Ideas to Increase Restaurant Business in October

It's October and time to put summer behind you for your restaurant business and get ready for your busy season! Yay and finally!

October is a great time in your restaurant:

School is back in session and parents are organized with their kids and ready to get a dinner out/date night or even take the kids out to dinner. Plan accordingly and make sure to have your kids menu in place and plenty of fall specials.

October is Halloween month and a very popular holiday for kids, families, young adults and it's party time! Make sure you plan a perfect Halloween party, decorate with Halloween candles on the tables or bar or even

Fall/Autumn Months in your Restaurant Business

When the weather gets cooler, the days get shorter and the sun sets earlier, you should want to consider what options you have for the coming months in your restaurant business.

September and October are the months to take advantage of the sunny days that still exist and you'll want to serve your guests on your outdoor patio for as long as possible. Add patio bistro tables in the sunshine and consider adding outdoor patio sets and outdoor patio heaters for as little as just over one hundred dollars to your space to extend the warm weather.

Back to School for Restaurant Businesses

August is here and it's time to start thinking about back to school in your restaurant business. What can and will you offer your customers? Here are some ideas to help you get started to help your customers and help your business - a win - win situation!

Bartending for Dummies

We like this series of books for bars and restaurant owners and managers. Unless you've been or are a bartender yourself, it's really important to understand everything about the bar and the business of running it.

Check out Bartending for Dummies to learn or review information on garnishes and how to cut and store your fruit for drinks, the right glasses to buy and use for each drink, recipes for all liquors and especially the most popular ones.

New Page Added Today - Associations/Groups/Magazines for your Restaurant

Today's post is short and sweet:

Check out our newest page we just added today:

Associations/Groups/Magazines for the Restaurant Owner/Manager. As the owner, it's up to you to stay on top of your business, your competition and what's happening in the industry. As a manager, it's up to you to keep everything in line if you're in charge. We hope you like our list and really hope it helps you find free or inexpensive ideas to generate profit in your business.

That's all for today, please let us know your comments.

Cheers!

Restaurant Cleaning Supplies

Cleaning Tile image by healthy1chef all rights reserved

Here you'll find our best Restaurant Cleaning Supplies that are the most effective, best deals and worth the money to have all your surfaces sparkling for your customers, you and the staff. Keeping your restaurant clean is one of the most important things you can do to stay in business, grow your business and to

Tax Receipts to Get your Restaurant Office Organized

When you have slow or down time in your restaurant, as the manager or owner, market your business with your social networking groups, work on your flyers, business cards, shoot an email to your customers and vendors about the newest specials and menu items -- just stay busy, do a little housekeeping and work in your office when all else is done.
      YUCK, I know. We all hate to do it but, you must stay organized, make your list of to-do's and get all your receipts organized. Working on your taxes all year long will help you when tax season rolls around and you can get your information to your tax accountant and get that fat return back into your checking account!

Make sure you have a busy staff, keep them busy with things to do, organize the server area and the bar, polish silverware, dust visible entry areas and the dining room before customers arrive or anything else to clean and stay busy. Once you know the staff has things to do to stay busy, you can head to your office.

Here's a nice article to help you figure out what you really need to keep, what you can toss and it's much better to start working on your taxes any time before the due date to make life easier.

Here's the article we mentioned, hope you enjoy it: Receipts - Keep what you need for FilingTaxes.

Until next time, please take our poll at the top right of the home page and subscribe for the latest posts and as always, we love your comments so thank you in advance for taking the time to say hi!
Cheers!

Reduce Waste in Your Restaurant

Successful restaurants always have a keen eye for reducing waste as a way to lower costs and to increase profit. Do you have a kitchen staff, wait staff and bar staff that is paying attention to waste or are they adding to the problem? 
                          Use our tips to help you reduce waste and make more money!

Maintain a Restaurant during Slow Business

Sometimes, the summer heat can cause your restaurant to lose some business and you need to find a way or ways to maintain a successful restaurant to stay in business. This is a very hot summer so far so you may be feeling the pinch.

Here are some quick tips to use now to help lower restaurant costs and improve sales:

Cleaning a Restaurant

One of your most important jobs as a restaurant owner or manger is to make sure you have a clean restaurant. It's not only key to drawing customers and keeping them returning as loyal patrons but, also it's one of the requirements of the Board of Health in your city. Two of the most important areas we'll discuss are cleaning your restrooms and cleaning all your kitchen equipment. We've had perfect health inspections for the last 17 years and one of those reasons is that we keep a sparkling clean restaurant that the Health Department loves to see, so do we and so do our customers!!

