A New Restaurant

Myths of Restaurant Ownership

I firmly believe that one of the reasons the failure rate is so high in restaurants is that there are a lot of people who start new restaurants that have no idea what they are getting into.  They hear the hype, often times promoted by someone who is selling a new book on opening a restaurant, and they blindly charge ahead with their business plan.  It’s only after they are into it up to their eyeballs that they learn the truth.

The hard part is, many of the myths may be true, but they’re not true for everyone.  In order to do my part in helping you avoid making an extremely costly mistake, I’m going to examine the truth behind a few of the myths about owning your own restaurant.

It’s a Fun Job

I love the food service industry.  When everything is clicking, it can be a blast.  However, there are a lot of times that everything does not click.  There are times when “fun” and “restaurants” don’t even belong in the same sentence, unless that sentence is dripping with sarcasm.

The truth is, running a restaurant is hard work.  You have to deal with complaining customers, complaining staff, the constant battle to control your costs, dirty restrooms, broken equipment…well, you get the point.

Part of the “It’s a fun job” argument is that some people see having a restaurant as a great place to hang out with friends and family.  In reality, most of the time you don’t have the time to hang out with anyone on a regular basis.  If you want to hang out with friends, you would be better off getting a nine-to-five job, then going to someone else’s restaurant to hang out.

Like any other job, running a restaurant is only fun if you like that kind of work  I have an acquaintance who is in accounting.  She loves it, especially when she can find a nice tax loophole for a client.  I worked for a while in the accounting field, and it brought me no joy.

So yes, running a restaurant can be a fun job, or it can be pure misery.

You’ll Get Rich

Is it possible to to do very well financially owning a restaurant? Absolutely.  Are the odds in your favor?  Not so much.

For every Emeril or Paula Dean or Bobby Flay, there are dozens of Joe Schmo’s who grind it out on a daily basis, making not much more than they would have made being in the corporate world.  If you are good at what you do, and you can build a string customer base, the possibility is there to do quite well, but success is not guaranteed.  There are a lot of factors that play into financial success.  It is a product of steady cash inflow, and controlling your costs, some of which you don’t have a great deal of control over.

You’re a Good Cook, You Should Open Your Own Restaurant

I’ve heard this so many times it makes my head spin.  People who know nothing about me will make this suggestion based on what, my ability to saute a chicken breast?  Those that know me will point to my ability to run an operation, or my understanding of the business, along with my ability to cook.

Would anyone suggest you should open a bank because you can balance your checkbook?  No.  Nor should you get into the restaurant business, or any other business, if you don’t understand the industry.

The truth is, you don’t even have to know how to cook in order to run a successful restaurant.  You can hire good cooks.  It is more important that you understand what it takes to run a restaurant.  It takes understanding the need for consistent quality, cleanliness, excellent customer service, and controlling your finances.  Being a good cook is just icing on the cake.  Depending on the size and scope of your restaurant concept, you might not even be doing any cooking.

The key to success is to know in detail what you are getting yourself into.  Talk with other restaurant owners.  Unless you are opening in their neighborhood, most of them are very open about the business.  It is an expensive business to get into, make sure you know whether or not it is right for you.