Why Do You Want to Open a Restaurant?

Before you take that massive freezing cold water plunge of opening your own restaurant, it is a good idea to think about your reasons for wanted to do so. There are as many reasons as there are types of cuisine, but some are healthier than others – with more likelihood that they will give you a long term business, rather than simply a costly receptacle in which to pour all your savings.

You Love the Idea of Running Your Own Restaurant

Many people have a romantic idea about running a restaurant – they think they will make lots of new friends and serve them great bowls of steaming soup, earn heaps of money and be a celebrity chef quicker than you can say ‘Pukka’.

The truth is rather a long way away from that – running a restaurant is like having triplets – you’ll never have a moment to yourself again, let alone a good nights sleep.

Think about the actual reality of running a restaurant – early starts to prepare the ingredients, endless wrestles with drunken chefs and untrustworthy suppliers, the hassle of demanding customers and the endless stress of finding decent waiting staff. And that’s before you even think about what type of food and the joys of cash flow.

You Love Food

If you are a real foodie, this is certainly a good thing in terms of running a restaurant. However, this does not mean you will be good at running your own business, so make sure you get help with the business side.

Loving food certainly helps as this can really come out in the food you serve – think about a style of food, a theme of restaurant or an atmosphere you want to create, and then match the menu.

Common pitfalls, though, of foodies who start their own restaurant is that they do not put as much importance on the portion control, cost of ingredients versus the cost of the dish on the menu or the actually business side of their restaurant. If you are the chef, you will still need to have eyes and ears front of house, even if you employ a trustworthy manager.

You Want to Run Your Own Business

It is a classic idea to run a restaurant – also popularly disguised as ‘a little tea shop’ or ‘a sandwich bar’ – all of which eat money and take up all of your time! If all you are after is some sort of business to invest in and something to fill your time – perhaps you have retired early or are looking to do something different – then it is unlikely that running a restaurant is the best idea. Launching and operating a successful restaurant requires total dedication and a passion for food, dining and serving others.

You Have Plenty of Relevant Experience

There is no point thinking you can run a successful restaurant (unless you have deep pockets filled with money and will employ a crack team) if you don’t have plenty of relevant experience. That doesn’t mean simply the summer vacation you spent as a waitress after A Levels. You need proper, professional experience – learn about all the pitfalls of running a restaurant before you invest all your time and money into one.