How to Start Your Own Restaurant

Did you know that the very first restaurant in the world was opened in Paris in 1765? A tavern keeper, Monsieur Boulanger, served a single dish, sheep’s feet simmered in a white sauce. Boulanger’s business was different from other food businesses, like cafes and inns, because Boulanger’s business was centered on food, not alcohol, like taverns, or coffee and tea, like cafes. Customers came to Boulanger’s establishment primarily to eat, and this was a novelty in the late 18th Century, where the population ate their meals at home or, if they were away from home overnight on business, at an inn. Opening your own restaurant can be very complicated at the beginning but first you start doing the correct things, you can accomplish your goal. Everything in life has an order while making things; this also includes starting your own restaurant. You cannot start by hiring your employees if you don’t even have the place or the concept of your restaurant, so the first thing you should do is choose the concept of your restaurant. Restaurants are classified into three primary categories: quick service or fast food, midscale and upscale. Fast food offers limited menus of items that are prepared quickly and sold for a relatively low price.

The type of food you could sell in a fast food concept are chicken, hot dogs, sandwiches, pizza and all kind of food that can be prepared in a minimum of time. That’s why it is called “fast food”. Midscale restaurants occupy the middle ground between quick service and upscale restaurants. They offer full meals but charge prices that customers perceive as providing good value. Midscale restaurants offer a range of limited and full service options. Finally upscale restaurants offer full table service and do not necessarily promote their meals as offering great value; instead they focus on the quality of their cuisine and the ambience of their facilities. The type of concept you will choose will determine your equipment needs, your type of table top items, storage, employee uniforms, how large of a building you will need, how many employees you will need to hire, your parking lot seize and what type of signs and type of advertising needed. The next step is choosing the correct name, it will help you sell your product, stick with your customers and influence your decorating and advertising. You will want your customers to be able to remember you restaurant’s name so it doesn’t have to be complicated and long.

Where are you going to put your new restaurant? Some important things that you need to take into account are the traffic, visibility, customer parking facilities, size of the place, the price, and its condition. Now that you have all of the above, you can start choosing your equipment and putting prices to the menu. The type of equipment you will need depends on the concept of you restaurant; if it is an upscale restaurant you need more equipment than if you have a fast food restaurant. Also the prices depend on it because one is cheaper than the other concepts. You need to make a list of the food you will buy and according to it make up your prices where you can have earnings but also accessible to the customers. Your restaurant needs to have signs so your customers find it interesting. How you can make it? Well, the messages have to be short, easy to read and understand by people passing by; change you sign’s messages frequently; use all capital letters and most important check your spelling and keep it clean. It is the moment of the funniest and also very important part, decorating your restaurant’s interior.

You already know that your restaurant’s interior design is one of the most essential aspects of your business’s presentation. The look and feel of your business is captured by the design of your dining room. It is the first thing most people notice when they enter your restaurant. For a better result on it, you can hire someone specialized in that area; but you need to keep in mind the paint schemes, artifacts, wall decorations, picture, architectural design, and lighting. Choosing employees who will do a good job is not only important to the success of your business, but will also contribute to the image of your establishment. While hiring your employees you have to interview them and be sure to ask all that you need to know to see if they have the profile you are asking for. Also be sure that the payment is good enough for them to accept the job, you should do research to find out what the pay rates are in your area. You’ll want to establish a minimum and maximum rate for each position. You’ll pay more even at the start for better qualified and more experience workers.

There are several categories of personnel in the restaurant business: manager, cooks, servers, busboys, dishwashers, hosts and bartenders. The salaries vary depending on the job they are doing. Every business needs a marketing plan and the most effective one is the word of mouth. People usually go to places that have been recommended by family or friends, make your customers have a good experience in your restaurant so they will want to talk about it and repeat the experience. Ask every customer how they found out about you, and make notes so you notice what you need to change or keep; another way to promote your food service is giving away gift certificates or coupons. Starting your own restaurant may sound very difficult but it is not, you need to do things in order to make it work and be easier for you. There are a lot of things that you need to do, some are more important than others but you need to take into account all of them because it is part of it. It can be very funny or stressing but it all depends on how you see things and the position you take while making it.

References

* Cruise, J. (2008, June). Americana Restaurant. San Diego Magazine 284-287. * Entrepreneur Media. (2013). How to Start a Restaurant. Retrieved January 27, 2013, from http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/73384-. * Entrepreneur Press & Dismore, H. (2006) Start Your Restaurant Career. Canada: Entrepreneur Magazine’s. * Lesonsky, R., (2007). Start Your Own Business: Your road map to business success. USA: McGraw-Hill Companies. * Starting Your Own Restaurant: Thinking about starting your own restaurant? Retrieved January 27, 2013, from http://www.allfoodbusiness.com/starting_your_own_business.php