Have you ever dreamed of opening a restaurant? Have you started down the path with an innovative concept to get bogged down by the nitty-gritty of business logistics? Do you quickly lose sight of the vision that brought you down this path in the first place? Are you the creative-minded business owner that builds a quality restaurant but lacks the financial management skills to keep your doors open? Look at TTO websites to find more information about table top ordering systems for your restaurant.
Modern Restaurant
I would much instead visit a modern restaurant with a unique ambiance and an innovative menu than a boring establishment that keeps excellent records and paper trails. If you fall into the first category, you should feel fortunate because those attributes cannot be taught or caught.
With a little effort and patience, you can have practical management skills so that your dream continues to grow and morph as you build a remarkable customer base. You can look at food ordering system websites to find more information about restaurant food ordering systems.
After you solidify your concept, where should you start when opening a restaurant? It is always wise to start with a CPA before you begin your first bank account. Paying a few extra dollars a month is money well spent to ensure proper bookkeeping and tax compliance. Here is a good list of how to run a restaurant from the management side of the business:
Create a detailed business plan. Be realistic. I always encourage people to build different models representing how things will look if you reach top volume, average volume, and low volume, respectively.
- From that plan create a budget
- Create cash flow projections for the A, B and C model
- Create an employee labor spreadsheet and develop a payroll template along with positions you wish to fill
- Develop an employee handbook
- Develop your job descriptions
- Determine your break-even analysis
- Determine your start-up expenses
- Determine your marketing strategy paying particular attention to social networking
- Plan your menu
- Design your menu
- Determine your beverage menu
- Do you want to have a customer loyalty program?
- Develop a training manual/guide for new employees
- Develop incentive programs for your staff.
If these areas all seem like a foreign language to you? Or you can not seem to move past this point to realizing your restaurant dreams? Then consider hiring a professional job coach. Or find a mentor in the industry.
Often your local chamber of commerce will have a mentor program available to you where retired professionals in the industry are willing to meet with you at no cost. We are lucky to live in the Internet age because there are many tools available to you at reasonable prices. That will necessarily do most of the above work for you after filling in some of the blanks. You can look at the queue management system websites to find more information about queue management systems.
If you have the vision, do not let these mundane tasks keep you from opening a restaurant, sure to thrill critics and patrons all across your town, state, or the country!