Pricing..

3 Course Menu Personal Chef In Home Catering	2 Guests	4 Guests	6 Guests	8 Guests	10 Guests	12 Guests
Price Starting at:extra	$160 *	$230 *	$300 *	$380 *	$420 *	$480 *
Server Fee 4h	n/a	n/a	n/a	$80	$120	$160

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Essential ingredients

Words of suggestion from Chef Restaurant Consultant

Running a restaurant may appear glamorous, but the stark reality is that 30% of restaurants fail to make it to their second anniversary. "If you can get through the first couple of years you'll have a good understanding of how restaurants work.

Running a popular restaurant takes a lot more than being a good cook, with everything from marketing skills to good financial sense essential ingredients for success. Getting the right location is important, as this can determine the business you'll attract. "People are more willing to travel to restaurants now, but if you want passing trade you have to be in town."

Off the beaten track

Certainly, there are plenty of examples of successful restaurants that are off the beaten track. Bray, a small village in Berkshire, for example is home to two very famous restaurants, the Fat Duck and The Waterside Inn. However for new restaurateurs this approach is high risk.

If you do go for something out of the way, be sure you have adequate parking and arrangements with local taxi firms. Don't be afraid to go for premises that have been home to a failed restaurant, but make sure you do your homework thoroughly.  "Question why the previous restaurant had failed. If it was a general decline in business then probably not a good idea, but if it was badly managed then it wouldn't be such a deterrent."

What's on the menu?

Your menu is vital. This needs to suit your customer base. For example, if you want to attract office staff for lunches then put on an express menu that they can have within their lunch break.You could look at what other restaurants are offering or survey potential customers, perhaps offering a prize of a free meal on opening night."

One of the mistakes you musn't make is the menu. Don't have extensive menus for lunch and dinner, wastage will be high, and holding stock which you don't need.

Paring a menu down to a much smaller selection makes it a lot more manageable as well as taking pressure off the kitchen staff. It can be changed on a regular basis and variety can be added with daily specials or menus created for special events such as Mother's Day or Valentine's Day.

Correctly pricing your menu is also important. This can be tricky "Pitch the price at the type of business you want to attract and be careful about putting the price up." but there again for fine dining people will pay for the best and for the Chefs skills in preparing there meal.

To succeed you'll also need to have a good head for finance .I will recommend to have cert accountant consultation on monthly bases

Leasing equipment is worth considering when you start up. Just about everything from kitchen equipment through to tables, chairs and crockery can be hired, reducing the initial set up cost. One person who'll inevitably want their cut is the taxman. For starters he'll take a 12% slice for VAT then there could also be national insurance and income tax if you employ people.

The taxman cometh

Payments will be expected on time or hefty penalties added; and it's not surprisingly that the taxman closes more restaurants than banks. To avoid this, make sure you set the taxman's cut aside, preferably in a high interest savings account

so you can earn interest on it.

As well as tax, there's also plenty of regulation that you'll need to consider. "You'll need to think about planning permission if you want to convert a building's use, registration as a food premises, licensing regulations if you're selling alcohol and contacting the performing rights society if you want any form of music,"!

There's also employment law to consider, with the working time directive particularly pertinent to the long unreasonable hours chefs (mainly) / restaurant staff work.

Health and safety

You'll need to heed health and safety and hygiene rules too. Unsurprisingly, there are plenty of requirements in this area as well as surprise visits from environmental health inspectors. It certainly pays to follow these rules.

Unless you're operating on a very small scale or have a family keen to help out, you'll also need to employ staff to work alongside you. Happy, enthusiastic staff can make a huge difference to your business, especially in front of house. David says that even if you have the best chef in the world in the kitchen, if your waiting staff are miserable, customers won't want to come back.  Spend ages recruiting the right staff and Don't take people on if they're not right,  Rather serve 30 people well then 60 badly. Money in the till is short term; you need to deliver the food and service that will encourage customers to come back again and again."

Keeping good staff is an art too. "Involve your staff," "Tell them your plans and have brainstorming sessions. And make sure you pay them a decent amount of money. Also spend time training them on the menu and wine list. This will make them more confident when speaking to customers as well as improving the customer experience.

Promotion

Promoting your restaurant is essential too. "Word of mouth is the best way, You can pay for all the advertising you like, but personal recommendations are much better.

Running special events, such as a theme night or a two for one promotion can help attract business. Be careful if you offer cheaper meals as you could find yourself losing business when your meals are full price.!

Building a customer database by asking customers to leave their details is also worth considering. This allows you to send them information about your restaurant.

And don't be afraid to ask for advice. There are plenty of experts that could help. "Businesses that take professional advice are more likely to succeed and grow quickly,"

How to raise finance

While celebrity chefs can rely on backing from wealthy financiers, most prospective restaurateurs will have to visit the bank.

Raising money for a restaurant is no different to anything else. "You'll need to prove you'll be able to repay anything you borrow."

You'll also need to draw up a business plan. This will contain detailed projections of what you expect to take as well as a breakdown of all your expenditure.

Borrowing money to buy a property does offer the lender the security of repossession. The amount you can borrow will depend on your business income projections.

With a leasehold property a bank will look for additional security. "The value of a lease is negligible so they would look to secure the loan against your home or get a guarantee from somewhere else.

Final

Lastly but not least: It's essential to put the money back into the business, especially at the beginning.

Executve Chef Consultant;Tomislav Drago-savljevic ( traveling world wide possibility )can help with all aspects of your business,

on all of the above issues and also teaching / coaching

/ tutoring your staff to be the best, Tomislav can also open, launch your business, plan your menu and cook personally for you.

 

 

design by tomislav dragosavljevic.