opening a restaurant?

[64-impala-ss]

I would like to open a restaurant but have no clue were to start are how to run one,any advice would be greatly appreciated on were to start.thx ahead

[BlackArcher101]

:eek: Probably not the best idea to open a restaurant then. Your best bet is to find a business partner that knows what he's doing.

[dj_rice]

You should watch the show Opening Soon on Food Network, it documentarys everyday people like yourself opening up a business, the delays, problems that arise and stuff...


But my advice is, first figure out what type of cuisine/ehtnicity is booming right now, next figure out a good high traffic location, then start thinking about the concept/design of your restaurant, do you want it sleek, sexy and sophiscated, hot, hip and happening or homey feel, then you need a chef who is going places


Thats just a few ideas off the top of my head....and last but not least, be prepared to move back in with your parents cause your gonna need all the extra money you can save into the restaurant, unless you got unlimited cash flow then :clap:

[2002civic]

Originally posted by 64-impala-ss
I would like to open a restaurant but have no clue were to start are how to run one,any advice would be greatly appreciated on were to start.thx ahead
your off to a good start...:nut: take some business courses or get involved in the industry before tattempting this as it can be difficult without past experience

[gp36912]

before you get started figure out what dj_rice said. then go ahead and make a small menu, figure out how much you need a month, how much you are gonna charge. do all the research before you start looking for a place to start the restaurant, so that you know how much you need to make per month or per week to keep your head above water :D its alot of research but if its done properly and done right. you could easily have a good thing going

[5.9 R/T]

Be prepared to bleed for at least a year.

[64-impala-ss]

wow already sound like its going to be a fun venture :(

[max_boost]

^^^
Werd.

There is so much involved I don't even know where to start. LOL

Anyway, how much money do you have?

You can start from scratch, find a location, negotiate a lease agreement and renovate a restaurant to your specs. You have to build a plan, and execute it.

Or

You can buy an existing business and set out to try to improve it. An established business can cost a few hundred grand but it will already have the clientele, marketing, everything is in place.

My family's restaurant was purchased for around $60k back in 1995 but is now worth many times that. Like 5.9R/T said, we almost closed shop in the first year, it was so brutal. If you work hard at it, there is nothing more gratifying than to see it turn around.

[topmade]

Restaurants have the fastest turnovers for any businesses simply because people just don't know enough about the biz. I used to do food supply deliveries all around Calgary and I cannot for the life of me tell you how many restaurants have changed owners and some go down as fast as they go up. Some people think if they can cook the business will come; NOT. It takes a lot of planning and advertising to start a successfull restaurant.

If you want to make money in a restaurant, you're going to have to do a lot of the work yourself because if you hire cooks and waitresses, then most of your profit is already gone. Only in big successfull restaurants the owner will not have to do much, but will still help out whenever possible to avoid hiring more staff.

Do your homework and if you need a loan from the bank for this, your going to need one hell of a business plan as they do not like lending to restaurants.

[max_boost]

Oh yah do you have any management or restaurant experience whatsoever? If not, oh man you have lots to learn :D:rofl:

My dad got so pissed off because of the turnover in the kitchen, he learnt the craft himself and is now the master. haha Which is good because it leaves me in charge to handle the operations. Maybe it's luck but I managed to increase sales by over 10% two consecutive years. :bigpimp:

[Graham_A_M]

I'd recommend you avoid the "entrepreneurship" courses from Mount Royal continuing ed..
I took one with Judy McEvans (I think that was he last name) and it was the most two-dimensional superficial look at business start up that I've ever seen. It was totally un-informative, and very "lax"... as an example, picture the exact opposite of Harvard business school. We had to take a questionaire if we had what it "took" to be an entreprenuer... which also included drawing a pig, I'm not joking..... It blew me away that some people "threw the towel in" and walked out because of a low test score on a quiz.. WTF? I thought: Your going to give up because a useless entirely un-official "test"/sheet of paper says "you cant be an entrepreneur"? I couldn't believe it, but the instructor and the poor students took the validity of that "quiz" WAY more seriously then it EVER should have been... I just thought that was unbelieveable, :nut: perhaps its good that they didn't take out a capital loan and invest their life into a business if they give up THAT easily.

