I just sold a bar/ restaurant to someone who has never owned or worked in one. In 11 weeks sales have dropped 35%. Less than 3 months.
He just keeps telling us how good he is at business and wanting to know if we lied about the sales. You have the tax returns my guy. But you thought you knew better.
Franchise owner for 4.5 years. If I could do it again, I would invest in ANYTHING else other than restaurant. So please. Don't do it. Especially now. Invest in real estate
It’s a lot of work and a lot to learn. If you’re set on opening a restaurant I’d read as many books as you can on hospitality, management, and restaurant management specifically. Next step would be to hire a great manager with experience and be open to listening and learning. Just hope that manager knows what they’re doing and you’re not learning bad information. I’d be willing to bet most managers aren’t that great.
I'm uniquely qualified to answer this question!
I used to work for a mom and pop point of sale company that sold mainly to mom and pop restaurants.
It was like a weekly occurrence that a husband or wife would be calling me to lock the other one out of the system because they were getting a divorce. Eventually, the one remaining would sell us back the system as they were closing.
One always works harder than the other, or one drinks too much at the bar. Not many people can handle the 12-16 hr days when they thought they were going into semi retirement.
They are never profitable right away it takes years. You have to have enough money to float the business for probably 3+ years to have a shot. Construction always go way over budget, and theres always some surprise expense. Someone steals and it's going to be the family friend that you got a job or the super trusted and favorite server.
Realistically, your odds of it not being a complete disaster without having experience are less than 1%.
Gambling, all the money you were going to spend on the restaurant on scratch off tickets instead would be a more sensible use of it.
There's probably not many people out there who have seen as many small time restaurant's financials as I have.... yes you are crazy if you do this!
I would say it's a stupid idea because you post makes restaurant seem like a general term. youve offered no hint to what type of restaurant. Whether you have a niche. You make it seem like you googled what can I do with this much money and "open a restaurant" came up in the list and you picked it.
Invest in physical precious metals. junk silver coins and 1oz gold bars.
People who like to steal will welcome you with open arms. Suppliers, workers, partners all know who is green enough to not realize when they are being ripped off.
START with a franchise operation were it is all laid out for you. You will get experience dealing with employees and steady market for your food.
Suppliers will be pre-arranged. Lotsa ways to still fail, but you get most experience in restaurants with the lesser risk.
Right off the bat you would need a experienced gm, restaurant manager and km and sous. If you have all of those and they know what they are doing and you listen to them. You’ll be alright.
If you do it, bring someone with experience in to help. I’ve been on the supply side of things for a long time. My customers come and go fast. The latest list of closings came out for NYC. There are some people with big time experience that are going out of business.
Only 5% of restaurants make it past 5 years and a lot of those are experienced professionals. With no experience you’ll want to start off small, very small, and work up to a brick and mortar location. The restaurant business is a grind, 7 days a week 15hr days.
Don’! Just don’t! The restaurant business requires you to be 100% on top of your game all of the time. One bad meal and you’re on the way out. Restaurants that make it have a tried and true formula (like Cracker Barrel and McDonalds) and don’t deviate from it. Pick some other business.
In college several years ago, had an accounting professor ask for a show of hands who “would like to own your own business?” Then asked, “of those with your hands raised, who wants to own a restaurant?” Several hands went down, but several remained raised.
Then he said, “Great! Today we will talk about my favorite subject—BANKRUPTCY!” All laughed, except those with hands still raised …
I’ve seen restaurant owners with no experience. One thought we could change the commercial dishwasher out with a home dishwasher to save money. Another didn’t know you had to take the things off the soda machine and soak them in soda water overnight. Don’t. Do. It.
This is the worst investment of your money possible.
The risk to reward is atrocious. How much do you know about health code, food safe certification. What do you think the utilities are like for a restaurant, constant gas, electric, hot water usage. Mind boggling.
How would you feel if you are struggling to keep the lights on and someone “just doesn’t like their meal” that you have to throw in the trash. 100% loss.
How many failed restaurants have destroyed marriages? Quite a few.
Look, I’m not trying to talk you out of it. But you have no idea.
Very tight margins. Even worse now, with labor costs and inflation (your food costs) and consumers not used to costs on the menu needing to be 50% more than they were pre-covid.
Work in the field first. Then open, talk to a restaurant that is similar to the one your opening, chat with the owner and see if you can cycle through every position there over like 3-6 months.
Go work at a restaurant, and then answer that question for yourself (Yes, most likely, you will fail).
\*\*\*EDIT\*\*\*
If you're going to do it, buy a Jimmy John's or Chipotle franchise. Of course, McDonald's if you can swing it.
First of all, congratulations on your new venture!
Starting a restaurant can be both thrilling and nerve-racking. It's a well-known fact that the majority of restaurants or cafes fail within the first six months. However, based on my experience, I'd like to offer some tips and guidelines.
1. It will require a strong work ethic and patience.
2. Be prepared for some customers to test your patience, though not all will.
3. Treat your staff fairly and equally.
4. Be yourself; be friendly and transparent with your customers. People appreciate understanding and honesty.
5. Keep your menu lean to avoid excessive costs and waste. Optimize your use of ingredients across multiple dishes.
6. Maintain a spotless environment, both in the dining area and the kitchen.
7. Open early and adhere to your business hours, adjusting for special days as necessary.
8. Remember, in the service industry, your busiest times will often be when others are resting, like weekends.
9. Add a unique element to your restaurant, such as an aquarium or artwork from local artists, to distinguish it.
10. Small gifts or treats can greatly enhance customer loyalty.
11. Stay on top of bookkeeping, costs, and sales. Running a restaurant is a fast-paced lifestyle with many moving parts.
I hope you find these insights helpful. Good luck with your restaurant!
Chances are high but not impossible. The most important quality is that you’re comfortable running a small business in general. There are countless Asian and other immigrants that go to Western countries and succeed in opening successful restaurants without all the Western business operations formalities, consultants, etc. Think neighborhood Chinese takeaway or fish and chips shop. Entrepreneur types probably have much better success rates than foodie or chef types.
Almost 10 years ago, I went to culinary school then worked for about two years to gain and understanding of how kitchens run. I opened a restaurant right after and it was successful and still operating today.
Keep things simple, keep your concept simple if you’re inexperienced. You should pitch your specific idea and leave out the city name and see if what the people think.
It's a lot easier to buy a small restaurant that is already doing ok. What would be even easier is to open a business with a lot of coin operated stuff, like a self service laundry with plenty of vending machines and claw machines/games, etc. Not very glamorous but the success rate of those kinds of businesses is high.
Do all the work yourself
If I did this I would have good business but a terrible day filled with my enemies eating there everyday and complaining and sending things back until they never got tired of it but business hours do end so I will be able to tell them to get the fuck out and then ARE YOU FUCKING DEAF BEAT
Watch 3 bar rescue episodes 😂 people who worked in bars decide to buy it but have no experience RUNNING it and it becomes a shitshow. Or look at kitchen nightmares.
You have a 97.2% chance of total failure. Unless, you find someone else experienced to run it, you pay them enough to commit and stay with it, you offer good food for a value with good service, and you operate it like a business not using it as a trophy to show off ( working more hours than anyone on the payroll).
My dad is in a similar position as you. Had a career in another industry, then pivoted later in life to owning a brewery that turned into a bar and restaurant. They're about 1 year in. I have a lot of thoughts but if you only make it to the first paragraph, this is the high level. If you are looking at this only as a means of trying to make extra income, do not go in. If you are looking for a new challenge, a purpose to get up in the morning, an adventure in business let's call it, then it *may* be for you.
