Starting a restaurant is always risky. Recent world events have made it even more worrying. However, if you can offer a variety of options for your clients, from dine-in to catering to take-out, you could be well-placed to creating a solid and profitable business over time.
Start With a Cash Reserve
You will need a cash reserve to get your business started. Make a strong relationship connection with local equipment suppliers so you have the chance to get some things in bulk, some items on sale, and even some items used to keep these costs down.
No matter your restaurant format, a quality restaurant supplier can help you stock up on non-consumable gear. You can get all your commercial restaurant equipment from Ekuep and we can keep an eye out for more gear that will suit your needs.
Bank Your Initial Operating Costs Separately
Your initial operating costs will also need to be funded before you can open. These costs include consumables for your early food offerings, staff training and early promotions.
Guard these dollars carefully. If you borrow from the operating costs for those first six months to cover your initial opening costs, your startup may fizzle before the restaurant starts to bring in enough money to support itself, let alone support you.
Location, Permits and Licenses
If you’re leasing an existing restaurant, you will still need to deal with inspections and get your licenses and permits in a row before you bring in food or employees. You can save yourself a lot of learning with an attorney, though there will obviously be fees to get you rolling along.
The learning curve on these permits and licenses can get quite expensive if you don’t follow all the rules. For example, if you make a change to your business that should have been signed off by an inspector, you may have to pay to have it undone and re-done, even if you did it right! Each state has its own rules and regulations; be ready to study up on the permits you need to make it happen.
Be Consistent With Your Product Offerings
While you’re planning for these early costs, make sure you are consistent in your early offerings. Most customers who come to check out a new restaurant are patient when it comes to new staff challenges if the food is great. However, if they go back to enjoy that food again and you have completely changed your offerings, you may lose that client.
Carefully delineate between what is standard and what is a special. If you need to keep your regular offerings down to a fairly short list, avoid changing these unless they generate absolutely no interest. Consider posting a daily special via social media and if any of these really take off, add them to the regular menu.
Hire Smart
Your staff can make or break customer satisfaction. If you have a waiter or waitress who has a great eye on the floor, keep them happy with prime shifts. If you plan to promote them to a management position, make their hourly wage worth it. Too often, floor managers wind up making less than they would if they kept waiting tables.
Once you have great people in place, make sure you listen to their recommendations about other employees. Not every employee can be top-notch, but if they’re willing to learn, you have options. You may have friends or family that need work. If you hire your nephew and let him get away with things that you would not allow other employees to get away with, you will lose your best employees quickly. Don’t give out charity jobs.
While hiring smart, be ready to cross-train all your employees so you can cover all the necessaries in a rush or if employees have to be out.
Watch for Theft
Your restaurant opening will be chaotic. There are employees, particularly employees who work the cash register, who may choose to turn that chaos into a way to pad their pocket.
Your managers will be your first line of defense in preventing this risk. Try not to allow a new employee to work the register completely alone. Keep an eye out for voids and other indications of error. Making mistakes is human, but your bottom line is at risk if you have employees leaving with cash that is yours.
Watch Your Hours
Burning the candle at both ends means that you’ll eventually melt in the middle. Getting burned out means that you will lose your ability to care about
- employee retention
- food quality
- your reputation
Know what to hire out. If you need to spend a day reviewing your menu layout, do so. If you need to spend a weekend painting the interior, hire someone. Don’t burn time and energy on jobs that can be done more quickly by a professional unless your creative input is critical to the outcome. Choose the paint colors and turn the job over.
Coming back from burnout will be next to impossible when you open up your restaurant. Make sure that your initial setup work is both fun and focused to reduce completely wiping out all your energy.
Build a Loyal Customer Base
If your restaurant is open for breakfast and lunch only, turn your shop into the community scone stop, muffin shop or to-go breakfast sandwich place to count on. Ask for input in addition to your current offerings. Consistent offerings will build a loyal customer base.
Consider setting up a loyalty program on social media. Hiring a part-time social media monitor can make this much easier. For example, you can offer a free coffee and a muffin to anyone celebrating their birthday. You can promote new offerings, menu changes, the addition of live music, or holiday specials.
Be as consistent as possible to help customers celebrate their favorites. Handle complaints quickly and as fairly as possible. Express gratitude for first-time clients who stay patient if the staffing or food delivery is bumpy. Repeat customers are critical to a successful restaurant.