One of the many goals of this blog is to help up-and-coming restauranteurs with ideas of how to run their business more efficiently and profitably. One of the areas that all future restauranteurs need to be mindful of is that of expectations. There are tons of reasons why anyone would want to open a restaurant, but those reasons don’t amount to what you will encounter the day you open your doors. That’s why it’s important to think about expectations for your business before you get into it.
One suggestion that I’ve recently come across was to actually put your expectations in writing. Here’s how you do that: take out a piece of paper and divide it into two columns. Come on now, don’t make me bust out the ruler. Unless you need it to draw the line. Alright, back to it: in the left column, write out your expectations for the business. Write down the profits you hope to make, how you’d like your lifestyle to be affected, how you want your business to be received by both customers and the restaurant review column of the local newspaper. Go big if you want.
In the right column, write down what you expect of yourself to accomplish those expectations in the previous column. (Keep in mind, this isn’t like a matching exercise where you say “to get this, I must do this”; it’s just a way to get thoughts on paper.) Write down the amount of time and money that you’ll have to devote, the types of sacrifices that might take place, anything you can think of. Once you’ve done that, look at both sides together and decide if you think what’s on paper reflects reality. This is important because what you have to do to get the restaurant going is going to be a lot. People don’t often hear the stories of sacrifice that must be made to get a restaurant off the ground. It’s a rewarding business, but also very consuming.
This post isn’t to discourage you from starting a restaurant. It’s just designed to let you think realistically about what you want and what you can accomplish. You can have those things. Just be ready to work. And when you’re ready to get your kitchen equipped to the hilt, you know who to call.
One Fat Frog Restaurant Equipment
One Fat Frog • 2416 Sand Lake rd, Orlando FL, 32809 • 4074803409
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