Restaurant Startup: A Guide From Concept to Launch

January 24, 2023by Eddie Fahmy

Restaurant startup: a guide from concept to launch focuses on an overview of setting up and launching a restaurant. In this article, we delve into the establishment of the vision, budget, and timeline. We’ll also do a summary overview (with links to more detail) for other areas, such as launch location, assessment and planning for decor, design, and service model identity, core values, and culture of the brand. A review of the market, technical and financial viability — of maintaining a competitive edge based on location and concept — are paramount at the beginning of your journey.

Restaurant Startup

If you’re thinking of opening a restaurant, you may be wondering if you need a restaurant consultant. The answer is, probably. Launching and maintaining a restaurant is more complex and complicated than many other types of ventures.  A consultant has walked the path you’re stepping onto many times before. As such, they’ve witnessed the mistakes and with each new venture, they tweak better approaches to avoid common mistakes and navigate around common potholes.  So the question isn’t whether you should hire a consultant, or the cost of hiring a consultant, the question is can you afford not to?

It was very hard to justify hiring a consultant on top of all the other costs associated with starting a restaurant and very quickly found it was substantiated as the best money spent.
– Oleh Balaban 

The role of a restaurant consultant is to help you establish your vision, budget, and timeline. They will also help you with things like menu development, kitchen design, and staff training. In short, they are there to help you make your dream restaurant a reality, and are there advising you on every step of your journey.

If you’re not sure where to start, or if you need some help fine-tuning your plans, a restaurant consultant can be the most valuable asset. But before you hire one, it’s important to do your research and make sure they are a good fit for your needs. Meet with them to make sure you’re comfortable together, as this is an important collaboration.

Creating the Vision for Your Restaurant

The first step in creating a vision for your restaurant is to determine what type of restaurant you want to open. Are you looking to open a casual dining spot or a more formal establishment? Your vision has to encompass the concept, location, and demographic to make sure it is fit, If any one of the three is out of alignment, the restaurant will fail. A great concept in the wrong neighborhood won’t attract enough customers to be sustainable, nor will the wrong concept in a great neighborhood.

According to the National Restaurant Association, the low estimate is that 30% of all restaurants will fail. So you have to align the concept, location, demographics, menu, and pricing just for starters, and then do an in-depth feasibility study of each.  You’ve heard the term that the devil is in the details, and there is no endeavor more detailed oriented than opening a restaurant.

Once you’ve cleared the feasibility study with the certainty that your concept is valid, the next step is to establish who the restaurant is going to be. Yes, I said who. Think of your restaurant as an identity, a personality. We delved into that in more detail in an article focused on “building a cohesive brand“.  Keep the points from that article in mind throughout the entire process of setting up your restaurant.

Once you’ve established the concept feasibility, the work has only just begun. Working out your entire vision on paper is a better exercise than racing out to spend money in a trial-by-fire exercise. Planning matters. Take your time to establish:

  • the brand identity
  • the menu (merge the brand identity with the menu concept, develop signature dishes or drinks  to create a unique dining experience)
  • the location (more detail about securing location here)
  • business plan
  • marketing plan; including the grand opening planning, promotion, and digital marketing

Finally, once you have a vision and budget in place, it’s time to start thinking about your timeline. When do you really want to open your doors? How long will it take to get everything up and running? Make sure to give yourself enough time to plan and execute everything properly. Trying to rush things could lead to mistakes being made.

Establishing a Budget and Timeline

If you’re opening a restaurant, you need to have a clear vision for your business. This means having a solid understanding of your concept, target market, and what sets you apart from the competition. Once you have a handle on these key elements, you can begin to build a budget and timeline for your restaurant launch.

  1. How much money do you really have to invest in this venture?
  2. What are the monthly operating expenses (rent, equipment, staff) and how much runway can you fund?

Creating a budget can seem daunting because it is, but it’s essential to have a clear financial picture of your upcoming venture. You can break down your investment and operating costs into several buckets:

  1. Start-up costs (consultants, architects, designers, deposits, equipment, licenses, inspectors, initial supplies, etc)
  2. Operating costs and runway (rent, labor, contractors, food-drink, and non-food items and how long you can operate based on KPI*)
  3. Marketing cost (promotions, PR, digital marketing — such as SEO, PPC ads, social media management.

