Tips for Buying a Restaurant

Many of us have always dreamed of owning and opening up our own restaurant. For some, it is just a dream, but for you, it does not have to be!
According to recent statistics, the population of the United Kingdom spent around £54.7 billion on eating out at restaurants during the course of 2017. In turn, this equates to about 11.5 billion visits made to nationwide restaurants – making it a large and profitable industry to be part of.
As you are probably aware, running a restaurant can come with some serious commitments which will require those running it to thrive on hard work and have a genuine passion for food and hospitality.
Why not start your journey by looking at what CDG Leisure has to offer in terms of the available restaurants for sale? This will surely speed up the process of achieving your dreams or give you an idea of what it is you are going to aim for.

 

Start With a Business Plan

business-plan
If you are aiming to buy premises, you should start with a high-quality business plan which will outline your budget and expenses to see how much you can spend on your restaurant, both the initial purchase and the improvements or décor that you want. Your business plan should outline the following:

 

What Is Your Unique Selling Point?

Look at the restaurants which your competitors obtain and see what is lacking from the industry in general and in your local area.

 

Location of Restaurant and Target Base

When thinking of buying a restaurant, you need to consider who it is your menu will be targeting. It pays well to have a fast-food-like restaurant on a high street and a higher end restaurant in a central or affluent area.

 

What Will Be Your General Costs?

In order to see how much you will have left over to spend on a building for your restaurant, consider all of the fixed and non-variable costs that you will have. This way, you can have a reference as to how much it will cost to run your dream restaurant.

 

Costs which are specific to buying a property could include:

  • Lease and professional fees
  • Refit costs
  • Staff uniforms if you are changing them from what they were before the restaurant became yours
  • Furniture, crockery and glassware
  • Décor
  • Marketing costs for a relaunch

 

Forecast Your Sales Targets

It is good to try and be as realistic as possible when it comes to how much profit you will make. This way you can also see what sort of premises will be best for your restaurant.

 

Find Funding

Once you have sought out a few possible properties which look suitable for you, if you do not have the correct amount of money in order to obtain one of these, then you should think about raises funds. Approach your bank with your business plan so that you ask for the additional funding that you need in order to purchase the property. Finding funding will also speed up the process overall.

 

Find Out Further Details

If you have found the property which seems to tick all the boxes and have decided you want to buy or invest in it, you should carry out an investigation into whether it really does meet your needs. You should check the following:

  • What insurance does it have?
  • What is the current business rate?
  • Where are the entrances, exits, fire escapes and rubbish disposal points etc.
  • Does the property have leasehold and if it does ask to inspect the lease? It is advisable to get a property with a lease which has at least five years left on it.

 

Finalise the Deal

shaking-hands
When making your offer, make it realistic as well as attractive. An aid to your offer will be your business plan and having the available funds ready to transfer over, this will speed up the process nicely.
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