Factors to consider when starting a restaurant and challenges facing the restaurant sector

Factors to consider when starting a restaurant and challenges facing the restaurant sector

Introduction

Restaurants have dominated the streets of our country in the recent years. Due to a lot of competition in the market, the entrepreneur should scale his job higher so as to make profits and expand. Some are lavish while others are known by the local vicinity. Being born to parents who owned a restaurant, I developed the passion by becoming a chef. Unfortunately, my parents had to close down the restaurant due to lack of capital and mismanagement of the funds. I decided to visit Adele, who owns a restaurant near Amtrak train station in Chicago, to research on the story behind her success. The following are some of the factors she narrated when she was considering before opening her business and some of the challenges she was facing too.

Capital

The amount of capital determines the size and type of restaurant. One can save for the capital or take a business loan to cover the expenses. Wise decisions are to be made since capital should be divided to cater for rent, licenses, permits, furniture, starting stock and wages for staff. She insisted that one should have a backup financial plan in case the primary one fails to avoid inconviniences. Consequently, she kept records of her sales to monitor whether she had made profits or losses by the end of the day. This made it possible to know where she was going to upgrade her services. However, she experienced some accounting problems sometimes due to huge deficits since her accountant had left the job without a notice and she was making some losses and this frustrated her so much.

Location

The entrepreneur should pick a location which is easily accessible to the customers. The environment around should be conducive, that is, free from bad smell and noise. In addition, one should choose a location which reaches the targeted group of customers. Adele chose the train station to target the passengers since she offered light meals and beverenges. Footpaths should be broad to avoid unnecessary collision of customers. For example, Adele’s restaurant is sited directly opposite the entrance of the station so that her customers can notice it. However, she lacked an ample parking space for her customers mainly the cab drivers who ran their businesses within the area. This forced her to find an additional space where her customers would park their vehicles.

Provision of Labour

New technology has reduced the number of staff to operate a restaurant hence reducing the cost of production. Use of vacuum cleaners, gas cookers, blenders and coffee makers has not only reduced the number of personnel but also increased the rate of working. For instance, the time Adele uses to prepare an order is very little since she uses machines in her restaurant and with the help of her chefs’ shes able to prepare almost seven orders at once reducing the waiting time for the customers. Generally speaking, she should have all these equipment due to the mass flow of customers in the restaurant. Nevertheless, she faced the shortcoming of acquiring trained chefs who met her preferred standards leading to uneven work. However, she had three well trained chefs.

Quality of services

This ranges from the customer service, quality of the food and drinks, duration to complete an order and the way customers are treated. She had created a good rapport with her staff and customers and didn’t tolerate any misconduct within her premises. Cleanliness was among her first objectives and the cleaning department worked their level best to keep the standards of the restaurant. Time management is always a key to any business and hers was not an exemption. Her staff was divided into shifts; early morning, midday and night shifts since the work was tiresome due to many customers. It was a 24-hour restaurant and did her best to satisfy her customers.

Working experience from the interview

The working experience in her restaurant was everything the staff could ask for due to the fact that everyone performed their duty to the best Adele didn’t harass them. Everyone obeyed the mini laws of the restaurant and the working hours ran smoothly. The staff had a good relationship with one another and also the customers. This made her keep her staff for long before they left to start their own businesses. The staff was also motivated for a good job by receiving gifts and promotions.

Lessons from the interview

The interview with Adele gave me lessons on how to start and run a restaurant like offering unique services could reduce the level of competition within the businesses. Generally, it gave an exposure of how teamwork in a business operates so as to achieve a similar goal, for example, making profits, meeting the standards of the customers and delivery of quality services. Consequently, one should learn from the experiences with the customers in order to learn their preferences. Furthermore, good conduct within restaurant premises between work mates summed it all. Also, the need of insurances was key since it can be of great help in case of emergencies like infernos. Finally, Maintenance of the workplace is very essential. This includes changing of worn-out kitchen ware, floor, seats, repairing gas leaks and even repainting so that the restaurant can look more appealing.

Conclusion

In final consideration, the experience was of great significance to my journey of becoming a chief chef in my restaurant. I don’t want to go broke and close my business the way my parents did. It enlightened me on the factors that I should consider when opening a restaurant in future. Most probably in an airport due to my love for diversity and culture. Additionally, the challenges that come hand in hand with restaurants and how to avoid them in future. Also the idea of having a food truck that could help in reaching customers in different parts who could not access the airport hence marketing my services to different parts.