Choosing a Location for Your New Restaurant !!!

Few factors have more impact on a restaurant’s success than its location. Intense preparation, exciting menu items and unbeatable service can all prove defenseless in the face of a poor location. Whether you are beginning constructing a new building or starting up your restaurant in an established location, educate yourself on factors like demographics, real estate value and local competition in order to situate your new restaurant in the best and most profitable place you can.

Determine Your Target Market

After analyzing your demographic region, you can plan to target a group of people based on one or more shared traits. Make sure you place your restaurant where your target market actually lives, or where they are likely to be. When you understand your target market, you can figure out what location will gain you the most business. Commonly targeted market segments include families with children, business professionals and sports fans. If your concept is meant to cater to families, make sure you open your restaurant in a location that will be convenient and enjoyable for families to visit.» More on Target Marketing for Restaurants

Look at Local Area Demographics

Chances are good that you already have a concept in mind for your new restaurant. Likewise, you probably have your eye on a certain town or city as well. As the prospective owner, it behooves you to do a little digging into the local demographics. This involves researching characteristics of the people who live in the town and neighborhood in which you are thinking about planting your restaurant. Some of the most important demographics to consider include:

• Age groups. Different people want different things from their community. As such, predominant age groups within an area will affect the business trends a restaurant sees. Ideally, you should situate your restaurant in an area with people who will frequent your establishment.
• Population. The number of people in a given area is also important. Research the populations of towns and cities so that you know how large your potential market is. Some restaurants do incredibly well in small towns; others do not.
• Income levels. By investigating income levels, you will become better aware of what the people in a given area are willing to spend, or what type of restaurant they would be most willing to visit.
• Education level. Educated people, including college graduates and young business professionals, are drawn to certain concepts more than others. The opposite is also true. Consider the education level of the population in the area and how it will affect your establishment before you set up shop.
• Crime rate. Criminal activity may be a detriment to some locations, since high crime has the ability to drive down an entire neighborhood. On the other hand, plenty of restaurants succeed in high crime areas. For example, restaurants with bars often find success in inner-city or downtown areas, which are often bustling with activity but usually susceptible to higher crime. Even locations with large populations may see more crime than smaller towns, but from a business perspective the larger city may prove more profitable.»More on Demographics for Restaurants

Analyze Your Competition

Explore your area for any restaurants that could pose a threat to your start-up restaurant’s success. If your intended concept is an Irish pub, but there are multiple establishments with similar concepts already in the area, you may consider looking in a different location. However, you may be able to lure guests who frequent the other pubs to your Irish pub instead, if it has something better or more attractive to offer. For any location you consider, perform some detective work. Map the area and research the other restaurants nearby, where they are located and whatever you can learn about their menus, prices and clientele.» More on Gauging Your Restaurant's Competition 

Consider the Components of Location

Be sure your concept and target market will be able to support your chosen restaurant location, in case of any setbacks. Little setbacks exist for just about every new restaurant, but paying attention to the details of your location can drastically reduce the chances of failure. Consider the following details and how they might affect your choice of location:good location.

• Visibility
  A restaurant that is located on a prominent corner at a busy intersection has high visibility. A restaurant like this may even be considered a landmark location. Conversely, a restaurant nestled in a grove of trees barely visible from major roadways will always battle a disadvantage simply based on its location.
• Area traffic
  Determine about how many people walk or drive by your prospective location each day. An area with a lot of traffic usually increases the chances that someone will drop in for a bite.
• Ease of access
  Even with highly visible signage, people will not come to your restaurant if they have a difficult time getting there. If your restaurant is located on a section of road with no easy left-turn into the lot, for instance, people may not feel compelled to go out of their way or make U-turns to eat there. One way to combat poor accessibility is with specific directional signage or easy-to-read marketing materials to help direct customers to your location.
• Parking
  People tend to get frustrated with restaurants that offer limited or no parking spaces. While ideally your overall concept and food will outweigh any negatives about parking, you should make it easier for guests to come and go in order to increase business. The easier parking is at your restaurant, the more likely it is people will park there. For areas with little to no parking, valet services offer an effective alternative.
• Area zoning
  Consulting with the local Chamber of Commerce or a city planner will help you determine any important future city zoning measures that could affect your proposed location. If zoning laws for the lot you are looking at are going to be adjusted in the future, it may be prudent to look elsewhere.
• Real estate value
  The real estate value of your location may be trending upward or downward and it helps to know what to expect. Higher property costs may involve a higher rent payment, but they may indicate a customer base with more disposable income to spend eating at your restaurant. Do your research and see what you can afford as well as what kind of business to expect.» More on Using Your Restaurant's Location

Your restaurant’s location plays a leading role in the traffic and overall business your restaurant receives. By researching area demographics, outlining a target market, considering visibility, traffic and ease of parking, you will be well on your way to mapping out the best location for your start-up restaurant.

