This article is contributed by Jason Dirkham.
The majority of individuals setting up small business nowadays tend to focus on eCommerce retail. Now, this is relatively logical. After all, setting up an online business dealing in consumer goods is a relatively low risk venture. You don’t have to spend all too much money setting up, and if things don’t take off, it’s not necessarily the end of the world. However, if you’re a business savvy individual, it’s important to bear in mind that there are other money making opportunities out there. People aren’t solely sitting in their homes purchasing consumer goods with all of their disposable income. Huge numbers of people are still spending money outside of their home on services and experiences. You can cater to these individuals (quite literally) with a restaurant! If you pursue this venture, not only can you find yourself working in a social and friendly atmosphere based around good food and good times, but you can make a significant amount of money from your business too! So, if this sounds good to you, here are a few steps that you should consider taking to get things up and running!
Take Out Insurance
First things first, let’s focus on some legalities and securities. Before opening up a restaurant, you will want to take out comprehensive Restaurant Insurance. This will protect you financially should disaster strike. Focus on two areas: you want to protect yourself from damage to your restaurant itself, and you also want to protect yourself from claims that people may try to make against you when they have dined in your restaurant.
Start Out With a Food Van
A good place to start when attempting to get involved in the foodie community is a food van. Street food is in and there are increasing numbers of events that invite the public to meet up in social spots and dine from one of a variety of different specialist food vans. This is a particularly good place to start, as purchasing a van and catering to individuals from this van is a lot cheaper than opening a restaurant. It also gives you an opportunity to determine what menu items work and are in high-demand, and which aren’t so popular, allowing you to curate a menu that is all killer and no filler. Finally, you will start to build up a loyal base of customers, who return to these events again and again to purchase your food, and who will also recommend you to others.
Expanding
When you feel that you can expand from your food van and demand is on the up, it’s time to start considering opening up a more permanent location. This, of course, is going to take a lot of planning and preparation. But some key areas that you should focus on to begin with include location (you want to be based somewhere accessible with high footfall), interior design (people want to eat in appealing settings), atmosphere (which can be created through music and lighting), and perhaps most importantly, your menu.
These are just the basics of opening your own restaurant, but hopefully, they’ll help to get you started off on the right foot!
This article is contributed by Jason Dirkham.
