Opening a restaurant

Résumé du document

With annual sales exceeding $376 billion, the food service industry is the largest retail industry in the United States. The industry employs over 11 million people in more than 830,000 food service establishments and, on a typical day, almost one-half of all adults are food services patrons. The typical restaurant is really a small business. Consider the following statistics from the National Restaurant Association: More than seven of ten restaurants had fewer than 20 paid employees in 2003; nearly three of four quick service operators have recently hired an employee who was a former welfare recipient; Average unit sales in 2003 were $550,000 at full-service restaurants and $517,000 at limited-service (fast-food) restaurants; Forty-five percent of all restaurants are either sole proprietorships or partnerships; Three of four restaurants are single-unit operations; One-third of all adults have worked in the food service industry at some point in their lives. It is difficult to say how many business start-ups, let alone restaurants, actually survive. A number of studies reveal a wide variety of statistics and most deal with small businesses in general.

Extraits

[...] Opening a restaurant Introduction I will start this thesis by a little story. The first time I went to the United States, I was 15 years old, and I was visiting my family in New-York and Detroit. My uncle business was a wonderful restaurant called Gigino's Ristorante in Battery Park, in New York City. I realized the day I visited it that being a restaurant owner was a great experience. This became one of my major motivations for my professional life, and it became soon, one of my dreams I was always looking for a new concept, a new type of restaurant that can be a success. [...]

[...] Use the concept of covers and average check to help you estimate your sales. Estimate how many people you think you can or will serve in a day and multiple that figure by your estimated average check in order to get your estimated average daily sales. It's an easy matter to convert the daily average into a weekly, monthly, or annual estimate. What sales range do you want to hit in a few years? This can be very general, since it is used as a long-range target only. [...]

[...] Compare your restaurant to other, similar operations by ratio analysis. Ratio analysis: Thus technique permits comparison in terms of percentages rather than dollars, thus making comparisons with other restaurants more accurate and informative. Among the more useful ratios are the following: Current ratio: This measures the liquidity of the company, its ability to meet current obligations (those coming due during the current year). It is calculated by dividing current assets by current liabilities. However, you need to know exactly what is represented by the figures to make a meaningful analysis. [...]

[...] The worst they can do is told you lie. Use your judgement. Trade shows: Trade shows are a great hot information source. Many of the suppliers and consultants to the industry will be there. For example, The National Restaurant Association trade show is held in Chicago every May, but many state or city restaurant associations hold regional shows annually. Trade association executives an editors, consultants to the industry, persons who finance the industry (include local bankers), and career counsellors in the industry: Anyone with direct connections to the restaurant industry may have useful insights. [...]

[...] Then check inflows the same way. Look for variations; then seek the cause. Prepare a preliminary balance sheet A well-prepared balance sheet is mandatory. Your banker needs it. You need it. Your accountant or bookkeeping service will need it. A balance sheet, like the cash flow, is a toll to help you better manages your business. The balance sheet is often compared to a snapshot bearing a date: it shows what your company looks like at a given moment. The balance sheet weighs what you own (assets) against what you owe (liabilities). [...]