Licenses Required For Restaurant Business (Not Exhaustive) !!!

 

Licenses	Issuing Authority
Health / Trade License	Municipal Authority/ Health Department
Eating House License	Police Commissioner
Restaurant Grade License	FDA
Liquor License	Excise Commissioner
Approval / Re-Approval of Restaurants (this is required for Liquor License)	Department of Tourism of Government of India in the State concerned
License to play music in restaurants	Phonographic Performance Limited / Indian Performing  Right Society
Environmental Clearance	Pollution Control Board
No Objection Certificate (NOC) from Fire Department	State Fire Department
Signage License	Municipal Authority
Shop & Establishment License	Local Municipal Corporation

Top 10 Tips for Developing Your Concept !!!

Restaurant concepts are only limited by imagination and budget. There are so many possibilities, how do you know what kind of restaurant to run? Here's a guide to help you decide.

1. Make Sure Your Concept is Different Enough

If there're a lot of traditional red-sauce Italian restaurants in your area, for example, then maybe you shouldn't open another one, even if you think your mom's recipe for lasagna is out of this world. Make sure that your concept will be distinguishable by the average consumer. The restaurant business is competitive enough without you having to go head-to-head with established eateries. Remember, one of the keys to a restaurant's success is having a concept that stands out from the crowd.

2. Don't Be Too Far Ahead of Your Time

While you need to be different, don't be so different in your concept that customers won't "get it." If you're too weird or too different, you'll have to spend too much time educating your clientele. Opening a raw food eatery in Pocatello, Idaho, for instance, may not fly. Do your research and make sure friends easily understand your concept. Remember, the best concepts are variations on a theme -- not a totally new theme.

3. Don't Price Yourself Out of the Market

Be careful your concept will allow you to offer menu items at prices that the market will bear. You may have a great idea for a fine steak and seafood eatery, but if you're planning to open in an area where poor students and struggling artists mainly live, you better make sure that customers who can afford your prices will be banging down your door. Remember that the concept needs to be right and the prices need to be within reach of local patrons.

4. Don't Design A Menu that Will Make Food Costs Skyrocket

Grandiose menus with many exotic ingredients don't pay off unless you're a top restaurant charging over $100 a head. Smart menu design uses the same ingredients over and over again in clever ways, so that food buying can be done efficiently. A well-thought-out menu will have chicken breast in one dish, for example, chicken stock in another and gizzard stuffing as a side, so that the entire chicken can be used, saving money on buying just breasts.

5. Make Sure Your Concept Will Be Profitable

Some concepts look good on the drawing board, but in reality they can't make money. Either they take too long in the kitchen, require too much labor, or cause patrons to linger and slow turns. Make sure that your concept will make money with up to 50% less business and 50% more costs. With spreadsheet programs, it's easy to change your numbers. Don't rely on the best case scenario. Stuff happens. Make sure your concept is flexible enough so that you can make adustments.

6. Good Concepts Are On-Trend

Strong concepts take a current trend like healthy fast-food, the rise in popularity of tea, or the growing love of Latina food and run with them. They leverage the popularity of a growing trend, not a fad. They deliver solid execution, fair prices, good service and offer menu items in an atmosphere that is current and popular. Remember that you'll going against the current if you try to be too avant garde or too retro.

7. Your Concept Has to be Easily Identifiable

If people can't pronounce or spell the name of your restaurant it's not good. Don't think it's uber trendy. If the name is too foreign or the font you choose for your logo is so unusual that it's hard to read, you're shooting yourself in the foot. Spend some time to come up with a unique name that is easy to spell and preferably starts with one of the first letters in the alphabet. The name of our restaurant was "Beyond Measure."

