Open a New Restaurant in Stratford upon Avon
Posted: Sunday, November 21, 2010
by Herdeep Mann
Activ UK
So many people have dreams of opening there own business whether it is a newsagent to a coffee shop or maybe a sandwich shop or maybe a Restaurant. Starting and opening a new Restaurant in Stratford upon Avon or any other town be it in the UK or anywhere in the world is not a easy task to undertake and it takes a lot of planning to the first concept to the finishing touches on opening day.
1. The first step is to Decide on a Concept for your Restaurant.
This respectively depends on what type of restaurant you want to run you can pick from the following categories.
Fast Food Restaurants are respectively the most familiar with people today with so many different chains to pick from like McDonald's to KFC and Burger King and most recently Subway. These chains became very popular in the 1950s and helped to create other fast food chains such as Taco Bell and the Homemade Burger Co. As you would expect fast food restaurants are part of a chain and are normally run under franchise agreements plus the costs can be anywhere in the region of 100,000 to 150,000 for just one outlet
Fast Casual Dining Restaurants tend to be more upmarket than your fast food type and in most cases offer disposable and flatware dishes therefore fast casual dining might include organic ingredients and gourmet breads. Plus open kitchens are popular with this type of restaurant where diners can see there food being prepared.
Pub Type Restaurants have been around for years hundreds in fact and offer a no-nonsense laid back approach to dining where you can take the whole family to steak house themed restaurants to pubs that offer full menus as well as ales and beers over the last few years with the smoking ban in place pubs have recognised this and now cater for a more family friendly type of place to eat where you can enjoy a good pint and a hearty meal
Cafe type restaurants are also very familiar with the general public today where you can pick up a quick sandwich and a tea or coffee table service is rare you just go in and pick food from the menu and the customer(s) serve themselves. a typical menu might include pastries, sandwiches and a hot drink these type of restaurants originated in Europe and France is a good example where bistro types opened up offering full meals at prices that are cheaper than sit down restaurants.
Family Style Dining Restaurants have over the last few years become very popular with more people interested in going to a family orientated restaurant like the Harvester Chains in the UK to themed restaurants from Italian to Mexican to Indian or Chinese Restaurants. Table service is on offer and menus are moderately priced other chains in the family market might include steak houses and fish and chip restaurants like the famous Harry Ramsdens chain.
Fine Dining Restaurants are the pinnacle of dining out as the name implies you can expect the finest cuisine served up in a elegant atmosphere with a high quality service. Menu prices will vary from restaurant to restaurant but they will be fairly expensive as the chefs in establishments like this are normally professionally trained and you are paying for the ambience as well as the food in the restaurant.
So now that you have decided what type of restaurant you want to open you need to decide on on the location of your restaurant.
2. Location of your Restaurant.
The location of your restaurant is very crucial to the success of the business because it can influence so many aspects like the menu and what type of people it will attract so here are 4 main factors to take into account when deciding on the location.
The Population of the area need to be at a level to support your business for example is it located in a densely populated area where there are many properties and other local businesses or is it located on the outskirts of the city or town. In a dense area there should be enough passing trade to ensure that you get regular customers to keep you busy you can pay certain companies to find out what the population base is in your area of particular interest but this can cost quite a lot its simpler to ask at the town office or council for more information.
Parking for your customers is sometimes overlooked its no use having a 100 seated restaurant when your parking is limited to just say 20 or 30 and then the other customers have to park either on the street or on double yellow lines or where parking restrictions are in place. The ideal restaurant should have its own parking facilities or area or there is public parking nearby at a reasonable cost.
Accessibility to the Restaurant also need to be assessed have you ever wondered why some of the larger fast food chains always have there outlets near the motorway or just off the main exits its because it makes them accessible to customers without having to wait in large traffic queues or having to drive out of there way.
The final factor to take into account with location is visibility this goes hand in hand with accessibility you will always find that restaurants located in city centres and densely populated areas are always more expensive its because they provide a level of visibility that can generate more "walk in "customers then ones that are on the outskirts of a town or city.
So you got your new restaurant in Stratford upon Avon and you are happy with the type and the location so what's left you still need to decide on how much you are going to charge customers to eat there so therefore you need to set your menu price. But its not only price you need to take into consideration you also need to know about portions and how to set out a well balanced menu. Some careful planning at this stage will help you to avoid some common pitfalls for example knowing how much to charge in order to make a profit and don't price yourself out of the local market a good way is to have a mix or balance of inexpensive and expensive items on your menu.
3. Meun and Pricing
Food cost is the cost of a certain type of dish on your menu therefore it is governed by the fact that how much you paid to buy it will determine how much you want to charge a customer for consuming it. For example a percentage of 30-35% is the norm for food cost so if you paid 1.00 for the food then you need to charge a minimum price of about 3.35 this may seem a little high but you need to take into consideration that you are paying a chef to prepare the food then a waiter to serve it and the cost of someone to clean up after the food has been prepared. Plus don't forget other overheads like Electricity and Gas bills to the wages of staff this all adds up.
Food portions and the control of it is also very important the reason why so many chain restaurants are successful is that they have firm control on there portions. The chefs or the cooks in theses establishments know exactly how much of each ingredient goes into every dish. For example if a shrimp dish has six shrimp per dish then it will always be six no more or less that's portion control.
The way to practice portion control is to have everything carefully measured out meat dishes for example Chicken, Fish, and Beef etc should all be weighed other food items can be stored in portion control cups so you know how much each item contained in size as well as weight. You may also like to try to buy certain food items that have already been portioned up and weighed such as chicken breasts or steaks these may be more expensive to buy but it will save time in food waste and labour costs.
Finally we come to the question of a well balanced menu with food prices always fluctuating you cannot keep changing your menu to accommodate this so to get over this balance out your most expensive items which are more prone to price rises with items that are more liable to remain stable. This should allow you to maintain fair prices on your menu so if your menu consists of Lobster or beef then go ahead with it but at the same time tone down the menu with less expensive items such as chicken or pasta dishes therefore balancing out the cost of the menu.
Stratford upon Avon has a vast array of Restaurants to suit all tastes and budgets to find and book a Restaurant in Stratford upon Avon visit:Restaurants in Stratford upon Avon
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