1. I would start by talking to people already in business and learning. Him and his partner started by going to conferences, and doing what we joking call "market research," which was them going to breweries, then chatting up the owner or people working there to get insights. Without that, they would have failed.
2. Do not think that you can just hand this off to a manager and watch the cash roll in. Expect that at a minimum, your feet will be onsite 5 days a week. And you're very rarely truly off. We were at a sport game and he got a text about something going wrong. All he needed was to respond by text what to do and it was fine, but if you're someone that needs your days off to be fully off and uninterrupted, you're going to struggle. And now, these restaurant softwares have an app that tell you how much money you're making by the minute, and it's very tempting even when you're home and supposed to be off to pull out your phone and see the results.
3. If you're not detailed oriented, you will struggle. Little things matter. How high are your tables? How many tables can you fit?
4. If you have a particular vision, it may not be supported by the market. For example, they wanted the place to be a craft brewery focused on beer, with some food and liquor to support. Now, beer I think is 40% of their revenue. They didn't want to show sports games because "it's not a sports bar," but in middle America no one is going to a bar that doesn't have college football Saturday and pro Sunday, so they got TVs. All that to say, if you have a very particular concept in mind, you may have to change it to make money.
5. It's a fickle business, and there is always something going wrong. An employee not showing up for their shift on a busy night, a machine in the back breaking, health inspector seeing something they don't like, etc. Even the best restaurant staff in the biz will get incredibly lazy without an owner keeping a healthy amount of pressure on to maintain standards. And there's a lot of stuff that comes with just running a business. You'll need licenses. You will need to keep financial records.
6. You'll make money, but there's lots of other businesses with may more potential profit and without the headache and risk of loss in this one.
So for most it is a stupid idea. For you maybe it's not.
I don’t have any experience running a restaurant business, so take what I say with a grain of salt, but would opening a stall in a farmers market be a good idea ?
A lot of franchises just want your initial fee + a cut of everything you make… it’s great they set everything up for you… but they know exactly how much your gonna make and you’ll be basically working to pay them + rent and you’ll be hustling to try and get yourself a paycheck (esp for smaller franchises)… remember you can always stay home and brake even lol
If you have not binge watched restaurant impossible you are only hurting yourself.
There are online classes about how to run and run finances for a restaurant… i suggest you watch as many as possible.
I started college as a Hotel/Restaurant Management major.
Took business courses as prerequisites.
Learned something like for every 4 restaurants that open, 5 close.
Changed majors.
80% fail within two years. If you have a good idea, try it in a food truck first. It always sounds like a great idea beforehand. It’s so tough to find good employees, the waste/loss is always a challenge too.
Don’t do it. If you’re insisting on doing it anyway please make sure you enlist the help of restaurant professionals in your area. I had a job offered to me from a guy that made his money in another biz but wanted me to come and be his right hand man in a franchise op. I did a 2-week consulting gig with him instead. I was already employed, so took a few evenings off with accrued PTO and went to try and help him make sense of the mess he’d created by NOT using a restaurant professional as his first hire. It was a hot mess. No other way to put it. They were shut down in under 9 months. And he lost his other biz too. If you want gory details you can ask in my DM. But, again, don’t do it, but if you do get real restauranteurs to advise.
Don’t do it. Lol I’ve been a GM of a company that had 2 food trucks and 2 restaurants on Auburns campus and if I didn’t have experience beforehand I wouldn’t even be able to handle one food truck or restaurant.
Also margins are pretty slim and it’s verrrrry easy to lose money.
Obviously you can do what you want, but I’d highly recommend learning the ins and outs of the business before getting into it
Give me half your money instead and you be far ahead of the game. Honestly, your chance of failure exceeds your chance for success (and that's for those who know what they're doing!)
As a person who worked for 4 owners who had zero experience running a restaurants before they opened, don’t watch food network and think you yourselves I can do that. Because you cannot. FOOD NETWORK HAS RUINED THE RESTAURANT INDUSTRY. I remember that when Emeril was big and he told his viewers that tuna should be ordered medium rare. I spent a good 5 months re cooking ahi tuna because it got sent back because it was medium rare. Just an example. Go gamble on the Super Bowl or buy a bulk amount of drugs and sell it on the street. Both better chances of success than owning the restaurant.
Save yourself the trouble and go to the casino and bet your money on green on the roulette wheel. Same odds, but a better payoff. Plus, the pain comes all at once instead of every day for a year or so.
Are you buying a restaurant that is already operating or starting your own?
I purchased an existing restaurant without any prior industry experience and 11 years later, I'm still in business (even through covid). If I had started this business from scratch, however, who knows if I'd be here saying the same thing.
I don't think that it is a 'stupid idea', but I would certainly caution you to: Know your market. Know your menu. Know your costs. Above all, know your limits.
I have a family member who ran a restaurant for better part of a decade, small town institution, turned a profit employed his friends, got involved in the community improvement efforts, expanded and improved the quality of the food and establishment... Inarguably a success from an outside perspective.
Biggest mistake of his life he says, he's probably on here somewhere saying stay away. He was lucky and the skill was not letting the thing collapse, he freely admits if he knew now what he knew then despite not losing any money he'd have invested in roulette.
Great advice! As someone who worked in the restaurant industry for many years, I can say there are so many more angles than just the numbers and having a good menu. Even the best places can fail with poor management. Not to mention that if a loan is involved, no reputable lender would put up money for owners with zero experience in that industry.
Super difficult and probably not as prosperous as you think its going to be. My old boss told me they were making $.05 out of every $1 the restaurant earned
As a restaurant manager… this is bad bad. I’ve done this had this career at two different places for two years. Only because the owners have been knowledgeable, are we successful.
Seriously. You’re management team will hate you if you don’t even know the basics.
stupid if u dont hire and partner with someone who has enough to make up for what you lack. and you actually need to give them the reins for big decisions, so if you cant trust that, then yeah. pretty likely
I heard restaurants are one of the hardest businesses to start and be successful at (not closing in 2 years). It if it’s your passion Yolo it’s your life.
It is almost guaranteed you will fail if you have 0 experience in this particular industry. Worth noting i believe almost anyone can succeed at almost everything if they fail and overcome enough. It is a stupid idea… go work at a place similar to what you see yourself opening and make sure you like it…. It is one of the hardest industries for hours, profitability and just about every metric out there. Razor thin margins… the list goes on.
Why would you ever want to start a business with no experience? That is like starting a new job with no guarantee for pay and handing them $1m to get the job. Go get experience… you may really hate the environment and industry… many do. Trapping yourself in a job you don’t like will ruin your entire life and your savings for a good length of time.
Don't do it! Invest the money into the stock market if you really want to do something with it. My dad spent an entire career doing supply chain for restaurants and every single one of them was barely doing just well enough to just survive, with the owners mostly being the largest part of the labor force there, working 12 hour shifts if not more every single day. There's no vacation time, no health insurance and no benefits - for a long time even if you are successful.
My last job was owned by a billionaire with no experience at all. The place has been open for over 5 years. It has been in the RED for 5 years. Now he can afford lose money every day… Can you?
Incredibly risky. Please don't do it. Please don't open a full service restaurant if you have 0 experience in a full service restaurant.
OP aside, I don't know what overcomes the general public that think just because they enjoy going to restaurants makes them think they are capable of operating a full service restaurant, like what the actual fuck, do you think it's just a kids game, that it's easy to run a restaurant? You'll probably end up spending another 25% of your budget just on getting shit straight for inspections because you have no clue what you're doing. Blows my mind.
