Opening a restaurant can be a rewarding experience that allows you to serve your community in a meaningful way. In addition to playing an integral part in bringing a town or city together, being a restaurant owner will allow you to be your boss and make final decisions with management, decorations, and more. With this stated, you may wonder what exactly opening a restaurant with no experience looks like. We’ve got you covered! Below, we’ve listed ten tasks to complete to ensure your restaurant’s opening day is successful. Review this list and then contact the appropriate professionals near you who can assist with completing these actions.
Renovate the Kitchen
The kitchen may be the most essential aspect of your restaurant’s operation. While many new restaurant owners believe that kitchen renovations aren’t important because the customers won’t see the room, you should avoid this mindset as much as possible. A well-renovated kitchen ensures that your staff is productive while providing quality food for each customer. First, appliance upgrades are an important factor to consider. Old kitchen appliances that could cause problems include the deep fryer, convection stove, freezer, refrigerator, dishwasher, and mixer. With this stated, it’s worth noting that if you’re opening a restaurant with no experience, it might be beneficial to invest in energy-efficient appliances to be eligible for government incentives and tax rebates. In addition to renovating the kitchen will the intent to get updated appliances, pay attention to the state of your plumbing in the space. Before the big opening day, have local plumbers visit your kitchen and confirm that your water and gas supply lines are working.
Repair the Roof
If you’re opening a restaurant with no experience, you might not know that the building has roofing concerns that aren’t a concern for other commercial projects. For roof repair companies, deterioration is an important thing they commonly look for. Your restaurant’s roof is more prone to this issue because the exhaust fans emit gas from the grills, ovens, and stoves, which commonly have remnants of grease too. Exposure to these elements quickly makes the roof’s surface feel spongy and creates occasional blisters. With this considered, your roof might need a roof repair before you open the doors to the public. If you don’t address this issue, there are lots of bigger problems that might ensue. For instance, your deteriorated roof might create a leak that can result in water damage to the interior of your restaurant. If this occurs, you’ll likely need drywall replacement, new flooring, fresh paint, and more. Plus, the moisture might even promote mold growth. Especially since you’re managing a restaurant, these fungi should be the last thing you want to see inside. Lastly, you shouldn’t ignore a deteriorated roof because it could create higher energy bills in the future due to valuable hot and cold air escaping the surface.
Protect Your Property
As quickly mentioned above, water damage can result in an entire interior renovation and the possibility of mold growth. In addition to this, water damage can cause a decrease in your restaurant’s structural integrity. While water can seep into your restaurant from the roof, it can also come from the foundation, drainage system, and more. In light of this, hiring a waterproofing service can be just the ticket to protecting your property. To put it simply, a waterproofing service will have professionals that line your building with a waterproof membrane that prevents water and moisture into the restaurant. In addition to protecting your property, this service can also help increase the value of your restaurant, which can be beneficial if and when you put it back on the market. Ultimately, there are three types of waterproofing. First, interior waterproofing includes applying sealant to areas such as doors, windows, floors, and pre-existing wall cracks. Exterior waterproofing mainly focuses on protecting the foundation of your restaurant. If you’re opening a restaurant with no experience, this might be your best bet if you want to shield the inside from considerable basement flooding. Lastly, waterproofing services often provide sealing to drainage systems. This service typically involves directing groundwater and excessive rainwater away from your restaurant by installing efficient gutter systems or other appropriate means.
Add Outdoor Seating
When opening a restaurant with no experience, you’re priority might very well be attracting as many customers as possible. One way to make this goal a reality is by adding outdoor seating. There are many ways you can implement this outdoor seating in your restaurant. First, you may utilize the sidewalk space outside of your entry. Adding some outdoor decor and comfortable seating can spruce this area up quickly. Another way a restaurant can add outdoor seating is by renovating the rooftop area. This option will likely give your guests picturesque views while enjoying a meal. A more popular option for adding outdoor seating to your restaurant is installing a new deck on your property. Local deck contractors can quickly build an attractive and spacious area where guests can gather. No matter how you add outdoor seating, you can expect a few positives to come out of it. One main advantage to outdoor seating is additional customer serving capacity, which results in more revenue for you as the owners. The extra seating outdoors can also intrigue customers to come and eat a meal. The ambiance and fresh air will create a better customer experience and might entice customers to return.
Maintain Your Parking Lot
While many who are opening a restaurant with no experience often overlook maintaining the parking lot, it’s an important factor that will give a good or bad first impression. Since the parking lot is one of the first things your customers will notice when visiting, it’s essential to have the surface look pristine. Asphalt repair contractors can do different tasks to ensure your curb appeal is as good as possible. These professionals can restore the bright colors of the parking lot by restriping, resealing, and repainting where needed. Secondly, contractors can repair potholes and restore a smooth and aesthetically pleasing surface. In addition to improving curb appeal, maintaining the parking lot will increase safety for your customers. Once getting the needed services done to your parking lot, you can be confident that there will be no physical injuries to the visitors and no damage to vehicles that are driving on it. In addition to mending potholes and removing obstructions, safety can be guaranteed with professionals creating a crosswalk that pedestrians use to get inside your restaurant safely.
