Restaurant Business Plan Problems

There are many reasons why restaurant business plans wind up failing. Here's a scenario that you want to avoid and do:

This is About Me, Never Mind the Problem
In this kind of plan, the restaurant operator is hung up with the elegance of his technology. The plan begins not with the identification of a customer problem to resolve, but with a detailed explanation of how the technology works, why it is cutting-edge or state-of-the-art, and how it is better, faster and cheaper than current solutions in the restaurant industry.

A me first plan sends a clear signal that the writer’s priorities are warped. What matters more than great technology or a great idea is the problem or pain that the new solution or technology resolves.

Best Approach
A better way to go is that a restaurant business plan starts with a clearly defined problem—something that’s really troubling or compelling—supported by evidence from marketing research, testimonials, letters of intent, or whatever, that the pain is. If you can convince your readers that this problem is real, they’ll be hooked. We're referring to your investors or Angel investors.

Synergy Restaurant Consultants have been helping clients for over 20 years, reach out and tell us about your restaurant business plan troubles, we can help, call or contact us for a free consultation.

United Plates of America

There could be a new show coming out from NBC. Synergy Restaurant Consultants enabled Magical Elves, the producers of the Emmy Award Winning "Top Chef" to successfully pitch the next great restaurant competition show to NBC.

"United Plates of America" will offer the greatest prize in reality show history: a chance to open a four restaurant chain across America.

The contestant's will compete before a panel of real investors who will fund the chain of start up restaurants with their own money. As the competitors chase their culinary dream, home viewers will also be fully engaged with interactive elements online at NBC.com.

Magical Elves COO Ross Jacobson explained, "As the producers of Top Chef, we know the food world quite well, but the inner-workings of how restaurants open and how restaurants are operated was a bit more foreign to us.

Synergy delivered precisely the analysis we needed well within the aggressive timeline we had set. As a result, we were able to take a very well thought out restaurant feasibility plan to NBC that had a very detailed breakdown of the costs associated with the endeavor as well as a timeline for us to work from. In the end, NBC ordered the project to series and the work Synergy Consultants did for us was invaluable.

Why Use Restaurant Consultants?

Statistics shows that 60 to 70% of restaurant establishment utilizes consultants. Restaurant Consultants like Synergy specializes in helping overworked restaurants, food, address aspects of their programs that they might not have the time or skill set to deal with on their own.

For the same amount of money that a less-experienced staff hire might cost, a restaurant consultant is likely to bring in a higher level of expertise. "When you work for one company you are a prisoner of that culture."

Synergy Consultants works with a number of companies so they benefit from the best practices of all of them. Dean Small, Managing Partner of Synergy equates it to "using a lawyer or an accountant. The better you are at using those people the more success you will have."

This is usually a better arrangement in more ways than one, that consultants aren't part of the restaurant staffs with which they work. "If you are unhappy, it's easier to get rid of a consultant than an employee."

Restaurant Consultants offer innovative ideas, practical advice and cost-effective approaches honed from many years of experience in the restaurant industry. Simply put, "consultants help clients prevent making more mistakes than necessary," saids Dean Small.

Synergy Restaurant Consultants focuses on "everything from troubleshooting recommendations up through conceptualizing. They can help design, staff and manage a restaurant.

That's why so many establishments are turning to consultants for expertise when creating new concepts, solving problems and striving to increase sales. So what are you waiting for? Push the Red Button!

Commercial Kitchen Layouts

There are many factors involving your restaurant business plan. One thing that should be address are some factors about commercial kitchen layouts. (design) Here are some advices that we like to share:

• Have Adequate Delivery Area Don't underestimate your requirement for a large storeroom and off-loading subject for dry wares, cool or frozen matter.
• Setup your food preparation suitably The "prep" or preparation vicinity should ideally be group between your mass food storage and the cooking workstation.
• Food ritual should be large enough to thwart container-necks. Many time architects and inexperienced owners don't allocate for enough extent in the food workstation which causes back-ups, dropped trays and plates, and ugliest of all cold food!

Of course there are more to it than this, Synergy Restaurant Consultants can show you the whole process of coming up with your ideal commercial kitchen design.