If you want to start a one person food stand, Mount Royal Cont. Ed. is the way to go, but a VERY volitile industry like the food/drinking establishment/night club sector needs some very in depth knowledge, perferbaly from Veterans of a given area. I'd HIGHLY recommend the U of C's Hayskane school of business for that!!!! My co-worker for one used to aid people in start ups in the restaurant/nightclub industry. He never started up one himself: because you run yourself ragged the first year, with no guarentee at all that you'll even get out of the red... when that happens, you lose your shirt. There is not a single company in the world that insures business start-ups, its just WAY to risky. Therefore I'd definately recommend to go find an owner and/or general manager of a successful restaraunt, and pic his/her brain for over supper. Most people would be GLAD to share their expertise.


I think its **incredibly important** to know exactly what your doing long before you even check out properties to lease. Location and atmosphere is SO important IMO,
There is a small bar/pub near where I live called "Spades" its changed names 5 times over the last 10 years. So far under its current name, is lasted the longest.
Remember "Joker's bar and grill" ? I think a bad location and idiotic spending on radio advertising really did them in.
Professional advice really pays off, it might also be a good idea to check out who was in the potential leased space last, (if possible) and ask them what they thought of the location demographics and possibilities. Maybe the place is vacant because the location was awful for what they tried to do...

My old neighbour is Ray Joyce of the "Joyce Group" he used to be a business start up lending officer for a bank, so he'll REALLY be able to help you trim your business plan and offer priceless resources. Look him up in the white pages.

[snade831]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by dj_rice
[B]You should watch the show Opening Soon on Food Network, it documentarys everyday people like yourself opening up a business, the delays, problems that arise and stuff...

i LOVE food network!

[A790]

A lot of what was said in here makes sense. When my family opened our restaurant, these are the most important points that I picked out:

- find a location that will have an easily approachable client base. IE- near a major roadway, OR, in a community.

- make sure that your executive chef has a hand in preparing the menu. Give him/her a good amount of say in what they're preparing and you'd be suprised to see how much more enthusiastic they are.

- when you hire servers, make sure that they are friendly, approachable, and personable! People will keep coming back if they felt that they got to know the restaurant a little bit.

- the first three years are the hardest, bar none. Don't give up, and make sure that the value/quality is there and success will follow your hard work.

:) Good luck!

[64-impala-ss]

Originally posted by Graham_A_M
I'd recommend you avoid the "entrepreneurship" courses from Mount Royal continuing ed..
I took one with Judy McEvans (I think that was he last name) and it was the most two-dimensional superficial look at business start up that I've ever seen. It was totally un-informative, and very "lax"... as an example, picture the exact opposite of Harvard business school. We had to take a questionaire if we had what it "took" to be an entreprenuer... which also included drawing a pig, I'm not joking..... It blew me away that some people "threw the towel in" and walked out because of a low test score on a quiz.. WTF? I thought: Your going to give up because a useless entirely un-official "test"/sheet of paper says "you cant be an entrepreneur"? I couldn't believe it, but the instructor and the poor students took the validity of that "quiz" WAY more seriously then it EVER should have been... I just thought that was unbelieveable, :nut: perhaps its good that they didn't take out a capital loan and invest their life into a business if they give up THAT easily.

If you want to start a one person food stand, Mount Royal Cont. Ed. is the way to go, but a VERY volitile industry like the food/drinking establishment/night club sector needs some very in depth knowledge, perferbaly from Veterans of a given area. I'd HIGHLY recommend the U of C's Hayskane school of business for that!!!! My co-worker for one used to aid people in start ups in the restaurant/nightclub industry. He never started up one himself: because you run yourself ragged the first year, with no guarentee at all that you'll even get out of the red... when that happens, you lose your shirt. There is not a single company in the world that insures business start-ups, its just WAY to risky. Therefore I'd definately recommend to go find an owner and/or general manager of a successful restaraunt, and pic his/her brain for over supper. Most people would be GLAD to share their expertise.


I think its **incredibly important** to know exactly what your doing long before you even check out properties to lease. Location and atmosphere is SO important IMO,
There is a small bar/pub near where I live called "Spades" its changed names 5 times over the last 10 years. So far under its current name, is lasted the longest.
Remember "Joker's bar and grill" ? I think a bad location and idiotic spending on radio advertising really did them in.
Professional advice really pays off, it might also be a good idea to check out who was in the potential leased space last, (if possible) and ask them what they thought of the location demographics and possibilities. Maybe the place is vacant because the location was awful for what they tried to do...

My old neighbour is Ray Joyce of the "Joyce Group" he used to be a business start up lending officer for a bank, so he'll REALLY be able to help you trim your business plan and offer priceless resources. Look him up in the white pages.

Ya i took a simular course at sait & it was garbage