The number of restaurants in Moscow is far behind their number in Paris, New York and other world centers. If in the capital of our country, there are 3,187 people for each restaurant, then in world centers this figure reaches 120-130. Thus, the relevance of discovering one’s restaurant in Moscow and other regions of the country still remains at a high level. About 250-300 restaurants are closed annually in Moscow, but if you look at other areas of activity, this indicator is at the same relative level. Despite this, new entrepreneurs take the place of the old and successfully develop, reaching the stage of creating a whole chain of restaurants.
According to prevailing restaurateurs, this trend of the flow of entrepreneurs into this business is due to the fact that today there is everything you need to open a restaurant, namely, a 20-25% market growth annually, a lack of restaurateurs in the capital and regions, and high business profitability. In the event that the project to open a restaurant is successful, then its payback occurs after 6-10 months.
The essence of the restaurant business
Most pioneers in the restaurant business have a number of misconceptions about the business as a whole. The first mistake is the desire to do better than competitors. If for some clients the restaurant is not attractive, then for others it can be very interesting. In addition, in the restaurant business there is following fashion, style, cuisine, service, etc., which fundamentally distinguishes each individual institution.
In order not to suffer the question of how to open a restaurant it is advisable to take advantage of the phased implementation of your project.
First of all, it is necessary to determine the restaurant’s affiliation, that is, to draw up a standard portrait of your future customer, based on the parameters of wealth, status, hobbies, age, etc.
Secondly, it is important to attribute your institution to a certain price segment. For example, creating a restaurant, taking Italian cuisine as the main basis, it is impossible to achieve proper results. You must determine the value of the average check.
Thirdly, the restaurant business is not a cafe, not a pizzeria or dining rooms. The specifics of the activities in them are slightly different, therefore, the concept of the institution should be clearly defined. If you can try to introduce something original with a cafe, then this will not work with restaurants. It is most advisable to follow the prevailing fashion on the market, that is, if it is popular to eat Italian cuisine today, it is recommended that the restaurant be equipped with such products.
FourthIt is worth noting that there are many ways to impose competition in the restaurant business. The most effective way is to create a quality kitchen. Here you can use the maximum of imagination, world receptions, innovations, etc.
Restaurant room
Searching for a restaurant can be compared to a poker game, namely, the player’s location efficiency. This is due to the fact that for some types of restaurant another place will not work at all, where other types of restaurants function successfully. Thus, choosing a place, it is necessary to use the concept of the future institution.
In addition to the location of the restaurant, an important point is its future area, which also depends on the conceptual features of the institution. For example, fast food establishments pass about 10 people a day through one table, gastronomic restaurants - at least one landing a day.The standard area of the average Moscow restaurant is 350-450 square meters, and the full workload of the hall with such an area is 150-250 people. Touching Moscow rent prices, the annual rental price per square meter varies from 500 to 600 dollars per square meter.
In the event that the room in question is completely suitable for you, do not rush to draw up documents. In order to get the maximum information about the condition of the premises, it is recommended to contact professional companies. These may be construction and consulting firms that conduct an inspection of the condition of walls, roofs, assess the current state of communications, and issue an opinion.
Personnel search for a restaurant
The main employees of the restaurant are the manager and the chef. Before you recruit a full-fledged team, it is worth taking care of them. The total number of employees depends entirely on the size of the activity. In a small restaurant, from 15 to 25 workers can easily manage, on average from 35 to 55, and in large restaurants their number reaches 100 people. They include cooks, waiters, cleaners, kitchen workers, hostesses, etc.
Anyone who asks how to open a restaurant has a problem finding employees, which affects Muscovites to a greater extent. This is due to the fact that today a large number of such institutions are opening, where everyone needs competent specialists. When choosing a chef, do not try to pay attention to age, since most virtuosos in this area are young and energetic people. Much more important than age criteria is the candidate’s experience and his biography.
Today it has become popular to invite foreigners into the restaurant business as kitchen workers. There are times when such an action is effective, but for the most part, statistics suggest otherwise. Foreigners will need to adapt to our living conditions, use other products, other tools, etc.
How to open your restaurant without loss
Unfortunately, not a single business project is safe from failures. Usually, a restaurant fully justifies itself after one year, having adjusted all the basic processes of its activities. Thus, an assessment of the effectiveness of the restaurant should be carried out only after a year. If during the first year of operation, your restaurant is experiencing financial difficulties, and plans for the implementation of the project are practically not fulfilled, then there is a whole range of emergency measures to restore the business.
When recovery plans also fail, it’s worth seriously considering closing down the restaurant business. As a rule, such a development of events for beginners is a certain signal that it is worth moving to another market.
On the one hand, closing a running business will be financially incorrect, since selling a loss-making business at cost is almost impossible. It is unlikely that there will be someone who will acquire a failed project. The most optimal solution to this problem exists, but it must be implemented at the very beginning, when questions still arise about how to open a restaurant.
Franchise is a safe option to open any business. Firstly, through a franchise it will be possible to avoid large financial losses. Secondly, working under franchising conditions with experienced companies, you can gradually adopt the quality of the work of professionals.
Currently there is a large catalog of franchises, ranging from popular to unknown brands. Among such a variety, you can find outdoor restaurants, fast food restaurants, affordable restaurants, etc. The main thing is that choosing a franchise preference was given to the company that was able to prove its effectiveness in the market.
Restaurant financial plan
So, most likely you are already impatient to find out how much it costs to open a restaurant, so consider the financial plan of the restaurant. According to experts, investments in the restaurant business directly depend on the tasks. The average cost of creating a restaurant in Moscow is from 4,000,000 rubles, in other regions of the country this bar is somewhat underestimated and is in the range of 2-4 million rubles.
The payback period of the restaurant business occurs in the first year of activity, if this did not happen, then seriously think about the feasibility of further work. Naturally, perhaps you have your own development strategy, where the payback is planned after 5 years. But a standard restaurant becomes unprofitable if, with due care, after 1-1.5 years there is no result.
If everything is successful and many see a bright future in your business, then it is worth noting about future profit, which in Moscow is 3-12 million rubles a year, in other regions from 1.5 to 5 million.