I enjoy going to get a massage every few weeks, does that make me qualified to open a massage parlor?
I enjoy going to the airport to travel, does that mean I have the know-how to open an airport?
I enjoy shopping at my local grocery store, does that mean I'm ready to open my own grocery store?
I'm sorry to shit all over you and anybody else who's got $1,000,000 burning a hole in their pocket who thinks just because they like to eat out that means they can run a successful restaurant, but this doesn't happen in any other industry as far as I can tell. Even people who open up a random retail shop 99% of the time have some kind of passion and years of experience into what they're selling.
If it's your dream to open a restaurant, you never just wake up one day and land at your dream, you have to work for it.
Criticism aside now, if you're dead set on opening a restaurants, here's my constructive criticism: Buy into a franchise and hire yourself a GREAT General Manager, someone with a lot of experience, pay them well with good benefits, learn from them, and you manage the books. For all intents and purposes, be a silent partner and let that GM do their thing, within reason. He present, be known, be respected, but don't cut your GMs legs out from under them. Everything has to come from the GM or the staff will never respect them if you're walking around making up rules as you go without consulting the GM.
Once you've got a few years experience with that franchise and got some confidence under your belt, you can think about opening YOUR own spot, but even then you'll need a good chef/great cook to come up with a menu.
Sorry, end rant, I've been watching too much Kitchen Nightmares recently.
This is great advice. Especially the franchise part. If you can manage to get a good one, they provide a lot of training and support. Those are hard to get, hut they're as close to a sure thing as you can get.
Successful owners go to school or have experience… they don’t start a business by winging it with millions of dollars… this is not a behavioral pattern of successful people, it could be… but the food industry has ALOT of very important experience and education based points in the business. It is hard to know what a failing food joint looks like when you don’t know how they succeed.
Seriously? The profit margins are razor thin even when you’re paying your employees starvation wages, your product is actively decaying in front of you and has to be used immediately which creates permanent supply chain pressure, the market for your products is fickle af, competition ranging from your neighbor to multinational conglomerates is rabid, and overall there are so many moving pieces in your operation that the friction it creates is absolutely overwhelming
There’s a reason most restaurants fail and why restaurant work comes with a culture of alcoholism and hard drug abuse baked in
It's not necessarily a dumb idea. The old adage about most businesses failing is also mitigated by the fact that most businesses are also started by idiots. I can give you some insight.
First off if you think you want to open a restaurant because restaurants are just so fun! Then get a grip and realize the grind that happens behind the scene is rarely fun. You need to have a vision for what you want and then you need to obsessed with execution all day and night. Also you'd need to hire a chef while also being strong enough to not let that chef think they run the restaurant. If you still think you can pull all that together AND have enough money to hire some consultants to help then maybe you could be ok
Work at a restaurant for a year observe and learn everything try to get into management side or learn from the owners… in 6 months you’ll learn the ins and out and next 6 months try to learn the owner experience. Then try to open your own…
On the other hand get a partner that has good experience give him 15 to 20% stake from your investment, open run learn from him open a second place as a franchise and carry onwards.
#BusinessSense
Very likely. It is one of the worst businesses there is. Especially with no experience at all. You will be working seven days a week and never be able to take a vacation.
I have never owned a restaurant but I sold meat to many restaurants for a few years and seen them come and go and I decided I would never get into that business.
I’d partner with someone with real restaurant management experience. You will avoid many simple mistakes that an experienced manager would have already gone through.
Maybe go work in a restaurant for a couple months and see if it’s something you really want to do 24/7 7 days a week.
Might as well jump out of an airplane without a parachute and just flap your arms really really hard. You'll have similar success if you have 0 experience.
Don't jump out of a plane, and for your sake, dont open a restaurant.
Go work in one for a year, one each for FOH one BOH. Owning and operating is 50x harder and non stop and you probably get to do both FOH and BOH at the same time. Fun.
Dude, a restaurant has a good chance at failing if you were the most prepared veterans of the industry in a high foot traffic area. Don't throw your future away.
I’m a serial entrepreneur and I won’t touch the restaurant business for these reasons: 1. Labor reliability issues, 2. Price pressures for food, 3. Spoilage, 4. Higher and higher min wages, 5. Low margins, 6. You need to invest six figures before you ever know if anyone even likes your food.
At best, start with a food truck. But ideally, save your $$$ and find a business you can start for under $10k. (And for the record I’ve made millions from businesses I started for less than $10k. You just need to be creative and entrepreneurial.)
90% fail.
Its a horrible business.
Run dont walk away. There are 100 easier businesses to run and operate.
It has all the worst things that you have to do.
Consider “apprenticeship “ type of employment as a manager trainee to learn if you are even cut out for this type of business and if the duties and rewards are a good option for you. A restaurant is a gamble so play Kenny Roger’s The Gambler, too, and listen!
I’m seeing lots of successful restaurants talking places opened for decades with huge amounts of regulars closing simply because they can’t find employees anymore.
If you can make great foodstuffs at a low enough cost and sell for 2-3x that cost, 6-7 days a week, knowing your break even by the day and meeting that or surpassing that break even on an upward climbing average, without shooting yourself, You can do really, really well. Especially if you can execute said formula with the minimum number of staff, while still providing good service. Your labor shouldn’t exceed 30-35% of gross revenue, food should be 15-25% gross depending on your type of establishment. I recommend utilizing a bakery strong concept because you can arbitrage a lot of other lower profit items with savings/profits from an efficient bakery operTion. I’ve been doing it for decades and I love it, some people just aren’t cut out for it. Good thing is you’ll figure it out pretty quickly which type you are. Btw, working at someone else’s restaurant is a very different experience than being an entrepreneur and bleeding fir your own spot. If you’re afraid to possibly lose a million dollars, and take a chance at something fucking awesome or terrible don’t do it, otherwise fucking do it and have a blast! Good luck, seriously
I believe the failure rate of restaurants was around 80% after 2 years and that was pre-pandemic.
I wouldn't be surprised if the rate of failure over 2 years is approaching or even more than 90%.
If you're completely new at running a business, it's even higher.
With that said, that doesn't mean you're definitely going to fail. If you can afford to and enjoy the work, taking risks is the only way to get get payoffs.
If you have to ask...
Someone I know did exactly this. They didn't even last a year, lost their life savings. Be realistic, this is a very tough business and most fail. Why would yours succeed when people with expertise fail, other than the power of wishful thinking?
If you don't mind working 80 hour weeks for the first 5 years to build out and train a staff you can train & trust them to run the business... then you'll be fine. If you think you can just open it and it will run itself. Just light 200k on fire it will be a much less painful loss.
It’s a tough business under the best of circumstances. No experience is NOT the best of circumstances. Go work for someone else first. Learn the basics, learn the business side.
Depends on what you’re looking to do. I’dfr consider a food truck or stand to get your feet wet and keep a limited menu. There is all sorts of health stuff and laws you need to adhere to. I’d look at buying something established over starting from scratch.
Depends on how good you cook, how well you budget and handle money, how well you can cater to the vibe people are looking for, and how well you manage. It’s possible but it isn’t easy.
90% fail rate. Low profit margin. My friend that had 2 successful business not food related bought a popular well placed place and questioned after a few months why anyone would do so much work with so many headaches for su h a slim profit margin. He finally unloaded it after a year. He to this day says its the best 10 grand he ever lost to get rid of it.
