I want to start a restaurant. I have zero experience running a restaurant but have lots of experience running many things. I have my menu, I have suppliers, I know my laws and licensing. My only hold up is that I only have about 70% of start up capital for the first year and I do NOT want to take out a bank loan.I would like to find a partner to cover the extra costs and help me run the place, but I have no idea how to meet people who want to do this. Has anyone successfully started a restaurant? How did you do it and for how much? If you didn't have the full amount to start with, how did you find the remaining capital? What advice can you give that isn't the generic nonsense on youtube?I know people say that this is hard, but I've worked hard jobs and oversaw hard projects my whole life. I can't understand how this would be harder than what I already do or have done. But I also understand the high failure statistics. Obviously, I don't want to fail, because I developed these recipes and the people who have tried them say they would pay for this at a diner. And these aren't my friends I was feeding. Advice?
You should be asking an actual restaurateur and not pedophiles and virgins on /adv/.
>>33779095As someone who works in the catering industry (I sell catering equipment) your main hidden and ongoing runnning costs will be the supply and maintainence of commerical gas ovens. Every business that I've known that went under told me its the fucking equipment they never considered being so expensive. Some ovens go for $20,000+ so you have to factor this shit in if you're starting from scratch. If you're taking over from a previous owner, please check the maintainence records of these things and who services them and what you're paying. This is quite literally the best advice you will receive on 4chan to your question.
>>33779118>If you're taking over from a previous owner, please check the maintainence records of these things and who services them and what you're paying.Holy fucking shit, this. I bought a grocery store back in 2015 from an old couple who I thought were trustworthy, and I didn't check the maintenance records - the fucking compressors broke a year in, and apparently the owners were told repeatedly that they needed to replace them, but instead they decided to fucking offload the whole thing onto me, which contributed to the closure of my store (since, you know, it's kind of hard to keep frozen food frozen if the compressors aren't doing shit). I should have checked the records first (granted I thought it would have come up in the building inspection for the sale, but apparently not).
>>33779095same advice as last time, champtry actually managing a restaurant, before you really fuck yourself and your finances
>>33779095Use your own employees as investors. Pay them shit with the guarantee of treating the business “as if” it was employee owned. Contributions from their own pay can be treated like buying in for that quarter and save you on paying.
>>33779095Let us say you manage to raise the rest of the start-up money and spend what could easily be a million dollars on finding, designing and equipping a site, hiring staff, getting permits and licences, etc. What is going to pay your rent and payrolls for the year (at least) it will take before your weekly income starts to meet your running costs?
>>33779095People who can't cook have no business starting a restaurant. I hope you didn't commit to anything. Watch some episodes of kitchen nightmares and realize that these failures on the show this is future you.
>>33779118>your main hidden and ongoing runnning costs will be the supply and maintainence of commerical gas ovensThis is why Hitler lost
>>33779095As someone who worked under a few restaurant managers, some of whom I became friendly with, I'll say this much, it's a very reputation heavy business. Restaurants spend a lot of their time trying to maintain public relations. Online reviews can make or break them. And it's stressful trying to run damage control on useless staff who fuck up your rep with discerning customers. One guy I worked under was constantly stressed having opened his own place because he knew the first year was going to either lead to the long term success of his place, or completely kill it and he would never financially recover from the investment he put into it. That being said the way he started the place was he was the manager at someone else's place first. Then him and a head hostess got talking and they opened their own place together. They were partners but he was in charge of the menu and style of the place. Something else he found useful was hiring one well renowned head chef (he was a small time local celebrity and had done some cooking on TV for local news stations). My manager pinned a lot of the initial reputation on him joining the restaurant. The other staff (including myself) were just whoevers he hired with a 'help wanted' ad. I'd look at managing someone else's restaurant first, before you decide to make a huge investment. You'll not only get a feel for the job and the stress that comes with it, but you'll probably meet some potential partners too. Hope this helps anon. Good luck on your dream. I'm rooting for ya.
