Complete Idiot's Guide to Starting Your Own Restaurant

by Cannon, Howard; Tarcy, Brian

• ISBN13: 9780028641683
• ISBN10: 002864168X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-11-01
• Publisher: DK Publishing, Inc.

Summary

A recent survey by the National Restaurant Association found restaurateurs to be hard-working, affluent and optimistic, but only 50% said they would do it all again. Hundreds of thousands of these business people work hard--more than half put in a minimum of 60 hours per week. But despite the hard work, the restaurant business can be one of the most fickle and difficult businesses to break into. Why? People get into it for all the wrong reasons. Voila! The Complete Idiot's Guide® to Starting a Restaurant is here to provide the recipe for success. How do you decide how much money it will take? When do you know you're failing--or succeeding? If you're failing, when do you pull the plug? If you're succeeding, how do you successfully expand? Focusing on these kinds of business questions, this book takes a practical approach. Once you've decided to take the plunge, chef Mark Miller tells you all the secrets--from inventory control to hiring kitchen help.

Author Biography

Howard Cannon is the President/CEO of Restaurant Operations Institute, Inc., a national restaurant-based operations, training, consulting, and "turnaround" firm specializing in tactical and strategic systems development and training to improve operational execution in restaurant client and network companies. He is a renowned speaker, business consultant, and operational expert, as well as a restaurateur and entrepreneur and is considered by many to be a foremost authority and expert on turning restaurants around. Howard attended the University of Wisconsin and Hamilton University and has obtained his MBA, but he takes more pride in his PHD (poor, hungry, and determined) from RD and D (restaurants, dumps, and dives). He has lectured at universities and high schools across the country, including the highly acclaimed hotel/restaurant division of Washington State University. In addition, he has been the guest speaker at numerous industry events over the past decade. Since 1987, Howard's teams have been providing a partnership-based environment with clients, companies, and employees to develop operational practices for better restaurant profitability and performance. The no-holds barred environment and culture that Howard promotes can be bold, brash, demanding, and intense, but it creates excitement, catapults creativity, drives results, and reinvigorates restaurant companies. Howard speaks with heart and soul and conviction and fights for what's right. Ultimately, he runs restaurants and teaches others how to do the same. Howard has been called upon to implement strategies to improve day-to-day operational performance with companies across America, ranging from quick service to fine dining, from Fortune 500 companies to individual operations. He is a frequent speaker and trainer and can be reached by mail at 65 Woodbury Drive, Sterrett, Alabama 35147, by e-mail at [e-mail], or by telephone at 205-323-5559. You can also contact Restaurant Operations Institute, Inc., for more information at www.roiontheweb.com. Brian Tarcy is an author and book developer living in Falmouth, Massachusetts. He has authored or co-authored more than a dozen books, including The Complete Idiot's Guide to Football by Joe Theismann. His book subjects have included professional sports, leadership, strategic planning, and medicine. He is also a journalist with 20 years of experience writing for newspapers. Currently, he is a correspondent for the Boston Globe. He is a graduate of Ohio University in Athens, Ohio.

Table of Contents

Part 1: What You Don't Know Can Hurt You	1	(42)
Table for One: Is This for Me?	3	(10)
An introduction to the world of restaurants.
Everybody Eats: The State of the Industry	13	(10)
The good, the bad, and the tasty.
Choosing Your Restaurant	23	(12)
There's more to it than you think.
Is This Legal?	35	(8)
I advise you to get advice.
Part 2: Building a Solid Foundation	43	(42)
The Plan Is to Plan	45	(8)
Why and how to build a business plan.
Choosing the Right Site	53	(10)
Location! Location! Location!
Shake the Money Tree	63	(10)
Where to get money and why you'll hear ``No'' before you hear ``Yes.''
The Preopening Calendar	73	(12)
What to do and when to do it.
Part 3: The Restaurant Operator: A Jack of Many Trades	85	(64)
Whoever Gets the Best People Wins: It's a People Game	87	(12)
How to find your staff.
Managing Your Risks	99	(10)
How to prepare for the stuff that goes wrong.
Basic Accounting: It's More Than Just Counting the Beans	109	(16)
The restaurant business is a numbers game.
Purchasing: It's More Than Buying a Can of Corn	125	(10)
The numbers game includes purchasing, but it starts with quality.
Restaurant Marketing 101	135	(14)
Hey you! Eat here!
Part 4: Open for Business: The Basics of Operating	149	(62)
Get It Right on the Back End: The Back of the House	151	(10)
The kitchen is the nerve center of the restaurant.
Upfront Effort: Setting Up for Service	161	(10)
The dining room is the heart and soul of the restaurant.
Dinner at Your House: Treating Customers Like Guests	171	(12)
A sermon on the importance of hospitality.
Operational Execution, Part 1: Quality	183	(10)
Either it is good, or it is not.
Operational Execution, Part 2: Service That Sells	193	(10)
How to give great service all the time.
Clean Is Your Only Choice	203	(8)
What you look like affects how much you sell.
Part 5: Now What? Growing and Optimizing	211	(80)
Retaining the People You Have	213	(10)
Solving the biggest dilemma of the industry.
The Art and Science of Sales Building	223	(10)
Success comes from sales.
A Restaurant Named Profit: Hit the Numbers	233	(10)
Profit is good.
Double Your Pleasure	243	(10)
How to decide whether to open more restaurants.
Restaurant Checklists, Forms, and Guidelines	253	(38)
The forms that make your restaurant go.
Appendixes
A Additional Reference Materials	277	(4)
B Restaurant Associations	281	(4)
C Glossary	285	(6)
Index	291