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I have what I think is a great idea - a restaurant that specializes in salads to
cater to the lunch crowd. I'd love to open a restaurant, but I have no experience
outside of a fast food job. Is it possible to start a successful restaurant with
no experience, or is this just a pipe dream? - B.M.
It is indeed possible to open a restaurant (or most other businesses, as well) without any experience in the field. However, it is a bit more difficult and requires you to make up for your missing experience through research, planning, and, potentially, your hiring plan. The fundamentals of business, planning, marketing, and financial management, stay the same no matter what business you are in. And it is these fundamentals that usually make the difference between a successful business and a failure.
Research
Spend time researching the restaurant industry. Locate trade associations, both national and local. They will have lots of great information for you to use in your planning and many provide educational opportunities, as well. One great resource is Restaurant Startup and Growth Magazine.
Contact your county extension service – in many areas they provide food service training. Also, locate the local agency responsible for licensing and inspecting restaurants. They typically provide training directly or referrals to training for food safety and other required training.
Planning
As you won’t be able to rely on your experience to run your restaurant, use your research to guide your planning efforts. Work on your menu items until you get them exactly the way you want then be sure you have everything written down. (That’s how chain and franchises can be so successful at putting out the same exact food in every restaurant). Do the same for every aspect of running your business – and don’t forget the business basics of marketing and financial management when you are planning.
Hiring
You are likely to hire a staff to run this type of restaurant, so be sure to look for staff with experience in similar restaurants to the one you want to run. You may choose to hire a kitchen manager or chef that has worked for one of your direct competitors to capitalize on their experience and learn from them.