1. Time to plan and go to the drawing board.

As in most things in life that aspire to be well-executed, some planning ahead is an unbreakable rule. In Step 1, you put your ideas together, you define your restaurant concept (it should be aligned with your business expectations). What will be the concept of the food, of the customer service? Will you serve a Latin Fusion menu with a sprinkle of Mediterranean kitchen? Will you be original and unique and be known as the place that treats customers like undesirable guests on purpose? Will you have a medieval tavern theme and play only medieval music? What will be the shape of your plates? What will be the experience of the guests from the time they come in until the time they leave? Will you add thank you notes and unexpected offers inside every delivery to build a relationship with remote customers? You have to decide every little aspect and write it down! Your concept should be reflected in the name of your restaurant, the design of your collateral, the decoration, the color of the walls, etc. It is important to consider where will your location be and the type of demographic it will most likely serve, design a restaurant that is aligned with the profile of your demographic; if your vision of a restaurant does not match the demographic of the location you are considering, you should probably either change the concept or the location.

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2. Develop your menu and your culinary offering.

If you are trying to start a restaurant, chances are that you or your partner have a passion for the culinary arts and enjoy being creative when it comes to creating new dishes and menu items. In step one we decided what type of food we were going to offer, but now it's time to go into the details.

 Elaborate a concept menu that represents your vision with detail. List the necessary ingredients and a description for each item in your menu.

Why is this step so important? Well, having a high-fidelity concept menu on your hands will pay off in step three, when you start planning the business side of things. It will give you information about the type of equipment you'll need, the skills that your team members will need, the approximate cost of the ingredients, etc. All this info will allow you to make calculations before launching such as:

- the expected salary of your team(if your menu has a little bit of a learning curve you will need more seasoned workers, who will expect better compensation to work for your restaurant)

-the number of workers you will need for each station/area.

-the approximate price you should charge per dish to be profitable and have a sustainable business.

- the cost of purchasing and maintaining the necessary equipment and utensils.

-the approximate size of the Back of House area you will need to store the ingredients and the equipment. This will give you an idea of the type of lease you will need.

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3. Now it's time to plan the business side of things.

In step 1, we planned the restaurant we want, in step 2 we developed a detailed concept menu that gave us valuable insights, but now we have to define how we are going to execute, how are we going to make our restaurant successful through a sound business structure that will make sure your restaurant is in good financial standing and has a healthy cash flow.

Planning the business side of things is more simple than it looks: just answer questions about your future restaurant that force you to contemplate the market you serve, the viability of your overall plan, and challenges you might not have otherwise have thought of. Here are some of the questions to answer when writing the business plan:

1. What will be the management and ownership structure?
2. What are the human resources and staffing needs? It's easy to underestimate the number of staff members you need. By putting it down on paper, you'll have a more realistic vision of how many employees you need to hire to operate your business.
3. What is your staffing plan? Will you post jobs online? Will you have a hiring event? Will you acquire workers through recommendations of acquaintances, friends, and family?
4. Where will your restaurant be located? Having a high-end restaurant low-income area does not sound like a good idea.
5. What is your value proposition?
6. What makes your restaurant different from the competition?
7. How will customers find your restaurant? Will you market your business through word-of-mouth, paid advertising, social media, or another method? This section of your business plan requires careful research. You'll need to provide an analysis of the demographics and competition for your chosen location.
8. What resources will your restaurant need? Take the time now to list out all the one-time and recurring expenses you’re likely to incur as part of your cost of doing business—leaving no stone unturned.
9. How will your restaurant make money? Your business model determines how your restaurant will generate revenue, cover expenses, and eventually make more money than it spends.
10. How long will it take for your restaurant to turn a profit? Use a revenue forecast to determine how long it will take to recuperate your initial investment, break-even, and run a profitable business.
11. What are you not willing to compromise on? What values are most important to you, both personally and as a business? What are your non-negotiables? This will help you make critical business decisions down the road.
12. What's your mission? Are you building a restaurant that you hope to eventually sell, or are you working towards a long-term, sustainable business? Knowing where you want to go will help to inform many of your business decisions along the way.

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Dive deeper into building a restaurant business plan with the Guide for Developing a Business Plan for Restaurants.

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4. Research funding options.

Now we have to obtain funding for our restaurant unless you have enough capital to cover the cost of opening up without investing or financial assistance. First thing is to determine the amount of funding you will need, support yourself in the prior steps to forecast the total cost of operating for a year, and subtract the capital you have on hand. The final number is the approximate amount of money you have to gather from the following methods:

• Small Business Loan(https://www.sba.gov/funding-programs/loans)
• Commercial Loan
• Business Line of Credit
• Investors
• Crowdfunding

For more information about funding for restaurants, read our Guide for Funding a Restaurant Business.

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5. Time to obtain permits and licenses.

To operate your restaurant, you have to be legally compliant at a federal, state, and local level. We recommend having a lawyer on board that guides you through this part so you do not miss anything. Here are some of the steps you will most likely have to take:

• Register your business

• Obtain a Business License

• Obtain an Employee Identification Number
  

• Obtain a Foodservice License
  

• Obtain a Liquor License -(Not needed if you do not plan to sell alcohol at your establishment)

• Be mindful about Individual Food Handler Licenses: Depending on the state, part of your team will need to have some sort of Food Handler License or Certificate.

• Consider trademarking your restaurant name.

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6. Time to materialize.