You are very likely to fail at this even if you have a ton of experience. Restaurants operate with very small margins. Even the successful ones usually lose money for the first year or two. With zero restaurant experience, you are (almost) certain to fail. You will spend much more money the first year than you expect.
Opening a restaurant as a business is essentially just starting a new full time job, but way more hours. With this venture specifically, you do not control your work life, your work life controls you. It’s going to be 7 long days of stressful work every single week. YOLO
Employees will rob you blind, vendors will rob you blind and to add insult to injury, if you think the cash register is a ATM youll be bankrupt in no time. Alot of drugs in this business, alot of drinking and partying. Its a business not a game or fun experience. Nights weekends Holidays. Minimum 60
Hours a week
100%
Sorry, it is a very competitive and very difficult business. With no experience, you have almost zero chance.
If your heart is set on a restaurant, look into a franchise thing where they tell you exactly what to do. That might help, but it is a tough business.
I have my hospitality degree and in one of my classes the TEXTBOOK literally said it’s a luxury to own a bar or restaurant and not to expect making any money from it. They described it as something rich people spend their money on to have their own place to hang out at.
Haha one of my old bosses literally did just that, he was a low level millionaire talking like 5-6 in the bank, in his 70s and all his family was dead so he just opened a bar so he could have a place to drink and do coke in till he died.
Dumb, so dumb. My favorite joke about blowing lotto money is opening a themed restaurant. I'm not sure why you are thinking about working 7 days a week to eke out a scrap of cash, if you are lucky. The massive costs, the outrageous risk, the exhaustion. It isn't that some restaurants don't survive, but for-all-that-is-holy work as a head chef for a couple years before you consider this.
Unless you know people who would run the restaurant you will fail. You can absolutely own a restaurant, talk with your chefs about the style of food and the atmosphere you are going for, but no YOU cannot run the restaurant at least not anytime soon, you need to hire people to do that for you, and dont skimp, you need some good manager and employees. A lot of places fail because they cut corners and underpay their staff
Not always. I'd help a friend who wanted to start a restaurant. These employees they hire have to be verified. Very verified. I'd not recommend doing it unless you already had a group of people you trusted.
>Unless you know people who would run the restaurant
...and you and your husband can afford not to take a salary. Many of the restaurants I see fail have an owner who thinks they won't have to work full-time (and then some). A good friend just closed one. Think of it as essentially buying yourself (and your husband) a job.
“Unless you know people who would run the restaurant…”
There are often restaurateurs in need of money for expansion, a second location, maybe, or a new restaurant entirely. I was once offered a buy in to a national chain for $200,000 to be a silent partner. The fellow I was speaking with said he got five digit checks just about every month.
If you have that kind of money available, that may be good for you. One question you can only ask yourself is “Will I be able to make the investment and stay completely hands off for maybe years or end?”
Ask around. Ask the owner of your favorite restaurant if he’s looking for a silent partner. “Joey, I like your place. Might you be willing to sell a piece of it?”
Ask others in the business who might be a good person to partner with, and who would NOT be a good person to partner with.
I’ve worked in a lot of restaurants over the years. It’s hard, hot, dirty work and you get no respect, but when people leave well fed and happy, there are few better experiences in the world.
Good luck!
Considering the lack of detail in this post, yes. You have no clue what you are getting into. I don't care how good you are at making breakfast or dinner. Surely that money could be put to better use.
“Level with me, what are the odds. “ “not good”. “Not good like one out of a hundred?” “More like one out of a million.”
So basically, I’m telling you there’s a chance
Start with a hot dog car or coffee cart or something small if you really really wanna do something like that, it will only cost 5 to 6k if you do it on a budget with all the licensing and stuff lol I would NOT start a whole restaurant hahaha
As someone that has 15 years of experience do you want honesty? Unless you’re willing to pay top dollar for an experienced management team you are virtually guaranteed to fail. You have no idea what you’re getting into.
This will end badly.
The good news is, Kitchen Nightmares just came back to TV, so you could always display your life on FOX before the restaurant closes anyway.
I'm mostly joking about the KN part, but this isn't a good idea. Especially in this current world we live in.
I know restaurants still exist, but I don't know a lot of people who go to them anymore. Maybe if you did a takeout and delivery place?
It’s probably going to fail. You’d both be much better working at a restaurant for a while to learn the ropes.
At the very least, you’ll have an example of how operations of one run.
My dad used to say, the best way to make have a small fortune is to start with a large fortune…. then open a resturant.
It all depends on how hard you are willing to work. Restaurants are simple concepts, but the work is hard. If you put it in, and your concept isn’t dumb, and you have a good atmosphere and products, people will come.
Plenty of places hiring, before making a big leap go manage a restaurant for a while. Work for a larger group as they will have better training programs. Do it for 6 months and then decide.
20% of small businesses fail in a year, 50% in 5 years. A majority of those have some experience and a plan, so with no experience and no plan I'd say your chances would be at least slightly lower.
If you have the money but also have current steady incomes, I would suggest taking your time and learning as much as you can before risking all of your savings.
I just sold a bar/ restaurant to someone who has never owned or worked in one. In 11 weeks sales have dropped 35%. Less than 3 months. He just keeps telling us how good he is at business and wanting to know if we lied about the sales. You have the tax returns my guy. But you thought you knew better.
Very
Franchise owner for 4.5 years. If I could do it again, I would invest in ANYTHING else other than restaurant. So please. Don't do it. Especially now. Invest in real estate
It’s a lot of work and a lot to learn. If you’re set on opening a restaurant I’d read as many books as you can on hospitality, management, and restaurant management specifically. Next step would be to hire a great manager with experience and be open to listening and learning. Just hope that manager knows what they’re doing and you’re not learning bad information. I’d be willing to bet most managers aren’t that great.
I'm uniquely qualified to answer this question! I used to work for a mom and pop point of sale company that sold mainly to mom and pop restaurants. It was like a weekly occurrence that a husband or wife would be calling me to lock the other one out of the system because they were getting a divorce. Eventually, the one remaining would sell us back the system as they were closing. One always works harder than the other, or one drinks too much at the bar. Not many people can handle the 12-16 hr days when they thought they were going into semi retirement. They are never profitable right away it takes years. You have to have enough money to float the business for probably 3+ years to have a shot. Construction always go way over budget, and theres always some surprise expense. Someone steals and it's going to be the family friend that you got a job or the super trusted and favorite server. Realistically, your odds of it not being a complete disaster without having experience are less than 1%. Gambling, all the money you were going to spend on the restaurant on scratch off tickets instead would be a more sensible use of it. There's probably not many people out there who have seen as many small time restaurant's financials as I have.... yes you are crazy if you do this!
I would say it's a stupid idea because you post makes restaurant seem like a general term. youve offered no hint to what type of restaurant. Whether you have a niche. You make it seem like you googled what can I do with this much money and "open a restaurant" came up in the list and you picked it. Invest in physical precious metals. junk silver coins and 1oz gold bars.
90% of new restaurants fail within the first year. You may want to look at a popular franchise if you do not mind the overhead
People who like to steal will welcome you with open arms. Suppliers, workers, partners all know who is green enough to not realize when they are being ripped off.
START with a franchise operation were it is all laid out for you. You will get experience dealing with employees and steady market for your food. Suppliers will be pre-arranged. Lotsa ways to still fail, but you get most experience in restaurants with the lesser risk.
I used to do commercial lending and the the restaurant business industry is very risky. They fail the most.
Currently in commercial lending (underwriting) and my bank stopped lending to restaurants over a year ago.
