How To Start A Restaurant Business in 2019: The Complete Guide
The F&B ecosystem is witnessing a huge growth curve, globally. There has been a spurt in the growth of restaurants all around the globe. So, if you are also thinking of riding this growth wagon and starting your own restaurant, you’ve come to the right place. In this blog, we’ve documented step-by-step instructions on how to start a restaurant business.
Restaurant Industry in India & Around the Globe
F&B industry is one of the most dynamic and fastest growing industries in the world. In India alone, the food service industry is pegged at INR 23000 crore according to recent estimates.
In the US too, the restaurant business is expected to generate $900 billion in sales revenues. All this is the result of rapid urbanization, increasing disposable incomes, growing employment rates and inclination towards dine out. All these factors are leading to the growth of the global restaurant industry.
How to start a restaurant business?
If the restaurant business is on your mind and you want to start your own restaurant, there are some strategic steps you must take to ensure success. Before going into the details, let’s give you a brief overview of everything you need to do to start your own restaurant. You’ll need to:
1. Finalize a restaurant concept 2. Evaluate the fixed and working capital requirements 3. Gather investment for your business 4. Get hold of applicable licenses 5. Recruit staff members for operations 6. Analyze the technology needs and install restaurant POS solution
Now that you know the basic steps you need to take, let’s get into the intrinsic details of all these steps to get you started on the path of starting a successful restaurant business.
1. Finalizing the Restaurant Concept
Before anything else, you will need to decide what kind of restaurant you want to open. This step is extremely crucial as your investment, staffing needs and future operations will depend on your restaurant concept. In the modern world, restaurants are operated under one of the following formats:
1. Fine dine 2. QSR 3. Takeaway 4. Cafe 5. Bars & Pubs
Once you are sure about the kind of restaurant you want to build, you’ll also have to finalize the interiors to suit your business model. Also, your menu and cuisine choices will depend on the type of restaurant you are planning to start.
2. Outline costs including working and fixed capital requirements
When you are clear about the type of restaurant you want to open, you’ll be able to outline the kind of money you will require to make your concept a reality. While ascertaining the fixed and working capital requirements, you’ll want to think about the following:
3. Gathering investment for starting your business
Once your restaurant concept is finalized and you outline your working and fixed capital requirements, you can move ahead with the process of gathering funds. You don’t want to feel paucity of funds during your initial stages. So, finding the right source of funds is quite important. There are a number of ways to raise money for your restaurant business. This includes:
1. Self-funding your business using your own savings 2. Taking a loan from family or friends 3. Getting a collateral-based loan from banks or financial institutions 4. Approaching a venture capitalist for angel funding
4. Fulfilling licensing requirements
For starting your own restaurant, you will need several licenses and approvals from local authorities according to applicable laws and guidelines. You’ll have to spend time, effort and money in obtaining these licenses but this step is essential to make your business legitimate. Here is a brief list to help you get started with the licensing process:
1. Trade license from the local municipal authority 2. Business and GST registration
3. License from food safety and standards organizations like FSSAI 4. Liquor license, in case you are planning to set up a bar 5. Fire safety certificate 6. Pollution control license, etc.
5. Recruiting Restaurant Staff
When planning on how to start a restaurant business, you’ll need to be extremely diligent about choosing the right resources for staffing your restaurant. A committed team is the difference between a successful and a defunct restaurant. You will need the following staff members for your restaurant operations:
6. Invest in Technology & Innovation
If you want to really succeed in the long run, then you cannot think of running your restaurant the conventional way. Modern connoisseurs always look for a restaurant that offers an amazing dining experience.
Technology is a great facilitator that allows modern restaurants to become future-ready. The first use case of technology inside of your restaurant can be to use restaurant POS solutions for streamlining your restaurant operations.
PoS solution for a restaurant can take care of important aspects such as order management, invoicing, customer management, etc. and can enable you to serve customers better. Once you have perfected dine-in service, you can think of restaurant app development for accepting takeaway and online food delivery orders. Building a restaurant mobile app is a great way to add a revenue stream to your business and expand your operations.
If you want to enter the restaurant industry and really want to succeed, it is important to stay ahead of your competitors. Technology can help you become more efficient at restaurant operations management and grow your revenues. If you are looking for technology solutions for your restaurant like restaurant POS solution or restaurant mobile app development, Get in touch with our experts today.