Here are our tips for cleaning a restaurant whether you have a cleaning company come in and do it, hire a cleaning person or two for the job or assign it to one of your currently staffed employees for extra money. The most cost effective cleaning, we've found,

10 Ways to Improve Restaurant Summer Business

Are you feeling the pinch of summertime in your restaurant? It's early July, the temperatures are rising, kids are off from school, people are planning lots of outdoor events, picnics, neighborhood parties, trips and many of them are free, plus there's the pool and the beach. Have you already read our Summer Tips to Increase Restaurant Business? Hopefully, you have and you've started to implement some of those ideas. How do you compete with everything happening during the summer and get customers to your business? It's a tough question, no doubt. We'll share 10 ways to improve restaurant summer business so you can not only stay in business but, have a profitable summer.

     First, here's our scenario: we're located in the downtown area just not on the main drag, we're not on the water but nearby, we're a casual fine dining restaurant with a cosmopolitan atmosphere of copper walls, granite counters and bar, imported fabrics and glass walls separating the bar and dining area, a wood floor bar with soft seating areas and the best price and quality for a Samsung Plasma 51" flat screen tv we added for customers - which we highly recommend you add somewhere in your restaurant, large windows to see the outside,

Commercial Restaurant Equipment - Outdoor Grills

Looking for commercial restaurant grills? We have the best outdoor grills for you here with the best prices for top rated grills for home or business use! Homeowners are buying more commercial equipment because of it's durability, ease of use, functionality and affordability compared to buying new grills every few years. Restaurants need quality equipment to be able to produce large volumes of food for customers and if you don't have an outdoor grill, you could be losing out on summer business. Stay tuned for some of our favorite summer recipes to make on your new grill - coming soon!  Do yourself a favor and check out these awesome, high performance grills for your restaurant, you won't be disappointed! Start notifying your customers now of your new outdoor menu and have your grill in just a few days!

   Here are our favorite picks for the best grill for your restaurant:

Summer Fun for Restaurant Owners - Top 7 Ways to Increase Summer Business

The summertime can be a great and fun time for owners of restaurants and their guests provided that you stay busy enough to keep paying the bills! There are a few basic items to remember if you want to compete with the warmer temperatures, beach, vacations, loads of outdoor events and have customers coming to your establishment over and over again.

Here we'll highlight our Top 7 Ways to Increase Summer Business and draw customers to your place to keep your doors opened. We do them or we've done them and they work for restaurant success!

Restaurant Kitchen Gadgets/Tools We Recommend

Some of our Favorite Must Have Gadgets for the Professional Kitchen.

Every successful restaurant owner/chef/manager realizes that there are some tools of the trade that we all must have to make our prep time in the kitchen the most efficient and to produce quality food while maintaining safety in the kitchen, as well as staying in compliance with the commercial equipment requirements of federal and state regulations. Not all of your commercial equipment will cost a mini fortune! These are our favorite kitchen gadgets we love and use most often that help us get the best bang for our buck and should help you too. Home kitchens can benefit from these items too so have a look! If you haven't seen it yet, we also have a full list of commercial restaurant equipment you'll want to check out. Subscribe so you can get first hand information as we continue to add to this list of favorite kitchen tools and gadgets.

Commercial Drink Mixers

Stay in code for your restaurant with these best Commercial Drink Mixers used in your business. These industrial built mixers/blenders have come a long way over recent years, are well built, will last for years and help you to create soups, sauces, dips, marinades, ice cream, milkshakes, they mix - blend - grind - juice and you can easily create fun bar drinks for your customers quickly and most efficiently. These best product reviews are based on customer favorites and our own experience so you're sure to find the perfect drink mixer for your own restaurant or home use if you want a machine to last for years and within your budget!