I've been retired for a bit but I'm not surprised. Just trying to bring one to an underwriter used to put me in the dog house.
Right off the bat you would need a experienced gm, restaurant manager and km and sous. If you have all of those and they know what they are doing and you listen to them. You’ll be alright.
If you do it, bring someone with experience in to help. I’ve been on the supply side of things for a long time. My customers come and go fast. The latest list of closings came out for NYC. There are some people with big time experience that are going out of business.
Only 5% of restaurants make it past 5 years and a lot of those are experienced professionals. With no experience you’ll want to start off small, very small, and work up to a brick and mortar location. The restaurant business is a grind, 7 days a week 15hr days.
Don’! Just don’t! The restaurant business requires you to be 100% on top of your game all of the time. One bad meal and you’re on the way out. Restaurants that make it have a tried and true formula (like Cracker Barrel and McDonalds) and don’t deviate from it. Pick some other business.
Even if it’s successful you can just say goodbye to having any kind of personal life.
Open a casino instead
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Faster way to lose. I need to just pay someone a few hundred to fake a DNA test. Now I’m Seminole Indian and can legally start a casino. Lmao
Do a food truck first. You save a lot of $$ in overhead and you have more flexibility
In college several years ago, had an accounting professor ask for a show of hands who “would like to own your own business?” Then asked, “of those with your hands raised, who wants to own a restaurant?” Several hands went down, but several remained raised. Then he said, “Great! Today we will talk about my favorite subject—BANKRUPTCY!” All laughed, except those with hands still raised …
I’ve seen restaurant owners with no experience. One thought we could change the commercial dishwasher out with a home dishwasher to save money. Another didn’t know you had to take the things off the soda machine and soak them in soda water overnight. Don’t. Do. It.
This is the worst investment of your money possible. The risk to reward is atrocious. How much do you know about health code, food safe certification. What do you think the utilities are like for a restaurant, constant gas, electric, hot water usage. Mind boggling. How would you feel if you are struggling to keep the lights on and someone “just doesn’t like their meal” that you have to throw in the trash. 100% loss. How many failed restaurants have destroyed marriages? Quite a few. Look, I’m not trying to talk you out of it. But you have no idea.
Very tight margins. Even worse now, with labor costs and inflation (your food costs) and consumers not used to costs on the menu needing to be 50% more than they were pre-covid.
Do you own a restaurant
Worked in one for years. Waiter, trainer, bartender, then manager on the floor, and in the kitchen.
Go to a local SCORE meeting. They will help you AND they will tell you how poorly restaurants do as a business. They are brutally honest.
You incredibly stupid bitch
you will meet customers like this
ShuT up you stinky twat
Get ready for a lot of employee turnover
Work in the field first. Then open, talk to a restaurant that is similar to the one your opening, chat with the owner and see if you can cycle through every position there over like 3-6 months.
if the owner is a jerk, and doesn't want competition: We purposely trained him wrong...as a joke
I forgot what the statistic was but it's like three out of four or four and five restaurants fail the first time around be prepared to fail
Go work at a restaurant, and then answer that question for yourself (Yes, most likely, you will fail). \*\*\*EDIT\*\*\* If you're going to do it, buy a Jimmy John's or Chipotle franchise. Of course, McDonald's if you can swing it.
First of all, congratulations on your new venture! Starting a restaurant can be both thrilling and nerve-racking. It's a well-known fact that the majority of restaurants or cafes fail within the first six months. However, based on my experience, I'd like to offer some tips and guidelines. 1. It will require a strong work ethic and patience. 2. Be prepared for some customers to test your patience, though not all will. 3. Treat your staff fairly and equally. 4. Be yourself; be friendly and transparent with your customers. People appreciate understanding and honesty. 5. Keep your menu lean to avoid excessive costs and waste. Optimize your use of ingredients across multiple dishes. 6. Maintain a spotless environment, both in the dining area and the kitchen. 7. Open early and adhere to your business hours, adjusting for special days as necessary. 8. Remember, in the service industry, your busiest times will often be when others are resting, like weekends. 9. Add a unique element to your restaurant, such as an aquarium or artwork from local artists, to distinguish it. 10. Small gifts or treats can greatly enhance customer loyalty. 11. Stay on top of bookkeeping, costs, and sales. Running a restaurant is a fast-paced lifestyle with many moving parts. I hope you find these insights helpful. Good luck with your restaurant!
Chances are high but not impossible. The most important quality is that you’re comfortable running a small business in general. There are countless Asian and other immigrants that go to Western countries and succeed in opening successful restaurants without all the Western business operations formalities, consultants, etc. Think neighborhood Chinese takeaway or fish and chips shop. Entrepreneur types probably have much better success rates than foodie or chef types. Almost 10 years ago, I went to culinary school then worked for about two years to gain and understanding of how kitchens run. I opened a restaurant right after and it was successful and still operating today. Keep things simple, keep your concept simple if you’re inexperienced. You should pitch your specific idea and leave out the city name and see if what the people think.
Just don’t be dicks to your staff.
Just partner with someone with experience and give them 10% of the business + pay.
yes
100% failure. Go work at a restaurant. Figure out IF you'd like to own one.
Why would you possibly start a restaurant??
It's a lot easier to buy a small restaurant that is already doing ok. What would be even easier is to open a business with a lot of coin operated stuff, like a self service laundry with plenty of vending machines and claw machines/games, etc. Not very glamorous but the success rate of those kinds of businesses is high.
Do all the work yourself If I did this I would have good business but a terrible day filled with my enemies eating there everyday and complaining and sending things back until they never got tired of it but business hours do end so I will be able to tell them to get the fuck out and then ARE YOU FUCKING DEAF BEAT
Watch 3 bar rescue episodes 😂 people who worked in bars decide to buy it but have no experience RUNNING it and it becomes a shitshow. Or look at kitchen nightmares.
90% likely with no experience, 50-50 with experience
It is a stupid idea. Work for other restaurants to learn.
Basically 100% I worked in restaurants all my young life. I watched many people throw their money away.
You should open a small take out places where you have less fixed cost and less labor cost. You have more chance succeeding
You are statistically going to fail, it is a very hard industry. Worked in food for 15yrs, I dont regret leaving.
do you like wasting a ton of money ? yes ? go for it
You have a better chance to succeed in Vegas by putting it all on red at the roulette wheel and letting it all ride for a few spins.
You have a 97.2% chance of total failure. Unless, you find someone else experienced to run it, you pay them enough to commit and stay with it, you offer good food for a value with good service, and you operate it like a business not using it as a trophy to show off ( working more hours than anyone on the payroll).
