There is a definite pleasure in feeding other people and seeing how much they are enjoying the food you give them. For some, that pleasure manifests itself in starting their own restaurant. However, no matter how great you might be at cooking and how good your customer service is, there are many other things you need to consider when you want to open a restaurant; passion and enjoyment are important, but they won’t make you successful without everything else combined.
Location
It doesn’t matter what type of cuisine you want to serve or what size of restaurant you want to have, the location is all important. If your restaurant is in the right place, you will have people walking in off the street and buying food from you. If it is in the wrong place and no one hardly passes, then you will rely on your marketing to bring people to you, and this can be expensive – it might not work at all.
It’s hard to find the right location for a restaurant, especially if you are hoping to open yours in a town or city that already has a lot of eateries; the best areas will be saturated, and they’ll be more expensive. So it pays to think hard about the best location and to make a list of pros and cons regarding it before you commit to anything. Factors such as parking and footfall are definitely part of what to consider.
Plan Your Dining Room
Once you have your restaurant, you’ll need to plan out your dining room to make it as comfortable and user-friendly as possible. This is important whether you have a large space or a small one. When you are looking for restaurant tables and other furniture, you should consider your budget, of course, but you also need to consider the space you have to plan. Here are some of the considerations to think about when choosing your furniture:
- Size of the dining room
- Size of the furniture
- How many tables can fit comfortably – you will need room in between for waiting staff and patrons to walk around
- Style of furniture
It can be tempting to put as many tables and their chairs into a dining area as possible as this will make you more money, but it will be too crowded and cramped, and people won’t be comfortable dining with you.
Promotion
Promoting your restaurant is always going to be important and should be part of your planning process. Make sure you set enough money aside for marketing because without marketing you won’t have enough customers coming through the door. Even if you are in a busy area, there is going to be competition, so your marketing is still important; it will show how you are different from the rest and prove to people that they should try you out. Once they are through the door you can wow them with your food and service to make sure they keep coming back.
Try having an opening weekend discount or something similar to entice people to come to you. You might make less money at the start, but when you have a loyal customer base they won’t matter in the long term.