8. Take Inspiration from Other Sources

It's ok to borrow from other eateries and museums that you've seen in your travels. Maybe a museum in Texas had a great exhibit that gave you an idea for the lighting in your restaurant. Maybe a restaurant in Chicago had a cocktail that was dynamite and inspired you to create a similar one in Florida. Recipes and unpatented ideas are in the public domain and are out there to inspire you.

9. Make Sure Your Concept Fits the Location

So you had this great idea for a burger joint, but you lucked out and got a seaside location. You now serve burgers and fries in a place that attracts lovebirds seeking a romantic seafood meal. Oops! Maybe you should re-think your concept. How 'bout dressing up the menu and dining area for dinner, offering fresh broiled fish and offering lobster burgers at lunch, removing the candles and flowers from the tables.

10. Make Sure You Love the Concept

Any successful restaurateur will tell you that they created their concept because it's the type of restaurant they love to eat at. If you create a restaurant because you think it'll be popular or because a silent partner convinced you to -- beware. With all the time, energy, and money you'll be putting into the place, make sure you love the idea and are passionate about the menu.

5 Profit Boosters Hidden in your Restaurant Point-of-Sale System!!!

Your restaurant point-of-sale system is one of the keys to your smooth running operation - helping to keep the orders flowing correctly and the cash coming in.  But are you overlooking some of the ways your POS software could help you boost your restaurant's bottom line?   Here's 5 common features that many restaurant owners neglect - but that can make a real impact on your profit!

1.  Marketing 

If you are not tracking individual customer behavior with your point-of-sale system and tying that to your marketing program, you're missing out on a huge opportunity to connect with your customers, boost repeat visits, and increase ticket averages.   Your POS software may have a customer database, that lets you find customers who haven't visited recently or who love your Chicken Parmesan.  Your POS software may even have a built-in loyalty program, that encourages customers to identify themselves and lets you reward customers for purchases.   It may tie in to a marketing automation system, that helps you keep in touch with customers via e-mail, text message and social media.  Don't let the goldmine of customer data sit untouched!  Even a simple action, such as welcoming new customers with a follow up email or postcard, can make a huge difference on your bottom line.

2.  Inventory

No one likes counting cans and boxes and spending long nights doing data entry.  That's why very few restaurant operators use any of the inventory and food cost controls they've got built into their POS systems.  But you can make a difference on your food cost without getting bogged down in all the paperwork.  Just pick 5 high cost, high risk or "indicator" items.  High cost - like steak or cheese.  High risk - like liquor, beer or wine.  And "indicator" items, such as cups or boxes, which can point out when food items are going out unaccounted for.  Just pick 5 to start, set them up in your point-of-sale software, and count them on a weekly basis.  You'll learn valuable information about your operation, and send an important signal that you are paying attention to food costs

3.  Customer Groups

Does your point-of-sale software let you track house accounts?  Does it have an accounts receivable function?  Does it track businesses and hotels?  How about charity affiliation programs?  These bells and whistles are designed to help you make more money!  You may have never taken the time to set them up, but it's worth the investment in learning.  These features allow you to provide special service to some of your potentially most profitable customers, and those who will recommend your restaurant in the community.

4.  Labor

Of course, your standard restaurant POS system gives you timekeeping functions so you can feed your payroll system.  But are you taking advantage of all the management tools available to keep on top of this critical cost center?   Alerts when employees approach overtime can help your managers keep labor costs where they are expected to be.  Forecasting tools based on historical sales can help you build a smart schedule.  On-the-spot reports, graphs and alerts will let you know if your labor costs are meeting your goals. Teach your managers how to use these tools on every shift:  when to send extra staff home, or when to call someone in if labor is too low (as that affects customer service).

5.  Menu Analysis

Your menu may be a handed-down family tradition, or it may change regularly with the times.  But every item that earns a spot on your menu must pull its weight.  Do you know which items are most profitable, and which are costing you money?   Can you accurately predict how many lasagna dinners you'll need next Friday, so you don't end up with wasted food at the end of the night?  Which coupons are bringing in business, and which are duds? Buried somewhere in the hundreds of POS system reports are the answers you need.  Most restaurant owners get in the habit of skimming a summary report once in a while.  Take some time on a quarterly basis to review your menu performance reports, update your food cost comparisons, and evaluate your couponing. Use the information your POS system has been gathering to help make informed decisions to improve your bottom line!

Four Questions To Ask About Your Restaurant Website Design !!!

