Thursday, September 2, 2010

Seeking Restaurant Funding For Your New Restaurant

By Kate Smith

Starting a new restaurant isn't the easiest task in the world, let's be honest. There are so many factors at play, and while no new business is GUARANTEED success, the fact remains that the culinary world is one of the fiercest and most competitive. At the very least, though, restaurant funding can be, if not easy, then at least easier to attain than you might expect.

Now, how can you get your hands on some of this funding to get going? Well there are a few basic routes to go down, here, but you shouldn't take the first step until you've made a road map, so to speak. In other words, don't even think about GETTING the money until you know how much you're going to need. Below we've broken this down into three steps, but beware, they're not impossible, but always as simple as they sound, either.

Know the Business

You need to start researching how restaurants are run because being a great chef is only one small part of the equation. The quality of the food is the deciding factor between a good restaurant and a great one, but it is NOT the deciding factor between a failed restaurant and a successful one, if you catch our drift. You need to know about marketing, about how to hire people and what to pay them. You need to know so many things, so the best thing you can do right now is start reading. A good way to get a head start with business savvy is to just copy successful restaurants and don't do what unsuccessful eateries have done. Think of it this way: If it's legal, ethical, and keeps people in business, it's not a bad idea.

Study the Local Market

Where's the niche? That's really what it comes down to. Where can you set up shop cheap, and what kind of restaurant is the city missing right now? Are there any authentic Italian places around, or just the mass market chain places? Are there any great ethnic places? If you set up downtown, are there any nice, cheap, fast diners down there, or is it all higher end stuff? What is it that people want but that isn't around? Do that.

Research Your Options

Don't even think about loans and/or investors until you've set the budget and know how much you'll need, to the dollar, plus maybe some breathing room. You're going to want to present this to anyone you're thinking of asking for money, as well as your plans. Now, know where to compromise. If you take on a partner, either find someone with the same passion and knowledge for restaurants as you have, or find a silent partner. If you can't find someone like this, look into business loans.

What it really comes down to is this: If you're willing to do the research and put in the hard work, there's a good chance of success, but you won't see a dream come true by simply hoping and wishing. You need to be willing to sweat it out and you need to be okay with getting an aching back from sitting over your laptop researching the market for nights on end. Only then will that dream become a possibility.

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