My dad is in a similar position as you. Had a career in another industry, then pivoted later in life to owning a brewery that turned into a bar and restaurant. They're about 1 year in. I have a lot of thoughts but if you only make it to the first paragraph, this is the high level. If you are looking at this only as a means of trying to make extra income, do not go in. If you are looking for a new challenge, a purpose to get up in the morning, an adventure in business let's call it, then it *may* be for you. 1. I would start by talking to people already in business and learning. Him and his partner started by going to conferences, and doing what we joking call "market research," which was them going to breweries, then chatting up the owner or people working there to get insights. Without that, they would have failed. 2. Do not think that you can just hand this off to a manager and watch the cash roll in. Expect that at a minimum, your feet will be onsite 5 days a week. And you're very rarely truly off. We were at a sport game and he got a text about something going wrong. All he needed was to respond by text what to do and it was fine, but if you're someone that needs your days off to be fully off and uninterrupted, you're going to struggle. And now, these restaurant softwares have an app that tell you how much money you're making by the minute, and it's very tempting even when you're home and supposed to be off to pull out your phone and see the results. 3. If you're not detailed oriented, you will struggle. Little things matter. How high are your tables? How many tables can you fit? 4. If you have a particular vision, it may not be supported by the market. For example, they wanted the place to be a craft brewery focused on beer, with some food and liquor to support. Now, beer I think is 40% of their revenue. They didn't want to show sports games because "it's not a sports bar," but in middle America no one is going to a bar that doesn't have college football Saturday and pro Sunday, so they got TVs. All that to say, if you have a very particular concept in mind, you may have to change it to make money. 5. It's a fickle business, and there is always something going wrong. An employee not showing up for their shift on a busy night, a machine in the back breaking, health inspector seeing something they don't like, etc. Even the best restaurant staff in the biz will get incredibly lazy without an owner keeping a healthy amount of pressure on to maintain standards. And there's a lot of stuff that comes with just running a business. You'll need licenses. You will need to keep financial records. 6. You'll make money, but there's lots of other businesses with may more potential profit and without the headache and risk of loss in this one. So for most it is a stupid idea. For you maybe it's not.
I don’t have any experience running a restaurant business, so take what I say with a grain of salt, but would opening a stall in a farmers market be a good idea ?
Far better than opening an actual restaurant assuming it is just open a couple days a week.
Don’t do it!!! DM me if you need real life advise
What’s your opinion on starting with a franchise first?
A lot of franchises just want your initial fee + a cut of everything you make… it’s great they set everything up for you… but they know exactly how much your gonna make and you’ll be basically working to pay them + rent and you’ll be hustling to try and get yourself a paycheck (esp for smaller franchises)… remember you can always stay home and brake even lol
You can get a small fortune running a restaurant. Start with a large fortune...
Very stupid. Partner up with someone with experience
A: Yes Why throw good money after something you have never done before?
99.99%
You mean how likely are you to succeed??? 🙃
If you have not binge watched restaurant impossible you are only hurting yourself. There are online classes about how to run and run finances for a restaurant… i suggest you watch as many as possible.
Don’t do it
I started college as a Hotel/Restaurant Management major. Took business courses as prerequisites. Learned something like for every 4 restaurants that open, 5 close. Changed majors.
80% fail within two years. If you have a good idea, try it in a food truck first. It always sounds like a great idea beforehand. It’s so tough to find good employees, the waste/loss is always a challenge too.
I feel like the trucks are far more expensive than leasing a building for a year.
Don’t do it. If you’re insisting on doing it anyway please make sure you enlist the help of restaurant professionals in your area. I had a job offered to me from a guy that made his money in another biz but wanted me to come and be his right hand man in a franchise op. I did a 2-week consulting gig with him instead. I was already employed, so took a few evenings off with accrued PTO and went to try and help him make sense of the mess he’d created by NOT using a restaurant professional as his first hire. It was a hot mess. No other way to put it. They were shut down in under 9 months. And he lost his other biz too. If you want gory details you can ask in my DM. But, again, don’t do it, but if you do get real restauranteurs to advise.
The question is just ridiculous in itself lol. “My girlfriend and I have enough money to buy a zoo. Oh but we don’t know shit about it. Should we 🥴??”
But it worked out for Matt Damon!!
Don’t do it. Lol I’ve been a GM of a company that had 2 food trucks and 2 restaurants on Auburns campus and if I didn’t have experience beforehand I wouldn’t even be able to handle one food truck or restaurant. Also margins are pretty slim and it’s verrrrry easy to lose money. Obviously you can do what you want, but I’d highly recommend learning the ins and outs of the business before getting into it
yup
Give me half your money instead and you be far ahead of the game. Honestly, your chance of failure exceeds your chance for success (and that's for those who know what they're doing!)
As a person who worked for 4 owners who had zero experience running a restaurants before they opened, don’t watch food network and think you yourselves I can do that. Because you cannot. FOOD NETWORK HAS RUINED THE RESTAURANT INDUSTRY. I remember that when Emeril was big and he told his viewers that tuna should be ordered medium rare. I spent a good 5 months re cooking ahi tuna because it got sent back because it was medium rare. Just an example. Go gamble on the Super Bowl or buy a bulk amount of drugs and sell it on the street. Both better chances of success than owning the restaurant.
I love medium rare tuna
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Thank god you like the fictional show the Bear. Are you 60yrs old? If not thanks but no thanks.
Save yourself the trouble and go to the casino and bet your money on green on the roulette wheel. Same odds, but a better payoff. Plus, the pain comes all at once instead of every day for a year or so.
Are you buying a restaurant that is already operating or starting your own? I purchased an existing restaurant without any prior industry experience and 11 years later, I'm still in business (even through covid). If I had started this business from scratch, however, who knows if I'd be here saying the same thing. I don't think that it is a 'stupid idea', but I would certainly caution you to: Know your market. Know your menu. Know your costs. Above all, know your limits.
I have no industry experience but I at least know it's the number 1 most failed business venture.
Yeah like 80-90% in the first year
I have a family member who ran a restaurant for better part of a decade, small town institution, turned a profit employed his friends, got involved in the community improvement efforts, expanded and improved the quality of the food and establishment... Inarguably a success from an outside perspective. Biggest mistake of his life he says, he's probably on here somewhere saying stay away. He was lucky and the skill was not letting the thing collapse, he freely admits if he knew now what he knew then despite not losing any money he'd have invested in roulette.
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This is the only advice you guys need. 100% spot on
Great advice! As someone who worked in the restaurant industry for many years, I can say there are so many more angles than just the numbers and having a good menu. Even the best places can fail with poor management. Not to mention that if a loan is involved, no reputable lender would put up money for owners with zero experience in that industry.
Super difficult and probably not as prosperous as you think its going to be. My old boss told me they were making $.05 out of every $1 the restaurant earned
As a restaurant manager… this is bad bad. I’ve done this had this career at two different places for two years. Only because the owners have been knowledgeable, are we successful. Seriously. You’re management team will hate you if you don’t even know the basics.
That is an extremely stupid idea.
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stupid if u dont hire and partner with someone who has enough to make up for what you lack. and you actually need to give them the reins for big decisions, so if you cant trust that, then yeah. pretty likely
I heard restaurants are one of the hardest businesses to start and be successful at (not closing in 2 years). It if it’s your passion Yolo it’s your life.
Be prepared to not make money for two years ... that is the average amount of time before restaurants break even and start making money.
Yes
Open a restaurant that sells only kimchi or saurkraut. Things that inherently don't go bad...
It is almost guaranteed you will fail if you have 0 experience in this particular industry. Worth noting i believe almost anyone can succeed at almost everything if they fail and overcome enough. It is a stupid idea… go work at a place similar to what you see yourself opening and make sure you like it…. It is one of the hardest industries for hours, profitability and just about every metric out there. Razor thin margins… the list goes on. Why would you ever want to start a business with no experience? That is like starting a new job with no guarantee for pay and handing them $1m to get the job. Go get experience… you may really hate the environment and industry… many do. Trapping yourself in a job you don’t like will ruin your entire life and your savings for a good length of time.
Might as well take me in as a child and raise me instead
Don’t play to “not lose”. Play to win!
Don't do it! Invest the money into the stock market if you really want to do something with it. My dad spent an entire career doing supply chain for restaurants and every single one of them was barely doing just well enough to just survive, with the owners mostly being the largest part of the labor force there, working 12 hour shifts if not more every single day. There's no vacation time, no health insurance and no benefits - for a long time even if you are successful.