(*) A KPI chart stands for a key performance indicator chart. This formula-based-integrated chart identifies expenses, expected visitors, customers, marketing plans, conversion rates, and many other fields, and crushes the number to show the “runway” — the amount of time your investment funds combined with expected sales will sustain you. If any of the key indicators (sales, website traffic, ads traffic, conversion rates,  expenses, profits) are higher or lower, it will auto-adjust the runway.    

Once you have a budget in place, you can start to develop a timeline for launching your restaurant. Keep in mind that the process of planning and construction can take several months (or even longer), so be sure to factor in plenty of time for permits, inspections, renovations, and training. If all goes well, you could be serving up delicious meals in no time!

Deciding on a Location

There are a lot of factors to consider when deciding on a location for your restaurant as we discussed in stage 2 here.  But the short version is that the location needs to support your vision and budget. Factors to establish whether or not a given location meets those parameters would include demographics, proximity to the town/city center or some other attraction (i.e. amusement park, sports stadium, for example), and ease of access — is public transportation close, is it a high-volume foot-traffic area,  work neighborhood or residential?

The space in the location you’re considering has to also meet your requirements based on the type of venue you want to open: large, small, fast-casual, fine dining, will it requires a bar, and/or does it have or need built outdoor seating.

While these are all considerations before you even get to that you have to consider more basic parameters, Does the space meet — or can it be upgraded –to satisfy all code requirements: water, electricity, fire, health, and disability.

Designing the Restaurant Decor and Theme

The first step is to refer back to your guide on building a cohesive brand. This will drive the direction of everything that is undertaken in the pursuit of launching and sustaining your restaurant startup. It will provide the inspiration for designing your restaurant, the layout, decor, and overall theme.

These combined aspects will then set the tone for the entire dining experience and help you create a space that is both inviting and unique. There are endless possibilities when it comes to design, so it’s important to take the time to explore all of your options before making any final decisions.

When it comes to the actual design of the space, there are a few key elements to keep in mind. First, you’ll want to create a floor plan that is both functional and aesthetically pleasing. Of course, the floorplan depends on the experience you wish to offer your customers, so it can range from open and airy, to nooks that are more private and intimate.

The layout of the restaurant should be designed with traffic flow in mind as well. Take into consideration any special features or areas that you want to highlight. Once you have a basic floor plan, you can start thinking about things like wall coverings, lighting, and furniture. Remember that “everything” should be aligned with the brand identity.

It’s also important to consider the overall atmosphere you want to create in your restaurant. Do you want it to be casual and relaxed or more formal and upscale? What kind of ambiance do you want your guests to experience when they dine with you? These are all important factors to consider when choosing things like paint colors, fabrics, and finishes.

Finally, don’t forget about the little details! Things like table settings, menu boards, and signage can all play a role in creating an overall cohesive look for your restaurant. By taking the time to carefully select each element, you can create a dining experience that is truly one-of

Developing a Service Model Identity, Core Values, and Culture of the Brand

When it comes to launching a successful restaurant, it’s important to have a clear vision for your brand. This means developing a strong service model identity and culture that reflects the core values of your business and the cohesive brand identity you’ve developed.

To do this, start by creating a list of what you want your restaurant to be known for. Do you want to be known for having the best customer service? The most innovative menu? The most beautiful dining room? Once you’ve decided on your key differentiators, start thinking about how you can reflect these in every aspect of your business, from the way you greet customers to the design of your menu.

Then, start communicating your vision to your team. Make sure everyone is on board with your mission and values, and that they understand how their role contributes to achieving these goals. Finally, start sharing your vision with the world through marketing and PR efforts. By doing all of this, you’ll ensure that your restaurant is built on a strong foundation that will attract and retain customers for years to come.

Researching an Appropriate Menu and Format

When it comes to creating a menu for your restaurant, there are many factors to consider. What type of cuisine will you be serving? What is the price points?

