HOW TO OPEN A SMALL RESTAURANT

Posted by admin at 2018-03-20 11:11:29

Learn How to Open a Small Restaurant

BY LORRI MEALEY


Small restaurants have many advantages over larger establishments. Small restaurants offer instant ambience and coziness and are ideal for a concept like a café or bistro. They require less start-up capital for equipment, maintain less staff, and cost less in terms of utilities and maintenance. Even with a small amount of seating, smaller restaurants can still produce sizeable profits.


Choose the Right Location for a Small Restaurant

No matter what size restaurant you are thinking of opening, location is one of the most important factors (if not the most important factor) to consider.

Planning a Small Restaurant Dining Room

Very small dining rooms, while offering instant coziness, can be somewhat of a puzzle when it comes to fitting in all the necessary pieces. The dining room, no matter type of concept you are planning, is the heart of your restaurant. A typical restaurant dining room design includes seating, wait stations and storage. While it may be tempting to cram more seating in your dining room than is comfortable, this only results in poor service, making it hard for staff to maneuver between tables and hard for customers to enjoy their meal.

Write Your Business Plan

No matter if it is a small café or a sprawling eatery/conference center, you will need a business plan to secure any kind of financing. Think of your business plan like a road map to success. It will lay out important items like your start-up budget, expected profits and losses, payroll, and other operating expenses. As you research information for your restaurant business plan, you may encounter issues you hadn’t considered previously, such as licensing, health codes and tax laws.

Promote Your Small Restaurant

High turnover and high check averages mean higher profits, even for small restaurants. Therefore it is important that you promote your small restaurant. There are many ways to market your restaurant, from traditional advertising like local papers and radio spots, to newer mediums like social marketing.

social media marketing campaign can help restaurants woo new customers, let you check out the local competition and think of new ways to reach customers through sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

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