Setting up a restaurant franchise is one of the dreams of many entrepreneurs who love food and drink. The franchises facilitate access to profitable restoration models, with guarantees and without the need to start from scratch.
But what is essential for your business, whether franchise or not, is to choose the right location and developing a viable business plan. If this is your case, we explain some fundamental elements that you must take into account.
1.Ask yourself the right questions
Opening a restaurant is an important decision that requires thinking about your project. That’s why every year hundreds of restaurants are closed. To avoid finding yourself in this situation, you need to ask yourself these questions:
- Are you motivated enough to start your own restaurant?
- Do you have the skills to run this type of business?
- Is your personal life in line with your professional goals?
2.Develop a concept
There are two ways to find a good restaurant concept: to propose an idea related to your history (your origins, your travels, your tastes, etc.) or to choose a concept that meets an unsatisfied demand (high-end restaurant, catering fast, tasting in the dark).
Once you have an outline of your idea in mind, you need to think about several things: the name of your restaurant, its location, the menu, the drinks, the type of prices, the ambience and decor of your restaurant and the level of service.
3.Conduct a market study
Restaurant’s market research will help you in determining the viability of your project by analyzing the restaurant sector in your target area. You must know through it your competitors, potential suppliers, customers, and expectations.
The purpose of this study is to see whether it is interesting to “get started.” You should also learn from this analysis about your offer, your pricing position, and how to attract a maximum number of customers.
During your market research, you must do a field study. This is the most important part because you will meet your future clientele and establish factors like:
- types of dishes (gourmet, fast, brewery, etc.)
- sources of motivation (price, quality of service, “homemade,” etc.)
- the obstacles (budget, notoriety, etc.)
You will also be able to establish a profile of the local clientele:
- customer profile (gender, age, and professional activity)
- consumption habits (where does lunch and dinner usually, the frequency of meals in restaurants, etc.)
- the hours and days of meals,
- their level of satisfaction
4.Choose your location wisely
One of the most critical aspects of a restaurant business is the location. This will be a determining factor since in most cases and it will define the success or failure of our project. Logically, there are different locations for different needs.
For example, an attractive establishment near the administrative office area could be convenient for you. If you were to try a place near the centre of the city, the best would be a fast food place.
The location of your restaurant is consistent with the type of customers you have in mind. That is, if the menu items are relatively expensive, you will locate your restaurant in a residential area where high-income people live.
In the same way, if the income of the people living in the chosen area is lower, your menu should be cheaper.
5.Invest in equipment and supply
You will need refrigerators, freezers and a refrigerated room in your restaurant. The latter is used to store food such as lettuce, meat, and different sauces. You will need to have some finance in place to ensure you can purchase everything you need.
You can also save the leftovers left over after the closing time. Among the equipment, you can have ovens, stoves, irons, kitchen tables, cabinets and a system for sales.
This system includes the cash register and electronic devices where waiters can take and receive orders. This system will also serve to have a digital control of sales and expenses.
Other items included in the list of equipment and supplies are automatic beverage machines, pots, pans, utensils, can openers, chopping boards, cutlery, and gloves.
6.Recruitment and training of employees
The number of employees you will need depends directly on the size of your restaurant. If your establishment will be opening for many hours, the number of employees will increase.
If your restaurant is small, you can start by hiring a relative or acquaintance, which will decrease the amount of work. Hire an administrator if there is more than one shift within the posts.
You can post ads in newspapers asking for help. If you hire people who already have experience, your performance will be better from the first day; consistently train your employees as you want them to work.
Let them know the size of the dishes and the ingredients included in each one. One of the most significant expenses you will encounter will be food and condiments.
7.Offer quality services
The most critical aspects in dealing with customers are hospitality, quality, service, and cleanliness. People associate a restaurant with the employees they have.
People also expect to be served good quality food with reduced waiting time. For example, hot dishes should be served as if they were freshly prepared. Food that has been stored for a long time should be thrown away.
Manage at least one employee to take care of cleaning floors and windows. A dirty restaurant will not attract people. If the tables and floors in your restaurant are dirty, your sales will be reduced.
Once your business is ready to kick-off, do not forget to advertise. Study the advertisement techniques used by your competitors.
If other restaurants are constantly advertised in offer magazines, it is because they are receiving large profits from there. Organize an opening event for your restaurant with effects that attract people, such as posters, balloons, and music, according to the type of restaurant you will open.
You can even contact the local newspaper or television newscast. Ask the reporters if they can promote your establishment in their different articles.