23/08/2021
What to consider before opening a restaurant? Well to put it simply opening a restaurant is just as stressful as working in one and truly is it a path that not everyone should jump to take. It is extremely stressful, both mentally and physically taxing not to mention financially as well. I have experienced a lot of people who want to open up restaurants thinking all they had to do is throw money in and hire a staff and then expect that they will see profits within a couple months of opening their doors. This is like living in a fantasy world. No matter the area, clientele is always extremely critical of the experiences in new restaurants. So you must have all of your ducks in a row before opening. Then it is even more important that within the first month you and your staff work flawlessly or as close to it as possible. This means you have to allow your team to have time to practice executing whatever menu items as if they are going to be judged by food critics every time. If you have not achieved this within the first to third month it is highly unlikely that you will be very successful in the months to come and will likely see a decline in business. Which means the hundreds of thousands of dollars that you or your investors have put into getting the restaurant open will will be just the tip of the financial burden that's to come. Which could also lead to your restaurant just being a money pit. Most restaurants don't see true revenues until around the second or third year if they're lucky. Profit margins will be very slim in the beginning even if you've done everything right. I was always told that the most important aspect of deciding to open up a restaurant is location location location. But it has been my experience no matter your location if the food and experience is great they will come no matter what. Yes being in a high volume downtown area or high traffic area is ideal but if you don't have the guts of your business performing from front to back like an orchestra. You are setting yourself up for failure and potential bankruptcy. So if you want to open up a restaurant with no true knowledge of how restaurants are supposed to run or how to get them to run like they're supposed to you should think again. This means just because you like to go out to eat and you like good food and you go sit in and enjoy many restaurants that you still like the crucial knowledge of what it takes to actually run and or own one. Also keep in mind just because you may have ran some other business none Restaurant related successfully and made millions does not mean that you know what it takes to run a restaurant. This is a business that is like no other and more often than not like no other business in this industry no two restaurants are the same.
