Eating at restaurants is something that a lot of people love to do. Sometimes people don’t feel like cooking, or maybe it’s a special occasion where folks just want to get out of the house. In cases like these many people in the United States will head out to a local restaurant, and enjoy a tasty meal. According to one 2019 study, Americans eat out 5.9 times a week on average.
As the desire for restaurant visits increase, many entrepreneurs are looking into opening new restaurants. In 2018, there were 13,251 new restaurants that opened in the United States. That’s a 2 percent increase as compared to the previous year. In total, the restaurant industry reached 660,755 businesses. In light of these numbers, here are five steps to opening your own restaurant.
1. Buy the best restaurant equipment
To ensure that you can run a successful restaurant, you’ll need the right equipment. Having quality equipment on hand can help to ensure a business’s success. You’ll need items like storage containers, serving ware, cooking equipment, storage rack, shelving, safety equipment, freezers, refrigerators, food preparation counters, cutting board accessories, and steam tables.
Once you find these items through such distributors as True MFG, you’ll have a proper set of tools to jump-start your restaurant owning experience. Having the newest and effective tools on hand will help your staff to produce the food in an effective manner. Having out of date or low quality equipment or merchandise, can ensure that your business will fail in the long run.
2. Build the best menu possible
You want people to come to your restaurant for a variety of reasons. Great customer service, a nice experience, a mood and ambiance that goes beyond your customer’s expectations. Although all of these are important, the biggest reason why people should want to keep coming back is because of the food and beverages your restaurant offers. The menu for your restaurant will be what spreads word of mouth about your eatery. In the long run, you want to provide the highest quality materials possible.
For instance, say you’re opening an Italian restaurant in Lehigh Valley. Try to have a variety of Italian themed offerings on your menu, to provide a tasty eating experience for your customer. Whether it’s Italian sub sandwiches with quality deli meat or a hearty lasagna, you want to have a good idea of the items you will serve at your eatery. In addition to having a good list of main dishes, try to grow the other offerings as much as possible. For instance, check with your local beverage distributor for the Greater Lehigh Valley for beers, ciders and non-alcoholic beverages for your menu. Make sure that you have plenty of beverage options, such as Italian beer, to pair with your Italian food. Build a great dessert menu. Have appetizers ready to go, for those customers who want something extra on their plate.
3. Write a business plan
When you’re seeking out investors, or a business loan from banks, it’s best to have a robust business plan for your restaurant. You need to prove to these individuals why they should give you a sizeable amount of money to open your own restaurant. Having such a business plan will also help to develop your strategy and flesh out the feasibility of your restaurant’s details. The main components of such a plan include an executive summary, a company overview and description, a market analysis, business offerings, management, marketing, public relations strategies, and a financial projection.
4. Obtain funding
This sort of works hand in hand with the “write a business plan” part of the five steps needed to open your own restaurant. Two places that you can look toward for capital are potential investors or a bank loan. First, estimate the total startup costs that you’ll need for your restaurant to get started and the amount to keep it going on a day-to-day basis. Make sure that you have enough to pay for any food items or beverages, such as ciders or beers, you’ll need every day. Second, you’ll then need to create a budget and predict the next year’s costs for staying open. Once these costs are determined, then it’s time to reach out to potential sources of start-up income.
5. Hire the right staff
Your staff will be the face and lifeblood of your new restaurant. From the wait staff that provides quality customer service to those dining at your eatery to the chefs and cook staff making the food in the kitchen, hiring the right staff is essential to running a successful restaurant. You’ll first need to consider all of the roles which need to be filled for the eatery.
This can include a variety of positions including human resources management and supervisors, food, and beverage purchasing, receiving and storing products, food preparation, food service, food cleaning, and dishwashing, marketing, and sales. Look for staff with experience and the ability to multitask, for both front-and back-of-house-staff. When you’re opening a new restaurant, you want to have the most qualified workers on hand to ensure a successful launch.
