How To Start A Restaurant Business

If you love food and have a knack for cooking, you might be thinking about opening your own restaurant.

But like any business, opening a restaurant takes careful planning and consideration. Not to mention, a solid business plan to make sure your business is profitable as soon as possible.

Here, we talk you through everything you need to know about starting a restaurant business, from market analysis to interior design and hiring staff. Let’s get into it.

Step 1: Define Your Concept

If you’re thinking of opening a restaurant business, you’ve probably already thought about what type of restaurant you want to open.

If you haven’t – now is the time to start!

Are you looking to open a fine dining restaurant? Casual fast food joint? Food truck?

What type of cuisine will you be selling?

Thinking about all of this from the start will help you refine your offering. Additionally, you’ll want to do a bit of market research to think about what gap in the market you’re trying to fill, so you can position your restaurant in the right way.

Once you’ve done this, think about your ideal customer and what they might want. That will help you refine your menu, source your premises and set up for success.

Step 2: Draw Up A Business Plan

Any successful business has a good strategy behind it. Before you start, have a think about how you want your business to run. Your business plan should include:

• Any potential partners or directors
• Sources of funding and a timeline to profitability
• Allocated costs and growth projections
• Company structure
• A sales and marketing strategy

Step 3: Legals and Licences

As a business that will be serving food and drink, you’ll need to invest in a few different licences.

Whilst some of these will need to be applied for once the restaurant is actually open, it’s worth planning them in advance. You will need:

Food Business Registration Licence: Registered with your local council 28 days before opening.

Food Hygiene Certificate: Not legally needed but definitely a good one to build trust with customers.

Alcohol License (If Serving Alcohol): You’ll need a personal licence for yourself (from the local council) to allow you to sell alcohol personally. You will also need a premises licence if you plan to sell alcohol on site.

Outdoor Seating Permit: You’ll need permission from your local council to allow people to sit outside.

CCTV License (If Using Security Cameras): If you plan to use CCTV to record consumer, you’ll need to register with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). Signs must also be put up notifying consumers that they are being recorded.

Commercial Waste Contract: Restaurants must arrange proper waste disposal to account for the large amount of waste they produce.

Liability Insurance: To cover hiring staff, customer injuries and protection against people claiming that are unwell due to your food.

On top of this, you’ll also need to register your business with HMRC. This will allow you to take payments, hire employees and lease a premesis.

Step 4: Sourcing A Location

Next, it’s time to look for the physical location of your restaurant. Think about who your customer base is and where they are likely to be.

For example, if you are running a family-friendly Italian restaurant, you might want a spot on a high street. If you are looking to open a cafe, somewhere near a park or with good commuter footfall might be better.

Speak to local estate agents to help you find the right location, once you have the lease, you can get going with the interior design.

Step 5: Logistics

Restaurant businesses require huge amount of logistics. You’ll need to manage staff rotas, make sure you have the right equipment and ensure you always have the ingredients needed on site.

If you’re running the logistics yourself, start by making a list of everything you have to manage and who you might outsource it to.

For example, your restaurant manager might handle all staff logistics, whilst your chef will be in charge of ingredients. Having a solid plan in place from the start can help you allocate roles and responsibilities.

Step 6: Operations

The next step in setting up your restaurant is getting all the operations under wraps.

You’ll need to do a few things:

Find suppliers: Source high-quality ingredients and negotiate with vendors to help you get the best deals. Lock in contracts to protect yourself during this process.

Hiring staff: A functioning restaurant needs a lot of staff. You’ll want to hire chefs, waiters and managers from the get-go, so you have the hands you need to help.

For part-time wait staff, try job boards, universities and community centres to help you recruit.

Tech: Your restaurant will likely need a lot of tech to keep it running efficiently, some of these include:

• POS systems, including card readers and tills
• Order processing software to allow waiters to share their orders with the kitchen quickly
• Online ordering and delivery systems, if you plan to integrate with platforms like Deliveroo, UberEats and JustEat
• Inventory management tools to keep track of what you need and when
• Staff management tools to help you keep track of shift work and timetabling
• Payroll systems, so you can make sure everyone is paid on time

Step 7: Marketing and Branding

So you have your plan ready, the staff are hired and the premises is secured. Now it’s time to get marketing.

Your marketing strategy will help people find you and understand what your brand is about. You should think about:

• Your logo, including the fonts and colours that will help people understand your offering quickly
• Discounts and promotions to help people get through the door in the early stages
• Setting up your business online, so people can find you. Things like Google Business for example make it easy for people to search local restaurants and see reviews
• Loyalty programmes to keep people coming back
• Speaking to local newspapers for an opening feature
• Collaborations with local businesses, to drive people your way

Once you have a plan in place, it’s time for the grand opening.

Step 8: Open!

So there you have it, your full guide to opening your dream restaurant.

Whilst there are a lot of elements to consider, opening a restaurant can also be a very exciting and fulfilling business.

All that’s left to say is good luck!