Menu engineering is one of your most important tasks, as this (in combination with the atmosphere) is a large part of what you’re selling. And keep in mind that a menu evolves and changes. For example, perhaps your concept was a healthy life experience. So you invested in special water filtration, special lighting, and air filtration. For the menu, you opted to go vegetarian. But the neighborhood is not overly vegetarian and you’ve realized you’re excluding a lot of meat-eaters in the neighborhood. Thus, the menu evolved and you add chicken, for example.

Does this drift away from your concept? No. You can introduce chicken that is perhaps free range, devoid of hormones and other modifications. Your vision remains the same, only the dishes have been modified.

With the food and drink menu established, you need a way to present it to the customers. Before you begin researching menu formats, it’s important to have a clear vision for your restaurant as discussed regarding cohesive brand development.  Once you have a good understanding of your overall vision, you can start narrowing down your options for menu format.

There are many different types of menus, from traditional printed menus to digital menus. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages, so it’s important to choose the right one for your restaurant.

While a printed menu gives patrons something to hold. allows you to insert background designs, and may be in keeping with the overall brand identity, any item modifications or price changes will require a new printing. If you’re looking for a more flexible option, a digital menu may be the way to go (as long as it doesn’t violate the brand identity).

You can create an online menu that can be easily updated as needed, and be displayed on your website and countless directories. Moreover, you can place a simple table tent on each table for multiple uses: it can provide the QR code for customers to easily access the menu, as well as include Wi-Fi access information, or promotions such as a happy hour, specialty dishes, or drinks, or announcing events or private party booking availability.

Staff Training and Recruitment Strategies

One of the most important aspects of starting a restaurant is ensuring that you have the right staff in place. This means not only finding individuals with the necessary skill set and experience but also ensuring that they are properly trained to execute your vision. The following are some tips for developing an effective staff training and recruitment strategy:

1. Define your needs: Before you can start recruiting or training staff, you need to first define what exactly you need. What type of skills and experience are required? How many employees do you need? What are their shifts? By taking the time to answer these questions, you will be able to target your recruitment efforts.

2. Utilize online resources: There are a number of online resources available that can help you find qualified candidates, such as job boards and social media sites. You can also use these platforms to post information about your open positions and requirements.

3. Develop a training program: Once you have hired employees, it is important to develop a comprehensive training program that covers all aspects of the job. This will ensure that everyone is on the same page and knows exactly what is expected of them so that the restaurant runs as a well-oiled machine: consistent and effective. Additionally, consider offering continuing education opportunities to keep your staff up-to-date on industry trends and developments. Lastly, commit to the training program to a document: rules, guidelines, and processes.

4. Evaluate regularly: It is important to regularly evaluate your staff training and recruitment strategies to ensure that they are still effective and meeting your needs. Seek out areas that could be improved, and also assess how each staff member is performing. Are they meeting, exceeding, or falling short of the desired expectations?

Finalizing a Marketing Plan

Assuming you have already followed the steps laid out in the previous sections (and also read through the other articles regarding the setting up and launch of a restaurant), finalizing your marketing plan is crucial. Many businesses, including restaurants. fail to budget properly for marketing. Speak to the restaurant consultant about the suggested marketing budget for the type of venue you’re launching.

Failure to market adequately is like building a restaurant in a basement without placing a signup front.”- Bruce T. Dugan, marketing specialist

When developing your marketing plan, it is highly recommended to hire a marketing expert, as marketing has many overlapping components and objectives that all contribute to the overall success of a marketing campaign.

As such, what a restaurateur should focus on is:

– Make sure your budget is realistic and will allow you to effectively reach your target market.

– Be clear on your goals and objectives, and ensure that your marketing activities are aligned.

– Create a detailed timeline for implementation, taking into account seasonal factors and any major events that could impact your campaign.

– Put together a comprehensive list of deliverables, including who is responsible for each task and when it needs to be completed.

By following these steps, you can be confident that you have everything in place to launch a successful marketing campaign for your restaurant.

Conclusion

Restaurant consulting is a great way to make sure that your restaurant concept becomes a reality. With the right strategies and tools, you can ensure that your vision and concept have been vetted by a fresh pair of knowledge-based eyes that know the marketplace, have set up an effective budget, and created an achievable timeline. By developing these essential components before opening your doors, you could very well beat the odds and avoid being a part of the 30%!

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