Winning Business Concept

Formulating a Winning Restaurant Concept

By Lorri Mealey, About.com Guide

Questions to Ask

Figuring out what kind of restaurant to open will be one of the most important decisions you'll make. Once you make this decision, everything else will flow from it -- from the dining room design to what sort of menu to develop to how many people to hire.

There are a lot of things to decide on when formulating your restaurant concept. The most important questions to ask are, "What kind of restaurant would I love to eat in everyday? The concept you choose should be something you love, since you'll be giving your time, money and sweat to this enterprise.

The next question you ought to ask is, "What kind of restaurant does my area need?" Every town has restaurants, and the best way to beat the competition is to offer something a little bit different from the rest.

Instead of opening an Italian restaurant like the one down the street, think about something that your area needs. What type of restaurant do you wish were in your town? Open that restaurant.

Real Life Concept Examples

Take Will Goldfarb, for example. He's a pastry chef who wanted to open a bar that felt like people were eating in his kitchen at home. He recently opened Room 4 Dessert in Manhattan, where he assembles desserts right in front of his customers while his mixologist serves up cocktails.

Inspiration for concepts comes from within and also from trends you read about and see while traveling. There's a new market segment called Meal Assembly, for example. People who don't really want to cook, but who want to put a nice meal on the table for their family go to a commercial kitchen where all the guesswork and labor is taken out of the process. How about developing a restaurant concept that would build on this trend?

Concept Considerations

If you have your heart set on opening a lunch place where locals can order your mom's meatloaf sandwiches, then obtaining a liquor license probably doesn't make sense. Neither do white tablecloths. You probably will offer a limited menu of sandwiches, maybe some soups and a salad or two. You won't need a huge kitchen with an army of chefs. You'll need a line cook or two and a prep cook. You'll probably want to offer those delicious sandwiches for take out. Depending on your area, you may need to offer delivery. If you're catering to the downtown office crowd, you probably want to be closed at night and on the weekends.

The more formal the concept, the more complex the menu and the more people you'll need to hire. If you plan to start your restaurant on a shoestring, keep the concept simple and small to save money. Now that you're working on your concept, you'll need to fromalize a business structure and start securing financing.

Atmosphere

You should decide at the outset what kind of place you want to run. Will it have a scenic location with a great view and outside dining? Will it be a dark, romantic place for couples to dine? Will it be a casual eatery serving nearby office workers?

Knowing what kind of place you want to open at the start will save you time and money. You won't waste time looking for the wrong type of location and you won't waste money on design plans and buying the wrong type of chairs and lighting, etc.

Concept Checklist

A restaurant concept results from a combination of the following features:

1. Serve Liquor
2. Full Menu vs. Limited Menu
3. Take Out
4. Delivery
5. Catering

Concept Checklist as a Menu for Starting a Restaurant

The concept checklist contains important components of the restaurant business model. Each item on the check list will directly impact your revenue. Deciding not to serve liquor, for example, may be the right choice if you're opening a casual breakfast and lunch place, but know that it will limit your revenue and that you'll have to have that many more turns. Similarly, if you're opening a fancy upscale dinner restaurant, you may decide that delivery is not an option because your elegantly plated food will not travel well.

Use the concept checklist to decide how each items fits into your concept and business model.

Opening Your Own Business

From eHow.com

Coffee shops can attract a large variety of customers, from busy workers stopping for a quick brew on their way to the office to teenagers and students looking for a hangout. Opening your own shop can put you in competition with big names like Starbucks, Dunkin' Donuts and Seattle's Best, and there are a number of issues you have to address before you can open your café's doors.

Paperwork

One of the biggest hurdles to opening any small business is to file the necessary paperwork with local officials.

You will need a business license to open a coffee café, and different areas have different requirements for these licenses. The type of licenses you need may also vary depending on the products you want to sell. For instance, if you want to be able to sell alcoholic beverages in the café, you will need an extra alcohol permit.

You will also need to check on local zoning laws for the area in which you will start your shop. Find out exactly where the boundaries of your property are, as well as any limitations for use on the property.

You should be able to get all of the information you need regarding licenses, zoning and other legal requirements from local government offices. Some states or regions may have an office specifically set up to handle business, while others may have different divisions or offices for each license you need.

If you have trouble figuring out whom you need to see about certain paperwork, talk to local business owners in your area. They may be able to provide offices or contact information, as well as invaluable advice for getting your business started.

Business Plan

Put together a business plan for your coffee café to show to other parties who may take an interest in your business.

Business plans provide a basic outline of your business proposal for potential partners, investors, banks for loans and others who may be able to help you get started. The business plan should include details on your location, a basic outline of operations (hours, number of employees, etc.) and any ideas you have for managing the shop, including hiring and training employees and handling income and budgeting.

A business plan should also include a basic inventory for the business. List the equipment you will need to buy, the products you intend to sell (coffee, pastries, music, art, etc.) and initial pricing ideas.

The information in your business plan helps provide a general idea of what the day-to-day operations of your coffee café will entail, which helps investors, loan officers or partners decide whether they want to help you.

Advertising

Start advertising your coffee café before the doors open. Hang posters, hand out business cards and create a website for your new business. Advertise in publications that you know will reach your potential customers, such as college newspapers or local magazines.

Include advantages of your coffee shop in the advertisements: hours, products sold, any live entertainment or games you provide, as well as other areas of interest. Make sure you include your intended opening date in the advertisement, so people can stop by and see your new place.

Business Ideas and Tips

Restaurant Marketing Ideas

No wonder your restaurant team has a difficult time. There is so much to do. This is far from the complete list.

Overcoming the confusion is not so tough.

1. A simple chart can be used to show who does what and when.
2. A white board on the wall can show the game plan. The larger companies set up sophisticated manuals and software.

Each team member needs a list of what to do when. Train the restaurant team, provide the tools and remove the barriers. Support the team leaders and lead with a couple of thoughts:

1. Trust but verify.
2. Inspect what you expect.

Which of the activities on the list are the first to go when the day does not go according to plan? How soon do restaurant marketing activities get pushed off the list?

Source: Post by Michael Hartzell

Restaurant Manager

From Allfoodbusiness.com

The Manager:

Qualifications - Organized, tactful, friendly, quick-witted and calm, posses leadership skills, and an understanding of the hospitality industry.

Responsibilities - Be able to open and close the restaurant, purchase food and beverage supplies, manage the cash register, track inventory, hiring, training and firing staff; and creating work schedules and monitoring their performance, develop marketing strategies, supervise personnel and schedule your staff, resolving customers' complaints and ensuring health and safety regulations are followed, keeping employee records for hours and wages, preparing payroll and filling out paperwork for taxes, wages, employment insurance,etc., and tallying cash and charge receipts and balancing them against the record of sales.

Tips for Signages

From Allfoodbusiness.com

1. Change your sign's messages frequently.

2. Use all capital letters for your messages on reader boards and pole signs.

3. Keep the messages short, easy to read and understand by commuters passing by.

4. Do not make legally questionable claims. For example, "You will loose weight with our low calorie menu."

5. Have visibility from the direction heading toward your business.

6. Put your sign close to the road in the driver's or pedestrian's direct line of sight.

7. Put your sign in an area that would allow the viewer at least seven seconds to read the message.

8. Place your sign where there are no obstructions, such as another sign, building or shrubs and trees.

9. Keep your sign clean and if there are light bulbs, make sure none are burnt out.

10. Always Double Check Your Spelling!