You would find it difficult to discover any other business field that you can invest in that can outperform the profit you would make running a restaurant business. The truth is that everyone eats, so there is already a demand side to the food industry.
So how then do you start a successful restaurant business? How do you tap into the profit in the restaurant industry? and lastly, What is the average restaurant startup cost?
I have studied the success stories of those who have made it in the restaurant industry and I discovered that running a restaurant business either as a small business or a startup company is not easy and is also full of responsibilities. Therefore, before you open that pizza shop or operate the food truck, I will admonish you to ensure that you are fully prepared for every challenge that you will face all the way.
5 Steps to Start a Restaurant Business
If you believe starting a business in the restaurant space is right for you, consider the following tips to help you get started.
1. Customers should always come first
A Korean adage says “The Customer is KING”. I know you are supposed to serve good food but still, many other factors will contribute to your restaurant’s success. The most important of them all starts with realizing that you are there to make your customers happy. Your restaurant should be an avenue to meet the needs of people in your community. It is after prioritizing your customers’ satisfaction that you can focus on having and growing a strong base of happy customers. I would advise you to try to focus on earning your customer’s trust first by making sure they are taken care of through the best services possible.
If there is one thing I always advise new business owners, it is that winning a customer’s loyalty is challenging and takes time, even if your menu is the best in the neighborhood. But once you can secure this loyalty from customers, you become part of them and they become part of you.
2. Thorough Research
In any business niche or industry category, doing your due diligence before any business launch is important for success. This is also important and applicable to the restaurant business, you must always remember that simply knowing how to prepare good food is not enough.
Make sure you thoroughly research the financial plans of old profitable restaurants around you, this includes setup systems successful restaurant owners use to promote consistency as well as the type of culture that will attract the best staff. As a restaurant owner, you need to understand the challenges of restaurant ownership before spending your planned budget.
Even if you’ve worked in a restaurant, there are still many legal, managerial, and marketing lessons to learn. For example, many would-be restaurateurs overlook local licensing and health regulations. Legal experts have stressed the importance of knowing local and state business regulations in your restaurant’s location, especially since state and even local government laws can be different. For example, there are alcoholic drinks that you cannot sell at certain locations in the northern part of Nigeria. Whereas in the southern part of Nigeria, this law does not apply.
3. Get experience
Getting your way around in the restaurant industry as a beginner can be challenging. If you do not have previous experience in the business, it might be essential to partner with or hire someone who does.
When you start your restaurant, you should not just work on the food preparation learning part. You should also remember that there is a management side of the industry for you to master. After these, you should then proceed to learn much about commercial leases.
You might have to understand how to negotiate commercial leases when you start. However, as a new restaurateur who is unfamiliar with commercial leases, you are advised to hire a lawyer who specializes in that field.
No matter how long you have worked in the restaurant industry in the past, always remember you still have a lot to learn when you first open your first establishment. There are a lot of things you have never dealt with before. Such as company website, employees, payroll, federal or state taxes, business bank account management, and Social Media Sales among others. You need to get a general knowledge of the workings of the business before you start. There are a lot of issues that people don’t see.
4. Learn to adapt
Change is the only thing constant in life. Just like every other industry, while food quality and service consistency are crucial for success, the restaurant business is far from being dynamic.
I have found over the years that you constantly need to be updating, renovating, and evolving with the ever-changing tastes of the public to be successful.
Your menu will constantly need changing to allow for newer, more innovative dishes. When you come up with your concept and menu, it should be flexible enough to adapt when your customers ask for something new.
5. The right location
Choosing the right business location is crucial. Without a good location, your restaurant is doomed to fail, no matter how great it is otherwise.
In the future, you won’t have to face the problem of moving your eatery at different times before settling on the best business location. The most valuable lesson you should keep in mind is that location can make or break your business.
You don’t want to be caught in the middle of nowhere with no market close by for ingredients for cooking or propane to cook. If you are allowing online orders you might want to consider staying close to or working with a Logistics company.
