So, you have the golden touch in the kitchen and you are planning to let the world taste your culinary skills, and why not? Those who have what it takes to create 5-star menus kind of owe it to the population to set up a restaurant business and if you are in the process of planning your own food business, here are some important aspects to consider.
Prepare a Business Plan
This should really be the first thing you actually do and the business plan will determine whether or not your business is feasible. There are many questions that need answering, including:
1. What type of business?
Fast food, traditional sit-down restaurant, diner, take-away, are just a few options, while you could opt for a food vehicle that takes the product to the customer. You need to nail your vision; who are you trying to attract? Passing traffic, local students, small businesses by providing phone orders and to-the-door delivery; you need to identify your target groups and figure out how to reach them with your advertising message.
2. What are the risks to the business?
Take out one of the restaurant insurance policies you find at the online commercial insurer and that offers you comprehensive cover for every eventuality. As the business owner, it is your role to minimize risk to the venture and a single policy can do that, with either an annual or monthly payments.
3. Where will be the business be located?
Of course, location is everything, even take away food needs to be within driving distance and we recommend you carry out some research to discover all the eateries based in your chosen area. Here are a few restaurant lighting tips, which might come in handy.
4. How much money will it take to launch the business?
Crunch the numbers and don’t leave anything out and when you come to a figure, is that within your reach? If you come up short, there’s always a business start-up loan, which spreads the payments over a couple of years.
5. How are you going to market the business?
Marketing strategies need to be clear and most of your efforts will be digital; social media is a very powerful marketing platform and we recommend hooking up with a local SEO agency for the best marketing results. Placing a small ad in a local newspaper isn’t going to cut it, rather you need search engine optimization that is ongoing, which will drive organic traffic to your website, where visitors can learn about your establishment.
A good business plan offers the reader a clear picture of what the business is all about; something a potential investor can read and understand.
Once you have registered the business, you can start looking at locations and with a lot of planning and hard work, your food business should make its mark on the local community. You will need essential management skills to keep things tight and efficient and make sure you choose the right people to serve and wait tables.