Best Commercial Espresso/Cappuccino Machines

If you're looking for the best Commercial Espresso/Cappuccino Machines, we've located the best of the best machines here! We highly recommend that all restaurants buy one of these machines to boost your restaurant sales, increase your customer base of regular and returning loyal customers and to offer one of the world's most favorite drinks: coffee served several yummy ways! You could try to find used restaurant equipment on craigs list and amazon that would save you more money and you may want to look for used. Restaurants must use commercial grade equipment to follow all the regulations and guidelines set forth by communities to keep your business and customers safe. Home users of espresso and cappuccino may also want commercial grade equipment for those that want a machine to last for years when they drink this tasty beverage daily or several times a day. Subscribe so you get our updates as we add them!

Here are our picks for the best Commercial Espresso/Cappuccino Machines:

Crazy about Bacon!

Are you paying attention to the Crazy about Bacon phenomenon happening all around you? If you are a home cook and want the latest in bacon treats to wow your family and friends at your next gathering, we have it for you here. If you own a restaurant you need to stop everything and check out these amazing bacon flavored items to add to your menu. Boost your restaurant summer sales with a few of these very yummy bacon flavored treats. Try a new special, buy one or buy them all and see what happens!

Yummy bacon flavored items we love:

Restaurants - Increase Your Customer Base - Discounts on Restaurants

Yes, we want you to give discounts on your restaurant! Whether you're a brand new restaurant or already in business for a while, in a slow economy you'll want to increase your customer base so you always have regular customers coming as well as new customers through the door. Customers want to go out, they enjoy time with friends and family not having to cook at home all the time, they want savings and discounts and you can help them. This is one idea to boost your restaurant summer sales too. Oftentimes, customers will only try a new restaurant or a high end restaurant with some kind of coupon or discount item. Returning customers appreciate discounts too and both of these groups of customers will tell their friends about you, your staff, your food and your restaurant once they come and have a meal so it's a good idea to consider giving discounts.

Word of Mouth is one of your best advertising ideas - We'll talk more about advertising your business later but, here's an idea to get more customers through your doors quickly and returning more often:

White Dinnerware for Restaurants

White dinnerware for restaurants is the most popular color due to it's ease on the eyes, it makes all food stand out instead of the plate, it's more affordable than colored dinnerware and why we chose it ourselves.

Swordfish with Sobie Noodles on Syracuse Cascade Plate image copyright@healthy1chef

Happy Father's Day!

Just a quick note today to wish you all a very Happy Father's Day. If you're in business with a restaurant already, you'll probably be busy serving many customers meat and potato dishes - dad's favorites for the most part. If you're not yet in business, enjoy the day off if you get it!

In the restaurant industry, Father's Day is one of those holidays that often can improve your customer relations and sales. It falls on a Sunday so you'll want to consider being opened on Sundays or at least on those holidays that fall on Sunday - Mother's Day included.

Best Books on Management

We provide this recommended best books on management list for any restaurant owner, business manager, new managers and even seasoned managers that are in charge of small and large businesses. Reference books are handy to keep in your office, to refer to often for key reminders if nothing else and to provide the tools for your staff to give them all the information you need and want them to have. When you are continually learning and staying on top of new ideas or referring to your favorites, your staff will be more inclined to follow your lead.  Get books in hardcover, paperback, for kindle or pop the audio CD's in your car for all your driving time education! We love books and hope you'll buy a book to enjoy from our list of management books that we use and share here:

Recommended Books on Leadership

If you own a restaurant or any other business, you'll want to be the best you can be and that's why we recommend these books on leadership to help you. You'll need to understand people, be able to inspire them, be a great coach, improve your results and communication, get better teamwork and improve your bottom line for a successful restaurant. Build your business library a little at a time and refer to these great literary works often to help you when you need a boost. Subscribe or follow by email so you can get all our updates as we continue to add more all the time. These should keep you busy reading for a while:) Cheers!

Best Outdoor Patio Sets Review

Looking for the best outdoor patio set for your business or home? Welcome to our review of the best sets that will seat 4 guests comfortably, include a nice table, sturdy design, folding chairs with arms for easy storage or to remove from the rain, patio umbrella for shade and at a savings discount. These patio sets will take the weather just fine and minimal care is required. Your business will see increased customers during warmer months when you offer any outdoor seating and the more comfortable the better. Your home is enjoyed more often outdoors with pretty patio seating to enjoy a meal or cocktails with your family, friends and neighbors. Check out our Outdoor Bistro Sets Review if you want a smaller patio set.