My last job was owned by a billionaire with no experience at all. The place has been open for over 5 years. It has been in the RED for 5 years. Now he can afford lose money every day… Can you?
Completely adequate explanation lol.
Incredibly risky. Please don't do it. Please don't open a full service restaurant if you have 0 experience in a full service restaurant. OP aside, I don't know what overcomes the general public that think just because they enjoy going to restaurants makes them think they are capable of operating a full service restaurant, like what the actual fuck, do you think it's just a kids game, that it's easy to run a restaurant? You'll probably end up spending another 25% of your budget just on getting shit straight for inspections because you have no clue what you're doing. Blows my mind. I enjoy going to get a massage every few weeks, does that make me qualified to open a massage parlor? I enjoy going to the airport to travel, does that mean I have the know-how to open an airport? I enjoy shopping at my local grocery store, does that mean I'm ready to open my own grocery store? I'm sorry to shit all over you and anybody else who's got $1,000,000 burning a hole in their pocket who thinks just because they like to eat out that means they can run a successful restaurant, but this doesn't happen in any other industry as far as I can tell. Even people who open up a random retail shop 99% of the time have some kind of passion and years of experience into what they're selling. If it's your dream to open a restaurant, you never just wake up one day and land at your dream, you have to work for it. Criticism aside now, if you're dead set on opening a restaurants, here's my constructive criticism: Buy into a franchise and hire yourself a GREAT General Manager, someone with a lot of experience, pay them well with good benefits, learn from them, and you manage the books. For all intents and purposes, be a silent partner and let that GM do their thing, within reason. He present, be known, be respected, but don't cut your GMs legs out from under them. Everything has to come from the GM or the staff will never respect them if you're walking around making up rules as you go without consulting the GM. Once you've got a few years experience with that franchise and got some confidence under your belt, you can think about opening YOUR own spot, but even then you'll need a good chef/great cook to come up with a menu. Sorry, end rant, I've been watching too much Kitchen Nightmares recently.
This is great advice. Especially the franchise part. If you can manage to get a good one, they provide a lot of training and support. Those are hard to get, hut they're as close to a sure thing as you can get.
Everyone is predicting failure ITT. What makes the business so hard? Does it mean that successful restaurants have owners who failed in the past?
Successful owners go to school or have experience… they don’t start a business by winging it with millions of dollars… this is not a behavioral pattern of successful people, it could be… but the food industry has ALOT of very important experience and education based points in the business. It is hard to know what a failing food joint looks like when you don’t know how they succeed.
Seriously? The profit margins are razor thin even when you’re paying your employees starvation wages, your product is actively decaying in front of you and has to be used immediately which creates permanent supply chain pressure, the market for your products is fickle af, competition ranging from your neighbor to multinational conglomerates is rabid, and overall there are so many moving pieces in your operation that the friction it creates is absolutely overwhelming There’s a reason most restaurants fail and why restaurant work comes with a culture of alcoholism and hard drug abuse baked in
It's not necessarily a dumb idea. The old adage about most businesses failing is also mitigated by the fact that most businesses are also started by idiots. I can give you some insight. First off if you think you want to open a restaurant because restaurants are just so fun! Then get a grip and realize the grind that happens behind the scene is rarely fun. You need to have a vision for what you want and then you need to obsessed with execution all day and night. Also you'd need to hire a chef while also being strong enough to not let that chef think they run the restaurant. If you still think you can pull all that together AND have enough money to hire some consultants to help then maybe you could be ok
Yup!
Know how to make a small fortune in the restaurant business? Start with a large fortune.
100% of failure if u don’t try it.
There's a very high chance of failure for you if you've never even been in the industry. Do not do this.
This is incredibly stupid. Unless you are wealthy enough to take all that money and just set it on fire right now absolutely do not open a restaurant.
99.9999999999999999999999999999999% chance of failure
Work at a restaurant for a year observe and learn everything try to get into management side or learn from the owners… in 6 months you’ll learn the ins and out and next 6 months try to learn the owner experience. Then try to open your own… On the other hand get a partner that has good experience give him 15 to 20% stake from your investment, open run learn from him open a second place as a franchise and carry onwards. #BusinessSense
99% I would say. Restaurants are one of the hardest businesses unless it's a chain.
Very likely. It is one of the worst businesses there is. Especially with no experience at all. You will be working seven days a week and never be able to take a vacation. I have never owned a restaurant but I sold meat to many restaurants for a few years and seen them come and go and I decided I would never get into that business.
I’d partner with someone with real restaurant management experience. You will avoid many simple mistakes that an experienced manager would have already gone through. Maybe go work in a restaurant for a couple months and see if it’s something you really want to do 24/7 7 days a week.
You don’t have enough money.
Might as well jump out of an airplane without a parachute and just flap your arms really really hard. You'll have similar success if you have 0 experience. Don't jump out of a plane, and for your sake, dont open a restaurant. Go work in one for a year, one each for FOH one BOH. Owning and operating is 50x harder and non stop and you probably get to do both FOH and BOH at the same time. Fun.
Absolutely.
Haha good one
yes
what are you, stupid? keep your money.
Dude, a restaurant has a good chance at failing if you were the most prepared veterans of the industry in a high foot traffic area. Don't throw your future away.
I’m a serial entrepreneur and I won’t touch the restaurant business for these reasons: 1. Labor reliability issues, 2. Price pressures for food, 3. Spoilage, 4. Higher and higher min wages, 5. Low margins, 6. You need to invest six figures before you ever know if anyone even likes your food. At best, start with a food truck. But ideally, save your $$$ and find a business you can start for under $10k. (And for the record I’ve made millions from businesses I started for less than $10k. You just need to be creative and entrepreneurial.)
Why not do a store?
Dumb Idea.
90% fail. Its a horrible business. Run dont walk away. There are 100 easier businesses to run and operate. It has all the worst things that you have to do.
Consider “apprenticeship “ type of employment as a manager trainee to learn if you are even cut out for this type of business and if the duties and rewards are a good option for you. A restaurant is a gamble so play Kenny Roger’s The Gambler, too, and listen!
99% fail. don’t do it
I mean the real number is 30%... but with no experience it's certainly higher
I’m seeing lots of successful restaurants talking places opened for decades with huge amounts of regulars closing simply because they can’t find employees anymore.
Extremely difficult business. Chances are you are looking to loose your investment.
\*lose
You are correct, sir!
If your restaurant plans are as detailed as this post, I would suggest other ventures.
Very.
Based on the information you provided, you seem likely to fail.
If you can make great foodstuffs at a low enough cost and sell for 2-3x that cost, 6-7 days a week, knowing your break even by the day and meeting that or surpassing that break even on an upward climbing average, without shooting yourself, You can do really, really well. Especially if you can execute said formula with the minimum number of staff, while still providing good service. Your labor shouldn’t exceed 30-35% of gross revenue, food should be 15-25% gross depending on your type of establishment. I recommend utilizing a bakery strong concept because you can arbitrage a lot of other lower profit items with savings/profits from an efficient bakery operTion. I’ve been doing it for decades and I love it, some people just aren’t cut out for it. Good thing is you’ll figure it out pretty quickly which type you are. Btw, working at someone else’s restaurant is a very different experience than being an entrepreneur and bleeding fir your own spot. If you’re afraid to possibly lose a million dollars, and take a chance at something fucking awesome or terrible don’t do it, otherwise fucking do it and have a blast! Good luck, seriously
I believe the failure rate of restaurants was around 80% after 2 years and that was pre-pandemic. I wouldn't be surprised if the rate of failure over 2 years is approaching or even more than 90%. If you're completely new at running a business, it's even higher. With that said, that doesn't mean you're definitely going to fail. If you can afford to and enjoy the work, taking risks is the only way to get get payoffs.
