25K will get you going but be sure you can afford the negative monthly cashflow (payroll, rent, cost of food) if the place is not an immediate success. I don't care of the coffees shop is located in the arse end of the woods if you are not doing $200,000 a year in sales by the end of year 2 - shut up shop.
no offense, but you may as well burn your money. good luck competing with the subways and mcdonalds of the world. restaurant business is highly competitive. I forget the number but its 80-90% failure rate for a new independent restaurant.
but all those people who failed at it thought they could buck the odds or they had figured out a path thru that minefield.
and I speak from experience, I'm one of those people. fortunately, for a while there was some profit so before it failed I made back a lot of my investment. a learning experience. I would not try to operate a restaraunt again for all the tea in China
but all those people who failed at it thought they could buck the odds or they had figured out a path thru that minefield.
and I speak from experience, I'm one of those people. fortunately, for a while there was some profit so before it failed I made back a lot of my investment. a learning experience. I would not try to operate a restaraunt again for all the tea in China
It's much cheaper and easier to buy an exisiting sandwich shop and just get the permits transferred. If you build or remodel one, then you have to get construction permits from the building dept. and health dept. Call them before you do anything if you have questions.
If you plan on cooking your bread and serving hot food then you need to have an exhaust hood. Captive-Aire is a good brand IMO. Having the food preparation/cooking area within the customer's view is a good strategy - people love seeing their food prepared. Obviously the place then would need to be spotless and good food handling skills for the employees.
Also just having good food is not enough, the restaurant should be somewhat visually appealing. Don't just have vinyl flooring, painted walls, and a t-bar ceiling. Even inexpensive tile and a couple of soffits would give the place some ambience. Free wi-fi is another way to get customers into your place.
Most importantly keep your menu simple but prepare your items well. Don't try to be like Bobby's Mexican/Subs/Gyros/Pizza Place where they offer everything under the sun but nothing really tastes that good.
Franchises could be another good option but the start-up costs may be higher. Jersey Mike's is a sandwich shop franchise that's taking off in CA and holding their own against Subway and Quizno's.
If you plan on cooking your bread and serving hot food then you need to have an exhaust hood. Captive-Aire is a good brand IMO. Having the food preparation/cooking area within the customer's view is a good strategy - people love seeing their food prepared. Obviously the place then would need to be spotless and good food handling skills for the employees.
Also just having good food is not enough, the restaurant should be somewhat visually appealing. Don't just have vinyl flooring, painted walls, and a t-bar ceiling. Even inexpensive tile and a couple of soffits would give the place some ambience. Free wi-fi is another way to get customers into your place.
Most importantly keep your menu simple but prepare your items well. Don't try to be like Bobby's Mexican/Subs/Gyros/Pizza Place where they offer everything under the sun but nothing really tastes that good.
Franchises could be another good option but the start-up costs may be higher. Jersey Mike's is a sandwich shop franchise that's taking off in CA and holding their own against Subway and Quizno's.
I would agree with that. You get to be your own boss but when you're starting out you're going to want to be there pretty much all the time. Plus I don't know how many employees you would need to hire but finding good ones are hard. Plus you have to see who you can trust and who is giving out free drinks and food to their buddies.
Location is important. Plus if you can find a good niche crowd like business people that helps a lot.