So far all the steps have been pure theory, and you have been waiting for some action. Well, finally you will be able to visualize your hard work. It is time to start putting everything together.

• Remodel your selected location as needed.
• Secure Equipment Suppliers and Perform the Installations.

While you remodel the location and put everything together, you can get yourself busy with step 7.

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7. Marketing.

Marketing is not all about getting more customers. It's also about keeping the ones you already have and making sure they come back for more. You want to make sure your marketing is always on point and never fails to engage with your audience. With so many restaurants in the world, it can be hard to stand out from the crowd. However, if you're willing to put in the work, there are some relatively easy ways you can get more traffic and convert them into customers.

Do not wait until you launch to start your marketing efforts, you should start as soon as you have a clear concept and strong marketing materials.  

Visit our Guide for Restaurant Marketing to dive deeper into this topic.

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8. Choose your restaurant software.

In today's digital age, it is impossible to run a restaurant without a good set of applications and software tools. On the other hand, choosing the right restaurant software can be a daunting task, but there are a few things to keep in mind when looking for your new software.

First, consider the features that you need. If you're just looking for an app to take orders and handle payments with little customer interaction, there are plenty of options out there. On the other hand, if you need something more comprehensive with detailed inventory and reporting tools, it might be worth investing in a more expensive program. Second, evaluate the cost of the software and whether it is something that will fit into your budget. No matter what you choose , make sure that it is compatible with your devices and your staff members’ devices before committing to it.

Restaurant owners have a lot of things to worry about. From branding and marketing to menu management and design, managing the day-to-day operations of a restaurant can be a full-time job. Thankfully, there are many tools that allow restaurant managers to do just that while keeping their business running smoothly, from Point of Sale systems to payroll management, now it is the time to decide what is going to be the toolset that will elevate your restaurant.

Do not overlook the importance of building a well organized environment and do not undervalue the difference that makes to have a cohesive team when it comes to you restaurant's success. Restaurant operations are messy, but they don't have to be. We recommend you use the Cuttinboard app to improve communication and organization at your restaurant.

9. Define Culture and Systems.

To help communicate your company culture, you must first define your mission, vision and values. Don’t confuse culture with the organization’s goals or mission statement, although both help define it. The process of establishing a culture in an organization only involves the exchange and integration of a broad cultural foundation throughout the organization.

A strong culture is integral to long-term sustainability and organizational success; The primary responsibility of management is to define and convey this sense of the overall organizational culture. Culture can be defined as the consistent organizational behavior of employees and leaders (norms). Company culture is the set of values, beliefs, ethics, and attitudes that characterize an organization and determine its actions. A corporate culture, whether intentionally formed or organically cultivated, touches the core of the ideology and practice of the company and affects all aspects of the company, from each employee to the client and public image

Now it's also a good time to start defining systems. What do we mean by systems? We recommend that you redact some sort of constitution that defines all the laws, expectations, and ways of doing things that your company and its integrants should follow and respect at all times.

Support yourself by creating slides, documents, videos, and any other format of your preference. If you decide to use the Cuttinboard app for your restaurant, you can upload all these files to different folders that your team can access from their personal devices at all times.

May we give you a tip? Use Cuttinboard app to define the culture and systems of your restaurant.

Learn more about how to set culture and systems for your restaurant here.

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10. Hire your team

You have been considering people that would be a great fit for your restaurant, but now that you are compliant with all the legal requirements of being a business, it is time to hire your team officially.

Before hiring anyone, you must check their resume and experience, and you need to do a one-on-one interview with them to make sure they are right for the job.

To learn more about this step, visit our Guide to Hiring.

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11. Launch!

We have finally arrived. Every single step we have taken has directed us here. Everything is set in place, you have the team, you have the equipment, the produce, a gorgeous location...you have the menu...Congrats! This is one of the most exciting days in your business journey! Your launch should be memorable and exciting for your staff, customers, and the company. A launch event is a way to create publicity and interest in your restaurant. It is used to introduce the restaurant to the public and show that it has arrived, and to garner support from your customer base.

The event should be creative, fresh, and showcase your culinary skills. However, with so many restaurants out there vying for customers' attention, you might not know where to start.

A successful restaurant launch need not be expensive or complicated. On the day of the event, make sure to have enough team members present so that you can handle all your customers at once and offer them an enjoyable experience since they are there for their first time; potential customers will probably pass on a second visit if the first impression of your restaurant is negative.

Here are some extra tips and ideas:

• Consider hosting a soft opening before the grand opening if you don't have previous experience hosting openings. In the soft opening, you invite a limited number of guests (friends, family, acquaintances...) and you carry on as you would in your grand opening. This is a great opportunity to spot mistakes and things to fix before your grand opening. You wouldn't offer a dish you just created to a food critic, do you? You first let friends and family taste it to receive feedback and improve upon it. Well, in your grand opening, guests are the critics, and they are evaluating everything from the ambiance and the feel of the restaurant to the friendliness of the staff and quality of the food, so, testing with a smaller event before is not a bad idea at all.
• Create a hashtag so people can post about it on social media.
• Hand out flyers, menus and marketing materials so your guests can hand to their friends and so on.

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We hope you have a better idea of some of the steps necessary to start a restaurant. Your personal circumstances are obviously unique and there are some steps you will be able to skip and extra ones you will need to take. Remember consistency through a long period of time is the biggest catalyst of success

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