What's This Social Media?

Many restaurant establishments are asking how do you use social media? But the question is "what are you trying to convey to the customer?" Using social media is like using any tool that you have at your marketing disposal.

You have to actually have to…

* create a plan
* have knowledge of the tools
* create something of value (restaurant operations, making money, business plan)
* Build something meaningful

Otherwise, you have not created anything of any significance.

You’re making noise if no one is listening.

With social media, your tool is information and communication. You are working to get people to hear you. Your goal is to become meaningful within the media.

Your’e looking to communicate with people who are interested in the information that you are promoting.

Does your communication make people:

* think
* laugh
* reflect
* take action
* share it
* comment on it
* engage in conversation?

If you are just:

* building followers on Twitter
* picking up friends on Facebook
* posting to bookmarking sites
* commenting on blogs

and so on without a clear goal toward building a relationship, you are just wasting time and effort. Basically this type of non-productive communication makes a mess and is not an effective way of using social media.

Just call it advertising, not social media marketing.

Social media is a tool like a home remodeler. You can build a castle, or you can build a dog house.

What are you building with your efforts within the social media space? A mess, or a masterpiece?

Or, in social media terms, are you creating relationships that can last a lifetime and credibility in the marketplace? When you’re helping restaurant establishment make money, you’re building that key relationship.

You are known by your content and context. It is up to you to create, communicate and converse. Special thanks to David Bullock on this subject!

Restaurant Concepts

Opening a restaurant is a difficult task, and investment. There should be a checklist to follow, but before implementing your checklist. Deciding on what type of restaurant (or concept) should come to mind.

Questions to ask on deciding what type of restaurant to open is important in the initial steps.

• What kind of restaurant would I love to eat in everyday? The concept you choose should be something you love, since you'll be giving your time, money and sweat into this endeavor.
• What kind of restaurant does my area need? Every cities/town has restaurants, and the best way to beat the competition is to offer something a little bit different from the rest.

Case Study Sample
These things that we're talking about is also called restaurant concepts. Here's an example, Josef McKay, He's a pastry chef who wanted to open a bar that felt like people were eating in his kitchen at home. He recently opened Room 8 Dessert in Chicago, where he assembles desserts right in front of his customers while his mixologist serves up cocktails. For him, its a huge success!

Concept Considerations
If you're set on opening a lunch place where locals can order your mom's spicy steak season sandwiches, then obtaining a liquor license probably doesn't make sense. Neither do white tablecloths. You probably will offer a limited menu of sandwiches, maybe some soups and a salad. You won't need a huge kitchen with an army of chefs. You'll need a line cook or two and a prep cook. You'll probably want to offer those delicious sandwiches for take out. Depending on your area, you may need to offer delivery. If you're catering to the downtown office crowd, you probably want to be closed at night and on the weekends.

The more formal the concept, the more complex the menu and the more people you'll need to hire. If you plan to start your restaurant on a shoestring, keep the concept simple and small to save money.

Synergy Consultants here to help
I know too many things to consider, thats why Synergy Restaurant Consultants is here to help you. Give us a holler or push the big red button and we'll get back to you.

Easy Restaurant Business Plan Steps

Here are some steps to opening a restaurant, some may be quick or require some more thinking. You should already have these steps documented in your restaurant business plan. This is just part of a bigger list.

1. Clarify your concept and put all the proposed details--from decor to dessert choices--in writing. If you can't write about them, they need more thought.
2. Prepare for a plethora of paperwork, including byzantine building codes with regulations covering everything from kitchen exhaust systems to interior finish requirements.
3. Find an ideal location. Do a demographic study of the surrounding area. Research the amount of foot traffic and the availability of easy parking. Then negotiate a lease you can afford.
4. Plan your menu early in the game. Kitchen layout and equipment purchases depend on it. Reduce your equipment costs either by purchasing used equipment or leasing new.

Opening a restaurant does require many things and be sure to have it well thought out and put the steps into a business plan. If you need help on a certain task or question about restaurant start ups, give us a shout or push the big red button.