Your guests should never see this.

When you search for the term “restaurant website design” in any of the major search engines, you will come up with two types of results.  The first will be companies offering to sell you a restaurant website of varying quality at a wide range of prices.  The second and more prominent set of results will be articles complaining about how awful most restaurant websites are.  These complaints have become increasingly prevalent online and commentators wonder why so few restaurants build websites that enhances the guest experience.  That is why I have designed a list of questions to help you evaluate your restaurant website.

Having spent most of my career in the restaurant industry, as well as having designed a number of websites’ gives me a unique perspective on this issue.  I understand that designing a high quality website is not something that most restaurant owners have been trained to do.  This is something they will generally outsource to a website designer who knows very little about the restaurant industry.  A lack of understanding often prevents both parties from creating the best restaurant website design  to enhance the guest experience and effectively promote the restaurant.  The result is an under functioning website that fails to provide much value to restaurant owners or potential guests.

Here are a few questions to ask about your restaurant website design to determine if it is producing the results you need:

1) Where does your restaurant website rank in Google?  Type in your city and the type of cuisine you serve into the search bar on Google and hit enter.  If your restaurant website does not show up on the first page of results, your website is underperforming.  This can be due to how the site was written or external factors which can be corrected.  Regardless of the reason, your restaurant website design company should address search engine optimization to boost your ranking in Google.  Potential guests will often choose a competitor on the first page of Google results before even finding your website on subsequent pages.

2) How does your restaurant website design look on a smart phone?  Use a smart phone to find your website and look at the results.  If it is slow to load, fails to load, or is in font too small to read, then you are losing potential guests.  A growing number of searches are being performed on smart phones and this trend will only continue.  It is vital that your restaurant website looks good and loads quickly on a smart phone.

3) How long does it take to find the basic information?  Your restaurant website should feature the address, phone number, and hours of operation on the front page.  This should be presented in HTML rather than flash or as a graphic.  An easy way to check this is to try to copy and paste this information.  If you cannot copy it, a search engine generally cannot read it.  This can be devastating to your search engine ranking and incredibly frustrating to your guests.

4) When was it updated?  If you restaurant holds special events, limited time promotions, or receives any kind of publicity, this should be added to your restaurant.  While sharing this information on social media is highly advised, the best way to do so is from your website.  This means that you should maintain the ability to update your website to promote these events.  Whether you are adding the information in house or paying a monthly fee for updates, you need to make sure a procedure is in place for updates.

The real key to all of these questions is objectivity.  I know some of the answers might be tough to accept.  Each of these four issues has the potential to guide guests to your restaurant or to one of your competitors.  The internet is the single biggest source of restaurant recommendations for potential guests.  Your website should be designed to encourage guests to trust you with their dining dollars.  Providing them with a restaurant website that makes finding you simple and enhances their experience is one of the most powerful parts of a successful restaurant marketing plan.

How to Choose Restaurant Menu Items !!!

The Right Dishes for a New Restaurant Menu

Creating a restaurant menu can be overwhelming. What dishes should you offer and what should you skip? The ideal restaurant menu offers a balance of unique dishes and old favorites. It also has the right food cost to maintain profits (ummm…which is extremely important) and can be easily reproduced in the kitchen during a busy dinner rush. Avoid Food Fads on Your Restaurant Menu
Just like fashion, there are trends and fads in restaurant menu items. Remember micro-brew beers of the 1990s? They were everywhere. Low carb menu items were all the rage during the Atkins Diet phase. Like those Co-Ed Naked t-shirts you wore in college and your favorite Kurt Cobain-esque flannel shirt, some food trends are really popular, but eventually fade away. While you want your restaurant menu to be exciting and trendy, you need to keep perennial favorites as well. Think of a burger and fries as the little black dress of your menu. It can be dressed up –perhaps a California burger with guacamole and pepper jack cheese- or served plain. Either way, it has staying power with most menus.
Restaurant Menu Items Need to Have Low Food Cost
In order to keep profits up and prices affordable for customers, each item on your restaurant menu should be priced to determine its food cost- the actual amount it costs you to make the dish. Pricey ingredients (truffles, anyone?) will result in pricey menus. This doesn’t mean the food you order should be the cheapest available- quality is the most important aspect of creating menu items- but you need to balance high and low food costs to for a reasonable profit margin.
Keep Menu Dishes Easy to Prepare
Unless you are an ultra fine dining establishment, the menu items coming out of your restaurant kitchen need to be moved quickly and efficiently through the line. Any menu items that have fussy presentations can potentially bog down the kitchen staff during a lunch or dinner rush. This doesn’t mean food needs to be thrown onto plates lunch-lady style. You can still offer great presentations, but keep it simple. 
Items on a Restaurant Menu Should be Versatile
Cross utilization of menu items keeps food spoilage down and allows you to use ingredients in more than one dish. For example, if you offer a homemade spinach and artichoke dip, try to offer other items that feature both spinach and artichokes. It is also a good idea to update your menu periodically and remove items that aren’t selling. 

