Do you love to cook? Do you love to entertain? Have you ever been told that you should open up your own restaurant? If so then you are among a majority of people who are under the innocent impression that the restaurant business would make a fun and exciting career change. STOP RIGHT HERE! A word of caution
Do your homework! In the United States 5 out of 6 restaurants fail within the first five years. Most don't make it past year two. The reason for such a high failure rate, you may wonder? Most people who open a restaurant have no idea how much money (profit) they need to make in order to pay the bills and keep the doors open. I have seen more people than I care to count open a restaurant thinking they will make a quick buck only to close it six months later, dismayed because not only did they not make any money, they lost money. Opening a restaurant, like any business venture, is an investment. Some investments become huge successes while others flop. You must approach your restaurant idea with this same business-like attitude. Most successful independently owned restaurants can make a nice profit, but it probably won't make you rich, at least not in the first few years, if at all. If your desire to open a restaurant stems from your love of food and a need to share it with the general public, you may want to stick with hosting small parties at your house. However, if you are ready to be your own boss and are willing to invest a lot of time and hard work, not to mention money, to make your dream a reality then you may be ready to open your own restaurant.

The first thing you must do is study your potential competition. Even if you do not like a certain restaurant, such as a chain establishment, many other people do like it and you need to figure out why they eat there. Is it because of the low prices, the good service, the great atmosphere? Try to study each of your competitors, not just their menu, but what the dining experience is like for their customers. How are you going to lure customers away from your competition's establishment to come and eat at your brand new restaurant? What will you offer that is unique to the area? How are you going to build a loyal customer base? You will need to answer all these questions, plus many more when you write up your business plan.

If the prospect of writing a business plan, putting a second (sometimes third) mortgage on your own house, paying for your own health insurance (oh the horror!), filing out endless paperwork for loans, and not sleeping for the next, ohhh, year or so, don't scare you, then I would say you are ready to be a restaurantuer. (Quick, there is still time to change your mind!)

Learn more about this author, Lorri Mealey.
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