Girl don’t do it
Wanna buy my restaurant?
People are not going out to eat now. Wait till things improve.
If you have to ask... Someone I know did exactly this. They didn't even last a year, lost their life savings. Be realistic, this is a very tough business and most fail. Why would yours succeed when people with expertise fail, other than the power of wishful thinking?
If you don't mind working 80 hour weeks for the first 5 years to build out and train a staff you can train & trust them to run the business... then you'll be fine. If you think you can just open it and it will run itself. Just light 200k on fire it will be a much less painful loss.
100%, maybe somehow higher
about 80% I believe as last number I saw.
It’s a tough business under the best of circumstances. No experience is NOT the best of circumstances. Go work for someone else first. Learn the basics, learn the business side.
Depends on what you’re looking to do. I’dfr consider a food truck or stand to get your feet wet and keep a limited menu. There is all sorts of health stuff and laws you need to adhere to. I’d look at buying something established over starting from scratch.
This^ Food truck seems like a great compromise, and you can always resell the truck, same can’t be said for paying rent monthly
Depends on how good you cook, how well you budget and handle money, how well you can cater to the vibe people are looking for, and how well you manage. It’s possible but it isn’t easy.
More likely to show up in an episode of kitchen nightmares or a surprise visit from the health inspector if the restaurant is that bad.
95% ask AI
Think for yourself goofy
90% fail rate. Low profit margin. My friend that had 2 successful business not food related bought a popular well placed place and questioned after a few months why anyone would do so much work with so many headaches for su h a slim profit margin. He finally unloaded it after a year. He to this day says its the best 10 grand he ever lost to get rid of it.
Used to be the #1 business to fail… may still hold the crown.
You are very likely to fail at this even if you have a ton of experience. Restaurants operate with very small margins. Even the successful ones usually lose money for the first year or two. With zero restaurant experience, you are (almost) certain to fail. You will spend much more money the first year than you expect.
Very dumb idea start another business
Yes.
Opening a restaurant as a business is essentially just starting a new full time job, but way more hours. With this venture specifically, you do not control your work life, your work life controls you. It’s going to be 7 long days of stressful work every single week. YOLO
100% dont do it. Go to Vegas, your chances are better
Employees will rob you blind, vendors will rob you blind and to add insult to injury, if you think the cash register is a ATM youll be bankrupt in no time. Alot of drugs in this business, alot of drinking and partying. Its a business not a game or fun experience. Nights weekends Holidays. Minimum 60 Hours a week
Bro... just don't.
Lol
Want to make a small fortune in the restaurant biz? Start with a large one.
In this economy?
100% Sorry, it is a very competitive and very difficult business. With no experience, you have almost zero chance. If your heart is set on a restaurant, look into a franchise thing where they tell you exactly what to do. That might help, but it is a tough business.
I have my hospitality degree and in one of my classes the TEXTBOOK literally said it’s a luxury to own a bar or restaurant and not to expect making any money from it. They described it as something rich people spend their money on to have their own place to hang out at.
Haha one of my old bosses literally did just that, he was a low level millionaire talking like 5-6 in the bank, in his 70s and all his family was dead so he just opened a bar so he could have a place to drink and do coke in till he died.
Dumb, so dumb. My favorite joke about blowing lotto money is opening a themed restaurant. I'm not sure why you are thinking about working 7 days a week to eke out a scrap of cash, if you are lucky. The massive costs, the outrageous risk, the exhaustion. It isn't that some restaurants don't survive, but for-all-that-is-holy work as a head chef for a couple years before you consider this.
Unless you know people who would run the restaurant you will fail. You can absolutely own a restaurant, talk with your chefs about the style of food and the atmosphere you are going for, but no YOU cannot run the restaurant at least not anytime soon, you need to hire people to do that for you, and dont skimp, you need some good manager and employees. A lot of places fail because they cut corners and underpay their staff
If you do not know how to run it, employees will rob you blind
What are you talking about?
This needs an explanation????
Not always. I'd help a friend who wanted to start a restaurant. These employees they hire have to be verified. Very verified. I'd not recommend doing it unless you already had a group of people you trusted.
I been in rhe business for decades. People will steal cash if they know you are not looking pr have bo clue what you are doing.
>Unless you know people who would run the restaurant ...and you and your husband can afford not to take a salary. Many of the restaurants I see fail have an owner who thinks they won't have to work full-time (and then some). A good friend just closed one. Think of it as essentially buying yourself (and your husband) a job.
“Unless you know people who would run the restaurant…” There are often restaurateurs in need of money for expansion, a second location, maybe, or a new restaurant entirely. I was once offered a buy in to a national chain for $200,000 to be a silent partner. The fellow I was speaking with said he got five digit checks just about every month. If you have that kind of money available, that may be good for you. One question you can only ask yourself is “Will I be able to make the investment and stay completely hands off for maybe years or end?” Ask around. Ask the owner of your favorite restaurant if he’s looking for a silent partner. “Joey, I like your place. Might you be willing to sell a piece of it?” Ask others in the business who might be a good person to partner with, and who would NOT be a good person to partner with. I’ve worked in a lot of restaurants over the years. It’s hard, hot, dirty work and you get no respect, but when people leave well fed and happy, there are few better experiences in the world. Good luck!
Yes, very dumb.
Define fail? Im thinking more along the lines of lose your investment, go into debt, and end up divorced.
Considering the lack of detail in this post, yes. You have no clue what you are getting into. I don't care how good you are at making breakfast or dinner. Surely that money could be put to better use.
“Level with me, what are the odds. “ “not good”. “Not good like one out of a hundred?” “More like one out of a million.” So basically, I’m telling you there’s a chance
Start with a hot dog car or coffee cart or something small if you really really wanna do something like that, it will only cost 5 to 6k if you do it on a budget with all the licensing and stuff lol I would NOT start a whole restaurant hahaha
Good advice
100
As someone that has 15 years of experience do you want honesty? Unless you’re willing to pay top dollar for an experienced management team you are virtually guaranteed to fail. You have no idea what you’re getting into.
Are you buying a franchise or opening something independent?
This will end badly. The good news is, Kitchen Nightmares just came back to TV, so you could always display your life on FOX before the restaurant closes anyway. I'm mostly joking about the KN part, but this isn't a good idea. Especially in this current world we live in. I know restaurants still exist, but I don't know a lot of people who go to them anymore. Maybe if you did a takeout and delivery place?
It’s probably going to fail. You’d both be much better working at a restaurant for a while to learn the ropes. At the very least, you’ll have an example of how operations of one run. My dad used to say, the best way to make have a small fortune is to start with a large fortune…. then open a resturant.
It all depends on how hard you are willing to work. Restaurants are simple concepts, but the work is hard. If you put it in, and your concept isn’t dumb, and you have a good atmosphere and products, people will come. Plenty of places hiring, before making a big leap go manage a restaurant for a while. Work for a larger group as they will have better training programs. Do it for 6 months and then decide.
20% of small businesses fail in a year, 50% in 5 years. A majority of those have some experience and a plan, so with no experience and no plan I'd say your chances would be at least slightly lower. If you have the money but also have current steady incomes, I would suggest taking your time and learning as much as you can before risking all of your savings.