Every day in all the major cities of our country, the popularity of Japanese cuisine is growing. The same situation is observed in other countries.
In America and Europe, almost every city has at least one Chinese or Japanese restaurant. And going to any major shopping center, you will surely find a sushi bar.
Nevertheless, this niche is not yet filled even in the most advanced and large megacities. This means that this business is very profitable, especially if we are talking about such a direction as take-away sushi, the business plan of which will be presented in this article. But before starting this, we will find out why the idea of opening such an institution is still popular among entrepreneurs.
Reasons for popularity
Take-out sushi is inextricably linked with the sushi bar and is one of its varieties. Therefore, in this article we will use these concepts as synonyms. Now let's move on to the main reasons:
1. Easy to prepare dishes, most of which are very quickly prepared.
2. Not quite the usual ingredients for cooking. Of course, all of them are sold in supermarkets, but few people want to buy them separately and make one of them. It is better to immediately buy a ready-made delicacy. Moreover, such a pleasure is inexpensive.
3. High profitability (due to high margins). The cost of the simplest sushi starts at 5 rubles. In sushi bars and Japanese restaurants they are sold for at least 40 rubles.
Varieties
The peak of fashion for sushi bars fell in the mid-2000s. Then the number of "Japanese" cafes, restaurants and sushi bars just went through the roof. However, despite the apparent glut of the modern market, sushi restaurants are still popular, in demand and successfully compete with other institutions offering national cuisine.
Of course, most independent private bars were replaced by powerful competitors - network establishments. In some cities, their number can exceed one hundred. Despite this, quite a few isolated points resisted, and all thanks to the good service, good location and competent marketing strategies.
Japanese cuisine is so popular that some restaurants, due to high demand from customers, are forced to enter the appropriate dishes on their menus. True, these dishes can not be considered truly Japanese, since most owners are not puzzled by the invitation to the state of a professional sushi cook.
Still on the general food market are institutions with limited functionality. As a rule, they are located in shopping centers, and the main direction of their activity is take-away sushi. The business plan of such an institution can even be compiled by a novice entrepreneur. This is a very profitable business due to significant savings on staff salaries, rents, etc.
Core costs
In terms of demand, Japanese cuisine can only be compared with Italian (pizza). Only a sushi bar will require less investment than a pizzeria. As mentioned above, Japanese cuisine consists mainly of cold appetizers, so you can save a lot on hot cooking equipment.
Although these dishes can be completely omitted from the menu. If you still need them, then at least you have to purchase cooking equipment (for example, a plate for miso soup) worth about 320-480 dollars.
A Japanese restaurant with 20-30 seats must be equipped with a rice cooker, sushi case (showcase for storing dishes), thermoses for storing rice, a sushi machine, dishes, refrigeration equipment,special equipment. All this will cost $ 5000-6500.
Some entrepreneurs manage to get refrigeration equipment for free. Large suppliers, in particular, supplying restaurants with seafood, give a similar bonus to their customers.
Business Plan: Sushi Shop
Sushi bar is the best choice in terms of a profitable rental. It occupies a small area: a restaurant with 50 seats will require only 150 square meters. m. There are smaller institutions. For example, a sushi bar with 30 seats will occupy 100 square meters. m. The main thing is that it is located in a place with high traffic, near transport interchanges and various enterprises. The absence of competitors will also be important.
Number of employees
This item must be included in any business plan of a Japanese restaurant. The number of employees can be determined by analyzing the number of potential customers, menus and other services that will be provided. Minimum staff - 5 people. The calculation is quite simple: a kitchen worker (cleaning, washing dishes and other unskilled work), 2-3 waiters and one cook.
If you do not understand the cash desk and accounting, you will have to hire another specialist. A variety of menus will increase the attractiveness of the institution, but will require several chefs. You will also need to ensure the simultaneous functioning of cold and hot kitchens. Therefore, you must hire at least two dryers. Waiters should be enough for fast and high-quality service throughout the area of the institution.
If you plan to deliver food or sell take-out sushi, you will need to redo the business plan and make adjustments to it. After all, you will need two additional employees: an order manager and a courier. With a small budget, try to take on more functions or distribute them among the staff. The main thing is that this does not affect the good performance of their basic duties.
Staff qualifications
When sushi bars were just in their infancy, their owners considered hiring a professional chef as their main task. By any means they sought to ensure that only masters from Japan itself worked for them. The main reason was that other chefs could not adequately cope with the preparation of specific dishes.
In this regard, the demand for the services of recruiting agencies engaged in the selection of foreign personnel has grown. But over time, the Japanese were replaced by Buryats and Koreans. Now there is no shortage of good specialists. The minimum wage for a sushi cook is $ 650 per month.
Taxes and the form of management
Before starting a business, you need to decide on the form of management. The most popular are LLC and IP. The first has significant advantages: trusting relationships with partners, a simplified delivery system, etc. When choosing a tax rate, you need to carefully calculate everything and choose the most profitable one.
Some experts recommend choosing a 15 percent rate if the area of the establishment is more than 150 square meters. m. In other cases, they advise a single tax (UTII). You can arrange a business so that one part of it is on a single tax, and the other is taxed at a simplified rate. This is very important if your institution provides catering services (single tax) and is engaged in food delivery (type of activity for STS).
Advertising and additional service
The main key to success is a catchy and vibrant sign on your sushi bar. Do not forget to advertise in newspapers, on radio, television and the Internet. It will not be superfluous to create your own website. Periodically arrange spectacular promotions. Do not forget about the holidays and significant dates of Japan: New Year, Emperor’s Birthday, etc.
Organize these days draws, lotteries, festive events, followed by coverage of these events in the press and the Web. This will attract a lot of visitors. After all, customers go to a sushi bar not only for Japanese dishes, but also in order to touch the culture and traditions of the distant Celestial Empire.
Do not forget about it. An excellent advertisement is given by a car running around the city with some inscription, for example: "Take-out sushi." The business plan of your future institution must necessarily include the costs of this kind of advertising. Some entrepreneurs invest up to 30% of profits in it.
The cost of opening and making a profit
At the beginning of the article, the high profitability of the business in question was mentioned. The cost of a sushi bar, the opening of which requires appropriate knowledge, is not so great. If you save on equipment, room design and do not attract a large number of personnel, then you can meet the modest starting capital.
So how much does it cost to open a sushi bar? To open such an institution, designed for 20 people, it will take about 145 thousand dollars. This amount will pay off in about 2 years, because the monthly income of even the smallest bar ranges from 9 to 16 thousand dollars. Over time, it will be possible to think about organizing your own network of sushi bars.
