How to Open Your Own Restaurant

Opening a restaurant can be an exciting and scary experience. Before you decide to make your mark in the restaurant business, there are many things you need to consider. A successful restaurant requires more than money. Here are five things you should consider before starting a restaurant.

Time: Several Months.

Materials

A vacant space to lease or purchase
Kitchen equipment
Staff
A copy of Starting a Restaurant for Dummies

Method

Who are Your Target Markets?



Although your food may be decadent and savory, your food will not appeal to everyone. Capturing 100 percent of the food market is impossible but the good news is you can capture the majority of the market. When you are starting a restaurant, try to focus on a small five to ten percent of the market instead of the entire market. The truth is, you cannot please everyone, but the people you can please, make it a memorable experience.

There are food categories of customers you need to consider. When you are considering opening a restaurant, keep in mind the customers make the business. The five categories of customers include:

• Baby boomers
• Generation X
• Generation Y
• Seniors
• Empty nesters

Baby boomers are customers who were born between the years of 1946 and 1964. Generation X customers were born between the years of 1965 and 1980. Generation Y customers were born between 1980 and 2000. Seniors are customers who are 65 years of age and older. Empty nesters are customers who are in their early 50’s to age 64.

Style of Service



Opening a restaurant means you do things your way. Your style of service will determine the type of restaurant you own. There are three primary service categories, including:

• Upscale
• Midscale
• Quick-service

Upscale restaurant are the expensive, fancy, four and five-star restaurants that serve rare delicacies and similar foods. Midscale restaurants are a peg or two downscale from the upscale restaurants. Midscale restaurants have a calm and relaxed atmosphere, and there is not a preferred attire to enjoy a meal. Quick-service restaurants are referred to as fast-food restaurants. Fast-food restaurants consist of pizza, hamburger, fries, hot dogs, and sandwiches.

Choose Your Food Concept



Choosing your food concept may be more difficult than you realize. There are nine food concepts you can choose from when you are starting a restaurant. The nine food concepts include:

• Family-style
• Ethnic
• Steakhouse
• Sandwich/deli
• Bakery
• Seafood
• Pizzeria
• Coffeehouse
• Casual dining

You need to carefully consider the food concept of your restaurant. In this instance, consider when your restaurant will open and when it will close.

Working in a Restaurant



Working in a restaurant requires more effort and determination than many people expect. One thing you need to make sure of is that your restaurant runs smoothly. In order for your restaurant to run smoothly and effectively, you need the proper equipment. When you are starting out, you may want to invest in used restaurant equipment. Using this type of equipment can save you money that you can spend on other things for your restaurant. Using used restaurant equipment will give you a general idea of the things you need when you are ready to upgrade your equipment when business sales increase.

Writing a Business Plan



Unless you plan on funding your restaurant, you need to create a clear and concise business plan and apply for a loan. Your business plan should state what your plans are for the restaurant in thorough detail. The clearer and precise your business plan is, the better chance you have of the plan being accepted and your restaurant being funded.

Here are the basic steps you need to successfully start your restaurant. Owning a restaurant is a challenging task, but the rewards of serving great people awesome food is priceless.

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