Opening up a restaurant, for many people, is a dream come true. The fun and friendly atmosphere that you generally find within restaurants are just one of the many reasons why people look to get into this business. The popularity of this dream has been pushed forward with the amount of reality shows that are centered on running a restaurant. While many of these shows might make it seem like running a restaurant is something anyone can do, the truth, is that opening your own restaurant is a lot more work and trouble than you really might be ready for. Below are 8 reasons why you should never open your own restaurant.
Planning is Complex
Running your own restaurant isn’t just about being able to create something that you are going to enjoy. It is about creating a product that your customers are going to want. Food, like many other things, is something that is going to change over time. A restaurant that was successful when you are a kid might not be successful later on. If you go to plan out your new restaurant you are going to have to add in numerous addiontal factors, such as the soci-economic state of the area that you are living in. One mistake with your plan, can have disastrous long term effects.
Extremely High Stress Level
If you have never worked in a kitchen before, it can be difficult to express how stressful restaurants can get. Like any business that you are going to be running, making sure you have a high quality product to deliver is always going to be the first thing that you are going to want to have at the top of your list. The more intense your work environment becomes, the easier it is for your product to start dropping in quality. This stress level only increases when you are the one who is running the establishment. For many restaurants that end up going under, the team cracking under pressure, tends to be one of the factors that go into its demise.
There is a High Failure Rate
Our of all of the lines of work that you can find yourself working, very few have as high of a failure rate as the restaurant business has. Most of the time, when it comes to building up return customers, you might find it difficult if you are not in a region that has a huge foodie population.
Keeping Customers Happy Is Tough
When it comes to developing your customer relations, the restaurant scene is one of the most difficult places to make this happen. With many successful restaurants, return customers end up coming from people who are able to establish a strong emotional response with your company. While if you are able to reach a wide enough audience this can be a little bit easier, in most places that you are going to open up your business, you might find yourself struggling to keep your regulars happy. No two people are ever attracted to the same exact thing, so making one person happy is almost guaranteed to make another person angry.
It Is Very Easy To Go Over The Top
Going over the top doesn’t just apply to your budget or your prices, but it also has to do with how you operate your establishment. For many people who are first starting out, the first temptation is just to stack up as much as possible to give off the look that you have more to offer than other establishments. Simple things like a long menu or too much decorations can make people not want to eat your establishment.
One Bad Team Member Makes Everything Crumble
The restaurant business is unique in the sense, that it needs an entire team to function. The best run restaurants are the ones that every single person working, is working in sync with one another. When you are first starting off, finding the right staff is going to be something you are going to have to focus on, but unless you have a very well built up reputation, getting the best staff can be a difficult task to complete.
It Is Extremely Expensive To Open Up A Restaurant
Restaurants are establishments that are subject to additional regulations than other types of businesses. Since you are going to be serving food to the public, you are going to have to invest in the right equipment while also maintaining high safety standards. This isn’t a bad thing, but you factor in the cost of the equipment, the cost of the proper licenses, and the lease on the space and marketing, you will find yourself having a high overhead before you even start to figure out the food that you are going to be serving. Owners who are new to running restaurants often find themselves in deep debt with in the first half a year of running their restaurant.
