Blog for restaurants and gastronomic entrepreneurs

What I would have liked to know before opening my restaurant

What I would have liked to know before opening my restaurant

Starting a business is not easy, regardless of its line of business. In the restaurant sector the challenges are above all related to the concept, the competence and the location of the establishment.

Today we will give you some tips to take into account and that will be of great help before starting or getting involved in the restaurant sector with a business such as a restaurant. Before making the big decision to open an establishment, you must first be clear about the following points: 

1. Define your style and concept

This issue has to do not only with the type of food you want to serve, but also with the atmosphere of the place: will it be something during the day? Something nocturnal? Will you invest a lot in decoration?

This type of question should be asked when defining the concept / style of your business, taking into account not only the personal preferences of the owner (s) but also the trends of the place we choose.

Something very important is also to take into account that what is defined in this part should have an impact on the menu and on other operating issues.

2. Research your target market

Restaurants are not businesses exempt from this topic: it is extremely important to know your segment, preferably inquire and find out about it several months before starting. 

Some questions you can ask yourself at this point are:

  • What are the preferences of the diners in the area?
  • Will I have enough demand to be successful?
  • How much will my prospective guest be willing to pay?

Some tools that you can make use of are surveys: taking some of them during different days, in key areas close to where you want to put or where you put your restaurant, believe me they will be of great help.

3. Choose a good location

Many media agree that a determining factor for the success of a restaurant is its location. So it is impossible to neglect this topic! You may already have an idea of ​​where you want to settle at first, or have already done so, so feel free to reconcile that with the ideas that market research also throws at you.

4. Select and train your employees

The issue of personnel is something that will always have weight in the restaurant, throughout its life, so from the beginning you have to think very well what functions you will assign, what budget you could have for selection and training, as well as what professional growth you can offer in the future.
You can read our article where we give you tips to turn your servers into salespeople.

5. Create a menu according to your concept

For this topic, you have to look for a congruence between the concept that you already defined and the preferences identified in the previous market research (the surveys that we mentioned above). You could also take into account global trends, like now that vegetarian dishes or craft beers are in fashion, but this will depend on your target market.

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Have you already taken some of these tips into consideration? If yes, then the next thing for you is to prepare yourself for operational issues: plan the costs and prices of each dish well, know in depth the competition offer, hygiene and occupational safety aspects, sign up for our webinar "keys to opening a restaurant with SUCCESS" next May 6 at 11 am.


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