Starting a Restaurant: Your 13 Ingredient Recipe

Business, Consulting, Cost Control, Food and Beverage, Recipe Costing

In this guide, the 13 steps or ingredients are divided across four main categories:

1. Prep : This is the preliminary market research stage you need to do before getting too committed to a particular restaurant concept. Learn to find the right location and conduct a feasibility study.

2. Cook: This is where things get real and you create the foundation for your success, craft a persuasive business plan, obtain funding, permit and licenses and build out your menu.

3. Plate: This is when you focus on materials, design and construction, building out the physical space of your restaurant. You’ll learn about designing the ideal layout, sourcing supplies and equipment and building the bar.

4. Serve: Once you’ve built your new hot spot, you’ll need to find, hire and schedule the right staff to service your guests. You’ll also need guests to dine and order, so you’ll learn to spread the word without breaking the bank.

Note: The ‘Ingredients’ are listed in the proposed order of completion.

13 key ingredients:

Prep

  1. Choose a Concept
  2. Research the Market
  3. Find the Right Location
  4. Conduct a Feasibility Study

Cook

  1. Obtain Funding
  2. Write a Business Plan
  3. Obtain Permits and Licenses
  4. Create Menu

Plate

  1. Design the Floor Plan Layout
  2. Source Equipment
  3. Build out Bar

Serve

  1. Staffing: Find, Hire and Schedule
  2. Market and Promote the Opening

Think about your favorite restaurant. Now picture your favorite dish. Just imagine what went into creating it:

  • a bold work ethic: the hard work of the chef, not only in the kitchen but in the years spent practicing the craft of creating mouth-watering culinary masterpieces.
  • a creative recipe: to make amazing dishes, you need the finest ingredients and guide to using them at scale. An unforgettable dish depends on a clear, careful, creative recipe.
  • an unbeatable spirit: a passion for food, meticulous attention to detail and an attitude undaunted by the stress of busy, high-volume rush order periods.

Starting your own restaurant may be a bit different from creating a delicious plate of food (okay…maybe a lot!) but it takes a resilient work ethic, a dazzling recipe and an unbeatable spirit.

When facing real challenges, a positive attitude paired with fierce discipline and commitment to success will serve you well when things get tough. Not only does starting a restaurant entail loads of research and planning, you’ll have to create a menu, craft a business plan, choose a location, obtain the right permits, and market your restaurant.

All this can come with the cost of late nights and weekends – and that’s only the half of it.

We can’t help you with the spirit and work ethic – that’s on you. But, if you’re reading this, we have good news. We’ve done the research and we’ll guide you through it. Think of it as a recipe you can follow – like the skilled chef – to make your restaurant dream into a reality.

On our upcoming blogs, we will walk you through each of the categories… stay tuned!