When you’re planning on opening a restaurant, there are many different things you’ll want to consider before the official opening. Here, we’ve broken down the primary considerations into ten steps to help guide you in this new venture.

1. Choose a Restaurant Concept

Your restaurant concept is the heart and soul of what you’re doing, so choose an idea that inspires you when you first start the planning process. This idea encompasses what type of food your restaurant will serve, how it will be served, and even who your target market will be.

You’ll want to ask yourself whether the restaurant will be quick service, sit-down service, delivery only, casual, or upscale. You’ll also want to ask yourself about your ideal customers’ age group, income level, and where they live or seek entertainment.

Your restaurant concept also sets the foundation for how you’ll build your menu, where you’ll be located, and who you’ll need on staff. For instance, if you’re opening a fine dining restaurant, will you need a sommelier to help your clients choose the right wine for their meal? This will help you establish what your expenses will be and how you can set yourself apart from other restaurants.

2. Decide on a Name

With your concept fleshed out, choose a name that encapsulates your restaurant’s concept and engages your future clients. Your name will become an essential component of your branding and will help set your restaurant apart from your competitors.

3. Conduct Market Research and Competitive Analysis

An essential part of any business, whether a restaurant or not, is conducting market research and competitive analysis to determine if your idea is viable and what competition you’ll face when getting it up and running. You’ll want to look at similar restaurants to the concept you’ve developed, dive deep into who your target customers are, look at potential areas to operate your restaurant, and determine potential profit.

Market research can be carried out on your own, though it’s also something you can outsource to an agency or individual who specializes in this type of work.

4. Develop a Preliminary Menu

Before you can open a restaurant, you’ll want to carefully consider the food you’ll serve. Draft a few ideas of dishes you could serve and aim to strike a comfortable balance of things like appetizers, mains, desserts, or any other options you might typically find on a menu for a restaurant of your style.

At this stage, you can also start thinking about the prices you’ll charge for the items. You’ll want to refer to your market research and competitive analysis to ensure you’re crafting a menu that helps you increase your bottom line at prices people are willing to pay.

5. Find a Location

When considering opening a restaurant, you’ll want to know if commercial buildings are available in the ideal location you uncovered through your market research. You can look for spaces already used as restaurants, which will save on expenses, although renovation is always an option.

In the early planning stages, you can look through listings on your own to get an idea of what’s out there, but as you get further along in the restaurant-building process, you’ll want to reach out to a commercial real estate agent to help you find the best fit.

6. Consider the Expenses

With all these ideas in mind, you can start looking at what it will cost to bring them to life. Build a budget based on your ideas and preliminary menu to help you see potential profit margins and where to cut costs or save on different aspects of operating your restaurant.

7. Determine Permit and License Needs

When preparing and serving food, you need several important permits, licenses, and other official documents to operate legally. The main concern for all food service businesses is obtaining permits related to health and safety, like having an official certificate from a health inspector.

If you’re serving alcohol, offering patio seating, or valet service, you may need a permit or license to legally provide these services. For locations that need renovations, small or major, you’ll also need to ensure the city approves the changes before starting the work.

Each of these requirements varies from place to place and will require checking with the city or municipal government for the area where you want to operate.

8. Make a Marketing Plan

Before opening a restaurant, putting thought into a marketing plan is essential for bringing in business. You’ll want to think about marketing to generate buzz well before your restaurant opens and will want to have it ongoing to keep a steady stream of customers coming through your doors. As with conducting market research, outsourcing may be in your best interest so that you can focus on the restaurant’s operations.

9. Write a Business Plan

To write your business plan, you’ll combine all the information you’ve compiled in the previous eight steps. It will become a guiding document that’s highly detailed and well thought out as you start to take action to open your restaurant.

10. Secure Funding

Getting a restaurant up and running is not a cheap endeavor, and you’ll need to secure funding to get started. You could turn to casinos that accept ACH payments and hope for a huge win, but you can also use your carefully written business plan to apply for a loan or investment. The average cost of starting a restaurant in the US ranges from $175,000 to $750,000 or more, depending on your concept and projected expenses.

Conclusion

Following these ten steps can help you create a thriving new restaurant that allows your passion for food to be shared with others—hopefully on a large and profitable scale.