How to Open a Restaurant

Learning how to open a restaurant is a big task. You need to do a lot of paperwork before you start doing anything concrete, and you must make sure you're prepared for the reality of running a restaurant.

Create a concept.
Every restaurant starts with a concept. Is your restaurant going to be a bar and grill, or a fine French dining establishment? You need to decide on your restaurant's theme, style and niche before you go any further in planning. It also helps to draft a menu during this stage and visualize what you'd do with the space, although you'll have to tweak that further along in the process.

Write a business plan.
Once you have a concept, you need a business plan. A business plan is your roadmap for how you'll operate your business, allocate funds and eventually turn a profit. You must have a good business plan in order to get the funding for a restaurant opening, one that shows you've put a lot of thought into your restaurant marketing, concept, demographic, location, food costs, equipment and everything else that goes into running a restaurant.

Find a location.
The next step is to find a location that works for your concept and demographic. You want to be close and accessible to your demographic, and it's also a good idea to make sure you're not facing direct competition in your immediate area. Finding the right location is one of the key factors in ensuring your restaurant is successful; a great concept in a poor location goes under just as fast as a poor concept in a good location.

Navigate paperwork and get equipment.
Once you've settled on a location, you have to begin navigating the paperwork to actually plan your restaurant. You must comply with local building codes, zoning requirements and the specific minutiae that goes into restaurant permits and inspections. Make sure you know what paperwork you'll need before you begin buying equipment, as some of the permits may determine which equipment you'll buy. Then, get what you need to run your kitchen.

Hire staff.
With your kitchen underway and your inspection successfully completed, it's time to hire staff. Ideally, you'll look for experienced people who are right for your target demographic and concept. If you've never owned a restaurant, you'll want a good general manager who knows the business and whom you can trust to make good management decisions.

Plan your restaurant opening.
With all of the elements in place: a finished dining room, a working kitchen, the right staff and a finalized menu, it's time to plan a restaurant opening. You'll want to do a test run for friends and family of the staff to make sure everything is running smoothly. You might also want to do a soft opening, in which the restaurant is open, but you don't advertise that fact widely while you work to get your staff some experience and iron out some bugs. Finally, you'll plan an official restaurant opening; getting good publicity for a restaurant opening is a great first step to running a successful business.