Restaurant Planning Case Study

1. Have the right intentions

If you want to make it as a restaurant owner, you have to love what you do, Kim Strengari says. While she knew a restaurant was the right path for her, she had to work nights cleaning office buildings to make ends meet when she first opened her restaurant.

“I wanted the restaurant more than anything else in life, so the sacrifices were endless and I never minded making them,” she says.

To be successful, you’ll invest a lot of time and money—so make sure that starting a restaurant is your passion, not just a business venture you hope will make money. “It’s harder than you can imagine,” says Omer Orien, “but people do it all the time. It’s not at all dreamy.”

In these early days, it’s also a good idea to figure out what you want your restaurant to look like. What will be your restaurant’s aesthetic? What furniture will you need to purchase to fit the theme?

It takes time to market your new place, attract a crowd, and get people to come back for more. Some say you shouldn’t plan on making money for at least the first six months.

Plan for bumps in the road: It’s easy to go over budget when you’re first starting out, so make sure that you have some additional money to cover the unexpected. If you’re not sure about how to do this, consider a business line of credit.

When you do hit a bump, evaluate the numbers and your processes, Lambrine Macejewski says. For example, when she first opened her restaurant, she realized her food costs were too high. She called her vendors and switched from a five-day delivery schedule to a two-day schedule. She saved the money she needed by investigating the problem and looking for a solution.

Watch your food cost: You’re in the business of making food, but if your food costs are out of line you’ll end up losing money. Make sure you keep track of your inventory, prepare food well, avoid waste, and keep prices