant is to complete the following:
a. Carefully evaluate the financial feasibility of your restaurant b. Project your total capital needs c. Project your operating results d. Assess operating results e. Determine worst case scenario. d. Get the proper assistance from the experts Starting a new restaurant venture is an enormous undertaking. Please feel free to contact us at 866-9035875 if you have any questions, or if we can provide additional assistance.