Sure, preparing food and watching those you love devour it might be a passion of yours, but that might not be enough to ensure that you are going to be a success with the opening of your own restaurant. There is generally a lot more to the owning and running of a successful establishment than meets the eye. Before you throw caution to the wind and announce to everyone that will listen that you are opening up your own restaurant, you will want to review the following points. This way, you will know just what it is that you are getting yourself into. Then, if you decide that this is still the dream for you, then you are already one step closer to making it work for you.
Get Your License To Open Up
You will need to get any licenses or permits, such as an accredited California food handler’s card or something similar for your region, well before you can open the doors of your establishment to the public. If you were to forget about those things, pretending that those rules do not apply to you, you could find yourself in a heap of trouble. Believe it or not, you cannot simply hand out food, even for free, to the public without the proper documentation telling you that you are allowed to do so. The rules are so strict and for good reason. Even though you know that you can trust your cooking skills and that you would never have a filthy establishment, there are plenty of people who would. This is why everyone has to go through the same process.
Your Building Will Be Inspected
Before you can start letting people in to eat, you will have to allow the inspectors to come through your restaurant to inspect every single little thing that they can. And don’t worry- this really is for the benefit of everyone. The better your kitchen is, the better the food will taste. Some of the things that will be looked at during inspections will include the structural integrity of the building, the cleanliness of the kitchen, and all other areas of the building including restrooms and basement. They will also check on the occupancy allowance and fire code violations. Anything that is noted to be wrong will be marked down and you will fail the inspection. You will be given a list of the things that are required of you in order to ensure that you will be able to pass the next time an inspector is scheduled to come through your doors.
You Need A Solid Plan
The plan is not to just buy the foods you like to cook and charge people for plates of it. You need an actual business plan that is going to outline your costs for the running of the business, as well as for things such as marketing and advertising. If you have never created a business plan before, you might want to obtain the help of someone who has. This is a very important plan to have as it outlines how you will take your business from nothing to a major success. This can be helpful should you have to turn to a bank or a private investor for some financial assistance. Business plans allow them to know just what it is that they are investing in and how much of a risk they would be taking by helping you.
Remember, opening your own restaurant is not something that is going to be accomplished overnight. You must commit to it and be willing to put in your own blood, sweat, and tears – figuratively of course. It may be difficult, but if this is truly your dream and it was meant to be, you will find the effort will have been more than worth it.
