There are few career hospitality professionals that haven’t one day dreamed of opening their own restaurant. Perhaps you worked in a trainwreck of a café and thought “I could do this better myself” or maybe you had a life-changing positive experience working in a venue and you want to create the same vibe.
Whether it’s a restaurant, pub, café, food truck or hole-in-the-wall, you probably have the name decided in your head, and if you’re a chef you’ll already be dreaming of the menu you will create. We’re not here to burst your bubble, but there are certainly some more important aspects to consider before you take the plunge and hand in your resignation to your boss.
Here are the four most important questions to ask yourself before you open a restaurant:
Am I prepared to work BIG hours?
As much as we’re excited to see changes in the hospitality industry around hours and conditions for workers, when you’re the boss it’s harder to avoid long hours at work. Especially when you’re starting out, you’ll want to be there for prep, opening, service and closing and people will need you at all hours. If you’re not prepared to work hard for at least a year or two while you get started, you should probably stay on the employee side. But, if you’re at a point in your life when you can put your head down and work hard, the end result will be eternally gratifying.
Are you a good manager?
When you think of opening a restaurant you’re probably picturing designing menus and décor, picking out a location and liaising with customers. But one of the main tasks you’ll be faced with is managing your staff. From creating rosters, to dealing with conflict, managing expectations and acknowledging hard work, most of your time will be committed to keeping your staff happy. If you consider yourself a ‘people person’ more than a ‘food person’ that may actually be a good thing!
How much money do you need to set up?
This is a big one. Make sure you have a solid financial plan, with a projection of how long you can ‘survive’ before you begin making a profit. Can you go without paying yourself for a month (or two, or three) if needed while you set up? How many people do you initially need to open your restaurant? How will you train them? Learn what financial performance to expect and what your plan is to reach sales projections over time.
How long do you want to run the business for?
Perhaps you’ve got the next five years planned out, maybe even 10, 15 or 20. But what will you do after that? Who will take over the day to day running of the business when you no longer want to be ‘on the tools’? Make sure you’ve got a clear idea of the long term plan. We also recommend finding yourself a mentor who has done it all before as well as a good accountant, bookkeeper and attorney.
Once you’ve got a clear idea of what your business will look like, and the answers to the above questions, you’re already on your way to your dream venue! And we’re here to help when you start designing your menu with a range of versatile and convenient foodservice products that will save you time and money. We’d love to hear from you.