Recommended Books for the Restaurant Owner

Recommended books for the restaurant owner is our list of references you should keep in your office to learn and stay updated with the complex business of owning a restaurant. In our culinary section alone, we have a huge library of books that we use as reference, inspiration, creativity, information and helpful hints, recipes, resource for technique, review basic and more complex theory, definitions of culinary terms and to teach. Stay tuned for more categories such as leadership, marketing, selling, customer service etc right on this page.

Even though as the restaurant owner, you'll be hiring staff that should have or know and understand the restaurant business, often they do not. It's up to you to know what you want, know how it should be done, know the proper techniques etc. Begin to build your own reference library today, you'll be so glad you did when you need information fast and at your fingertips. We'll keep adding to this list of books we suggest for you to have the best and most successful restaurant so feel free to subscribe or use the email feature in comment section. Happy Reading!

Credit Card Terminals for your Restaurant or Small Business

Are you looking for a credit card terminal for your restaurant or small business? Here we offer some of the best units and the best prices for your consideration. Having the ability to accept credit cards from your customers will surely increase your sales. The days when customers come to any business with only cash as an option to pay are over so if you don't offer them the ability to pay with credit cards, you will see a decrease in your sales, repeat customers and overall profit.

It's much better and cheaper to own your own equipment than to rent it from your credit card merchant service provider. Getting your own credit card terminal should be one of the top items you're looking for as a new start up business or as a way to boost your sales if you don't already take credit. Occasionally, you can find used credit card terminals or refurbished models at craigslist, amazon or other online sites as well.

Credit card terminals are fairly easy to set up, arrive with a manual of instructions, some set up through your merchant services provider, others don't require a merchant provider, require a phone line and power line and these follow all updated privacy laws to keep you and your business legal. Prices of credit card terminals varies so realize that the most basic features cost less while the faster machines with more features will cost more. You always get what you pay for and cc terminals are no different than other restaurant or small business equipment. Don't forget to buy your credit card terminal paper!


Find the best credit card terminals here:

POS Systems for your Restaurant

POS Systems (Point of Sales) for your restaurant are one of the most important items you'll need to get started with a new business - it's the way you'll enter your customer orders, cash out transactions and track your sales figures. Upgrade your old outdated system with these improved models to increase your sales and productivity today! You may not have a POS sales business in your area so these are an option to look at from amazon which protects your purchase and is oftentimes much more affordable than a local company.

Avoid looking for the cheapest POS models and instead get the very best system that you can afford, especially if you plan on being in business for years and years. The last thing you want is a used system that is ready to crash leaving you without a computer for your sales and you revert to the antiquated way of hand writing orders and customers receipts. Or you need a service contract on that old system that could be difficult to find a technician that knows the system and those contracts can be very expensive!

Make an investment in one of our suggested Point of Sales Systems here:

Retail POS Point of Sales POSimplicity is a great option for the first time restaurant owner start up. With so many costs involved in starting your business, you need to make sure that you can place orders fast and conveniently for your customers and staff, handle credit card transactions, cash and here you'll also be able to manage your inventory. Includes software for fast set up when you utilize their merchant services (which we think is a great idea since they'll already be familiar with this system for an easy experience). You'll love the customer service department that helps from start to finish. And, if you think you can't afford it, check out the six month financing available to get you started now.

Retail POSimplicity Point of Sales System image courtesy of amazon

(Currently unavailable but, we'll keep you posted) is the Retail POS System with Cash Register Express is a great system that includes your POS terminal, a 15" touchscreen LCD monitor for super fast and easy information entering, 1 cash register and thermal paper printer, barcode scanner and card reader and even your instruction manual. This seems most similar to the system we use at our restaurant with the added bonus of a card reader right there without needing additional credit card machines. Nice! All cables are included and also a warranty. This system is ready to go - basically plug in and you're set which is pretty amazing! 90 day tech support included (oftentimes this is a separate contract) 24/7 for all your needs.
     * You'll want at least one of these for each of your dining, kitchen and bar areas depending on the size of your restaurant. We use 4 total POS systems for a 200 seat restaurant, which makes ordering easier for your staff and is the most efficient having a contained system with all the parts attached or included.

Retail POS System with Cash Register Express image by amazon.com

Aldelo Pro POS 2 stations with Cash Drawer/Printers is two systems set up and ready to go including a credit card swipe and low cost merchant service card processing, 100 menu items programmed, warranty, 1 kitchen printer, 2 credit card swipes, 1 cash register and 2 receipt printers, LCD touchscreen and all in one network ready.