Create a Marketing Strategy
Opening a restaurant with no experience can be daunting, but creating a marketing strategy can give some reassurance that the business is off on the right foot. A simple definition of a marketing strategy is an extended plan to reach a company’s goal. The marketing strategy typically identifies the business’s target audience and acknowledges which ways are best to reach them. Your final result should be a connection with potential customers and a medium for communicating with them in the future. Sending emails is a popular marketing strategy that many restaurants quickly implement into their business. Thankfully, if you don’t know how to do this successfully, you can hire a specialist with expertise in email marketing. For example, ecommerce email marketing management services can create emails that promote your menu, restaurant vibe, and more. Especially if you haven’t opened the restaurant yet, hiring this professional can help you get the word out before the doors open. Additional examples of marketing strategies include website live chats, discount campaigns, online ads, and SMS advertising.
Upgrade Your HVAC
The HVAC system in your restaurant plays a key role in the space’s ambiance for your customers. First and foremost, the HVAC system will ensure that the interior has a comfortable temperature no matter the weather outside. No one wants to be overly hot or cold while enjoying a meal in public. Plus, the HVAC system can also help keep unpleasant odors from lingering in the restaurant. Since a bad smell is the last thing customers want to smell while eating out, having an efficient HVAC system is a must. A well-working HVAC system also has the benefit of lower energy costs. If your current HVAC system is old or damaged, it’ll no doubt need to exhaust a large amount of energy to work properly and keep up with the demands that you might have for it. Plus, an upgraded HVAC system will have modern features that ensure it doesn’t use excessive energy. All in all, this will guarantee a decreased carbon footprint and lower energy bills. With this considered, it’s essential to contact commercial HVAC contractors if you’re opening a restaurant with no experience who can help you remove your current HVAC system and install the new one in your restaurant quickly and skillfully.
Install New Flooring
Installing new flooring is a crucial step you shouldn’t forget about if you’re opening a restaurant with no experience. This step is important because of the many benefits of this renovation project. The new flooring can improve the aesthetics of your interior. While scuffs and scrapes might not seem like a huge issue to you, it might put off some customers. Additionally, new flooring can quicken the cleaning process since old flooring is prone to needing lots of scrubbing and sanitation products to get a clear surface. Lastly, installing new flooring is especially beneficial if you want to increase the restaurant’s value. Once finishing this project, you’ll have a higher resale price that will be beneficial in the years to come once the building is back on the market. With this stated, there are some flooring trends that you should be aware of if you want to partake in this renovation project. In recent years, concrete flooring and vinyl tile paired with an epoxy floor coating have been all the rave. In addition to being aesthetically pleasing, these options hold up well in high-traffic areas, such as public restaurants.
Craft a Menu
Crafting a menu for your restaurant is an obvious step you’ll need to take before opening your doors to the public. With this stated, you might not know where to begin if opening a restaurant with no experience. Thankfully, there are some tips that you can follow to be your guiding light during this process. First, you need to brainstorm what the image of your restaurant will be and which food best fits along with it. For example, local Mexican restaurants aren’t going to have the same food items as a pizzeria or sandwich shop. You’ll need to be intentional with which items you add to the menu to ensure it makes sense with your vibe. Once you’ve completed this next step, break down these food items into sections. For many restaurant owners, the menu will have a section for appetizers, salads, entrees, desserts, etc. Once the formatting is done, your next step (and possibly the most challenging one) is pricing. Design is also an important aspect to look at while crafting your menu. Things you’ll need to decide are factors such as fonts, colors, imagery, and more.
Keep the Space Clean
Keeping the space clean should be at the forefront of your mind if you’re opening a restaurant with no experience. Your business will struggle greatly if it’s dirty and unsanitary, so hiring a janitorial company is essential. Many advantages come along with this professional service. Most importantly, the janitorial company can help you save time with their quick work. As a result, the closing shift can go swiftly, and the end of the work day can feel like a breeze. Hiring this professional service can also save you money since you won’t need to purchase special cleaning equipment and sanitary solutions personally for the restaurant. Lastly, keeping the space clean and hiring experienced professionals can help you maintain a positive reputation for tidiness in the community. This type of status will undoubtedly bring in additional business in the future.
After reviewing this list above, you now understand what to do while opening a restaurant with no experience. Although it may seem intimidating, this process can be organized and efficient by hiring the appropriate professionals and checking things off this to-do list as soon as possible. With this stated, take the next steps today by contacting those needed to make your business successful.
