If you are a fan of cooking shows, spend hours scrolling through foodstagram, are a scientist in kitchen and deep in your heart, carry a dream to someday open your own restaurant, then it won’t be wrong to assume that deep in your heart you do wish to open a restaurant one day. Chefs spend days perfecting a single recipe; their master piece and are enthusiastic in plating it for their customers.
Opening a restaurant in the current times can burn major holes in one’s pockets
But even though you might be fully motivated to open and run the next big ‘It’ food place of the town, this blog is for you to understand,
The disadvantages of opening a restaurant in the current times:
1. Impact Of COVID Pandemic on Restaurants
The restaurant business has suffered heavily because of the pandemic. Even the renowned ones have had hard time breaking even and managing their staffs. Just like any other businesses, even for new restaurants it takes a long time to breakeven to the amount of heavy investment made in starting it. After the lockdown, the general public is barely adjusting to the ‘new normal’ and are opting for the already settled and well-rated restaurants in the business. So, thing of it like a long line and the new restaurants would be at the verrrryyy back of it. In addition to that, the government regulations and state wise policies have become stringent owning to the rise or fall of the Covid case. Day curfews… night curfews… afternoon curfews? Whatever it may be… the current times are affecting the business.
2. High Cost of Trendy Ambiance and Themes
Despite the pandemic’s impact on the business, the customer waits for none. While many restaurants got shut, many new opened their doors, serving not just food but additional ‘services’. The business is evolving itself to adapt. The owners are understanding that the customer does not just care about the food anymore. They need a place to add value to their own social presence; a place Instagram worthy. Owners are scouring through the various themes and aesthetics from around the world and bringing it in their own spaces. But behind building the perfect aesthetics there are heavy investments, long hours of research, finalizing the designs, coordinating with your team of workers, understanding and bargaining for the best prices and… it’s a lot of work!
3. Problems with Menu, Staff, and Service
Let’s just say that you do find the perfect theme for your restaurant, there are still most essential elements missing. The Staff and the Menu! Today it is very easy for a customer to go online and rate your restaurant. And it can be a nightmare, if your food is not rated well. Think about it like years long curse; One bad review stays with you. And so, the owners need to be very meticulous about their menus, the chefs and trained staff. The menu needs to be unique and refreshing but not too confusing that the customer even struggles to pronounce the names!
It falls on the owner to provide job satisfaction to the staff or else, they’ll leave and all your training and investment value due to nothing. And if that pressure was not enough, finding the suppliers and dealers (within your budget) is a task altogether. In given the current times, the owner need to be even more careful in providing health security too.
4. Picking the Right Location
What kind of cuisines you would serve? What will be included in your menu? What your theme would be? All these questions largely depend on the audience you are catering to. And that can be known by the area where you are planning to settle your restaurant. A gourmet restaurant will have very tough time surviving in the localities of Old Delhi where the food market is already ruled by the local street stalls and shops. Pertaining to the current times, the new concept of cloud kitchen has emerged. And despite how opportunistic this up-and-coming area of the restaurant business might seem to be, it too is struggling to drive profits. Plus, thanks to the high inflation rates, finding a spacious place in the right locality can burn a deep hole in your pocket (add to it the charges for maintaining the space!).
5. Rising Competition & Capital needs
At the end of the day, restaurant is a business, and business needs money. Even before deciding on anything pointed above, every new wishing-to-be owner must plan and decided upon how to channel in money and balance the pros and cons of the new business. Failing to thoroughly understand the market, research the costings, food and labor charges, customer behavior, latest trends and technologies could lead to splurging on the business rather than strategically investing it (more than 50% of restaurants fail to survive through their first year). Due to the lack of information and business training available for this sector, it can be a hard time for any new owner to keep the business running.
Despite how demotivating these points might seem, take it as an advice from your rational friend and research thoroughly before making even the smallest decision. Not having all around understand of the market, especially in the current times could lead to permanently closed restaurant doors.
Nevertheless it isn’t impossible, if you plan smartly and wisely, you can surely open and run a successful restaurant. And if you face any troubles in your restaurant operations or management, adopt a smart POS system to make your lives easier.
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