Aldelo Pro POS System 2 stations image by amazon.com

        These are the only POS Systems we'll suggest at this time because we really like the all in one packages they provide. If you're familiar with all that is entailed in setting up your own POS, you'll know that you need the touchscreen terminals, printers, cash register, card readers, software, cables, manuals, paper and all of those items purchased separately are typically much more than these all in one systems. Stay tuned as we'll continue to look for more systems that are set and ready to go for you - that's how we did it and how we recommend you do it for your own restaurant.

Create a Policy & Procedure Manual for your Restaurant

You need a Policy and Procedure Manual for your restaurant and for any business for that matter. A Policy and Procedure Manual will help you:
     ** To assist you in obtaining financing for your start up restaurant
     ** To let all your staff know your restaurant rules and to make sure everyone follows them
     ** To keep everyone informed of your expectations of their work
     ** To protect you when unemployment filings and claims start arriving in the mail
     ** To reduce the amount of unemployment claims against your business and other legal action
     ** To update your staff on new rules implemented
     ** To keep your staff accountable
     ** Let everyone know how to deal with customer complaints
     ** To notify your staff of your vendors, contact information and emergency plan of action

Read all the way to the end for our final thoughts on keeping you and your business protected with a signed copy of each employee's understanding and agreement to your Policy and Procedure Manual.

Don't have the resources to create your own policy manual? No problem, check out Food Safety Policy and Due Diligence - an Operational Manual with templates for everything you need in digital and kindle formats and cheap!!

Use our guide below to form your own Policy & Procedure Manual:
   Create this manual using a plain Word document on your computer. Keep it in a binder, clearly marked and handy in your office for easy reference for yourself, managers and the staff.
If you'd like a desk reference always at hand with more help, step by step instructions, examples of good and bad policies using the Writing Format, we suggest you check out 7 Steps to Better Written Policies and Procedures by Stephen Page available as paper back or kindle version.

Outdoor Bistro Sets Review

Add outdoor bistro set furniture to your restaurant with these best deals on the perfect patio furniture. Your business will see an increase in sales and customers with comfy seating that draws lots of attention. Give customers what they want and it doesn't have to cost a fortune. Below you will find our outdoor furniture bistro set reviews on Fully Assembled Bistro Sets and Some Assembly Required Sets in regular and bar height designs too. We love these small, quaint and cozy seating combinations in bistro sets and you will too! For your restaurant, you'll want at least a few bistro sets for your outdoor dining area and usually when you find them in a department or home improvement store and some discount stores they won't carry more than one or two sets - perfect for home but, not for your business. We've researched the best sets, durable seating, weather proof frames, easy to move, several styles and affordable prices. We even found FREE SHIPPING bistro sets to save you even more money! Bistro sets are compact, easy to move, easy to store, easy to clean and affordable seating. Send us photos of your bistro sets on your business patio or balcony! We'd love to see how you use these and hear about how your customers visit often:) Check out our Outdoor Patio Sets Review too if you like or want larger outdoor seating sets with umbrellas.


Ivena International Wood 3 Piece Bistro Set with Red Cushions is sturdy and durable, offers a round table, well made construction, easily folds for storage, arrives fully assembled!,  back and seat cushions in fashionable RED tie easily to back of chairs, comfortable and cost is less than $75.

Commercial Grade Mixers NSF Certified

When you're baking in a professional kitchen such as your restaurant, bake shop or other business you must have NSF Certified equipment according to almost all if not all state and local ordinances. Do yourself a favor and avoid all those 'commercial' mixers that just won't stand up to constant mixing, kneading needs for your breads, doughs, pizzas, cookies, muffins, cakes and other baked goods you're preparing in a professional kitchen. Professionals use larger mixers with higher hp, heavy duty performance, quality build that can mix and knead day in and day out without wearing out. They do cost more as all restaurant and commercial grade equipment does but, they also outperform and outlast others. Buy one quality commercial mixer and be done with it! Click each link to see more details and to buy safely, securely.

