It’s not easy to open up your own restaurant. It takes a lot of time, money, and research to make your dream come true, but it’s worth the effort. This is what you need to know if you’re considering opening up your own restaurant!
Equipping Your Kitchen
To open up your own restaurant, you’ll need to make sure that it’s equipped with the proper tools and equipment before anyone can start cooking or serving food. You should keep in mind that restaurant supplies cost quite a bit of money; from drip trays to proper ventilation – everything in a modern kitchen needs to be made out of high-quality materials like stainless steel. This is usually the most expensive part and the thing that turns people around. Thankfully, stores like Nella stock all of the necessary kitchen and restaurant equipment, and with multiple nella locations, and pickup and delivery offered, it is now easier and more convenient than ever to equip your kitchen as you require.
If you are serious about this business you should have a business plan prepared that shows all the possible expenses at first, and a projection on how it’s supposed to be paid for in the future.
Location, Location, Location
Finding the right space for your restaurant is key. You’ll need to consider things like foot traffic, visibility, and parking. It’s also important to make sure that the restaurant is in a safe area with a low crime rate. The restaurant needs to be centrally located in a place where there are many people walking around or passing by. This is why you need restaurant supplies like outdoor banners, restaurant signs, and restaurant table tents.
On the other hand, if you plan on having food delivery as a major part of your business, then traffic is not much of an issue, but rather an infrastructure around you. Is the place you will be renting or buying spacious enough? Is it in a place where you can expand? There are a lot of things to consider before even starting to plan your marketing.
Marketing and Advertising Your Restaurant
The restaurant business is extremely competitive and you’ll need to do some serious marketing in order to attract customers. You can start by creating a website and social media pages, and make sure that you list your restaurant in online directories. You can also print out restaurant menus and place them in local businesses, or distribute restaurant flyers in heavily populated areas.
Having a happy hour or discount days is also good marketing. At the end of the day, you’ll need to advertise your restaurant through word-of-mouth. This is where having great restaurant supplies like restaurant table tents, restaurant signs, or restaurant banners and digital signage for restaurants come into play! These promotional items are extremely important because people tend to pass them around at homes or offices even after they visit your restaurant which helps promote it for months before new customers see your advertisement again.
Skilled Staff
If you are not a chef, but only a manager – don’t forget that the main cook is as important as you! The restaurant business is extremely hard, and it’s often the cooks that make or break the restaurant. They need to be passionate about food, hard-working, and skilled in their craft.
Finding the right employees for your restaurant can be difficult, but it’s worth it in the end. Make sure to post job ads online, interview potential candidates thoroughly and have a robust applicant tracking system or procedure in place. You’ll also want to make sure that you have a good employee retention plan in place so that you don’t lose your best staff members.
There are quite a lot of best places to eat in Baton Rouge that offer a variety of dining options with amazing and skilled service staff and a good atmosphere.
The restaurant industry is tough. From the restaurant itself to staffing, there are a lot of moving pieces that can easily go wrong if you don’t have a good business sense or knowledge about restaurant operations. That being said, it’s worth taking on this challenge because restaurant owners know firsthand how rewarding running your own restaurant can be! You get to set your hours and make sure everything runs smoothly for you and your staff while getting to do what you love–cooking amazing food for others who appreciate it as much as you do.
Infographic created by Clover, a Restaurant POS company