Planning for a Restaurant !!!

If you're planning on starting a restaurant, you've got a lot of company. In my experience, more people seek advice on launching a restaurant business than any other type of business. While that doesn't make your task easier, it does mean I can help with some tips.
To start, you need to plan your strategy very well. Your restaurant has to focus on some key elements that'll set it apart from the thousands of other eateries out there. These could be location, cuisine, decoration or even--good luck with this one--price. Maybe it's located where there's a lot of traffic, or across the hall from a gym, or near a bookstore, or outside a theater. Maybe there are no fish tacos in your town, or no good Italian restaurants. Maybe there are no cafes near the river with outside seating. You have to know why you're different. In short, don't try to please everybody generally; find your niche market, and please those people very well.
By differentiating your restaurant, you make marketing it much easier. Marketing is critical to restaurant success, but marketing can be expensive. And in most cases, the most effective restaurant marketing depends on repeat business and word-of-mouth. Think about how you choose a restaurant yourself--do you look through your Entertainment book or other coupon source? Do you research with a Zagat guide or online reviews? Or do you ask for recommendations from friends? Ask yourself how people will describe your restaurant and why they'll recommend it. If you can't put that short conversation into easy words, you're in trouble.
Also, if you have a choice, don't start a low-priced restaurant. Low-priced restaurants are much harder to market than mid- to high-priced restaurants. Fast-food franchises are everywhere, and they have a huge corner on that market. People believe in cheap food when they see strong branding and lots of customers. You don't want to be the dive on the corner that can't attract business.
Unless you're already partnered with an investor, you should assume you won't be. In general, restaurants aren't targets for professional investors because they're so risky. The few exceptions include celebrities who back restaurants that capitalize on their names, and well-known chefs and successful restaurant owners opening new venues.
Not having access to startup financing doesn't mean you shouldn't start the business. It means you should carefully decide whether you're going to start slowly, minding expenses, or borrow enough money to start big. Your borrowing options include commercial bank loans, which require assets you can stake as collateral, and SBA loans, which require less collateral than bank loans but still require you to put up 30 percent of the starting costs to qualify for the guaranteed loan. When in doubt about loans, go straight to your favorite bank and ask for advice.
Be sure to count your startup costs well. You don't want to get into a bind where you've spent half of what you thought you needed and you've run out of money. You'll probably have to rent a location and spend a few months fixing it up, and you may need employees some employees to help out during the fix-up period, too. Unless you're moving into an existing restaurant, you'll need to buy kitchen equipment, tables and chairs, cash registers, phone systems and décor to establish ambience. And then you need to budget for what's called "working capital" for the startup period when your spending exceeds your sales. Some say you need at least six months of expenses ready to go; others recommend having 12 months covered.
Your sales forecast is also important. I like to build a sales forecast based on unit sales, meaning meals and drinks, not just gross sales amounts. That helps me break the sales forecast into components I can count. How many tables do you have? How many meals will you serve on Friday night when the place is almost full? What does an average meal cost? How many drinks come with the meals? Then calculate unit sales, average revenue per unit and average cost per unit.
Then comes your expense forecast. With meals and drinks already priced out, your remaining operating expenses are mainly people, rent and other fixed costs. Estimate those per month, and match them to your sales forecast.
When all the costs are tallied, you'll get a good picture of the cash flow and how much money you'll need to keep the restaurant operational. During the early months of startup, your cash flow probably won't cover all your expenses, so you'll want your plan to include how you'll cover the difference.
Finally, as you get started, remember that business plans continually go out of date, and good business plans are never done. You should take an hour or so every month to review the difference between what you planned and what actually happened, and update your plan accordingly.