Here are our top reviewed commercial grade mixers NSF certified that will stand the test of time, improve your productivity and allow you to book more business on a larger scale:

Best Printers for Your Business or Home Office

Successful restaurant all improve the efficiency and save money with an all in one printer that can scan, fax and print right from the work office. Are you looking for a new printer for your restaurant, other business or home office? Here you'll find our review of all in one printers we've tested,  reviewed and used and found the best prices with the best features for your business or home office needs.

Ideas to Increase your Summer Restaurant Business

This article will give you several ideas to increase your summer restaurant business to boost your sales, make your staff happy with more money, bring customers to you now and for future business and to keep your restaurant busy!

Increase summer restaurant business with outdoor seating image by istockphoto.com

The summer months can either make your business or break it. How and Why? Well, if you're not in the greatest location for summer, customers will go to the places such as: the water, boating areas, festivals, cook-offs, outdoor dining, patio settings or stay home to grill on the barbie. To be a successful restaurant in the summer months, you need to compete somehow with all that outdoor activity. You've heard the saying if you can't beat 'em, join 'em right? It's true so here are our suggestions for more summer business.

Use our tips to increase your restaurant summer business:

1) Sign up for at least one

Commercial Equipment - Microwaves

You may only need one commercial microwave in your fast paced, busy restaurant and they can be a very useful piece of equipment for reheating dishes for customers, soups, casseroles and often times a restaurant needs a quick re thaw of frozen foods. Offices and other businesses also use commercial equipment for their staff and customers in a break room or entry way as a convenience item. Maybe you're looking for commercial kitchen equipment for your home and want the best, most durable and high efficiency equipment money can buy. These are the best commercial restaurant microwaves we found, use and love for the function, durability and best buys for 1000watts, 1200watts, 1700watts and 3000watts of quality equipment. Buy the perfect commercial microwave for your business or home today!
Check out our top picks here:

Commercial Coffee Makers

Buy a commercial coffee maker that brews fast pots of coffee for you and your customers with these top coffee brewers we love! If you want a commercial coffee maker from the top of the line brand, there's only BUNN! There are a few other companies that produce commercial grade coffee equipment, but the King of Coffee is definitely Bunn. These units are durable, made of stainless steel exterior and parts, last for years without needing any service, are easy to clean and maintain. Read on for our best suggestions for commercial coffee makers, coffee grinder and coffee decanters/pots. We use and highly recommend these Bunn Coffee Brewers for your busy restaurant too!

Commercial Convection Steamers

Commercial convection steamers will help you in your high production kitchen most especially for your restaurant banquet business. Banquets of all sizes will boost your sales and profit in a big way and should be part of your overall plans to do business. In order to effectively handle banquets in any size, you'll want equipment that helps you cook for large groups in large volumes efficiently. Steamers can  help you cook two pans of potatoes to serve 50 people in about 7 minutes compared to an hour in an oven. They're a huge time saver and will be worth every penny. Convection steamers are great for any vegetable, roots, cooking fish perfectly or to reheat saving you time and space in your kitchen. Consider all the weddings, rehearsal dinners, pharmaceutical dinners, anniversary dinners, graduation dinners, birthday parties, class reunions and all other groups that want to get together for a great dinner party and you can have a piece of that business with the proper commercial equipment.  Here are our favorite convection steamers that we recommend you buy for your restaurant:

Commercial Equipment Convection Ovens for your Restaurant

Commercial Equipment Convection Ovens
   Here you will find the most popular brands of commercial convection ovens you need for your restaurant or the at home chef. Buy one high efficiency oven for years of cooking enjoyment and without the hassle of equipment breakdown. Commercial equipment will be one of your highest costs in your restaurant since it must be NSF, high efficiency, commercial grade, durable with quality construction so we've done the research for you to help you find the best deals for a convection oven in your budget. Never mind those tinny units that breakdown easily - these are strong, sturdy, well built with commercial business in mind that is suitable for home use too. These convection ovens will last for years and will help you cook volumes of food so it's money well spent. You'll find some Free Shipping offers to make these ovens more affordable too! Check out the best deals below that we're always searching for you so you get the best prices and features all the time:

Commercial Equipment Stock Pots - Saute Fry Pans- Double Boilers

Our favorite commercial restaurant equipment for your restaurant with links to the best prices online, many items even include Free Shipping. Use only Commercial grade equipment for your restaurant with NSF ratings to stay in code requirements and avoid fines and potential closure of your restaurant.

 Commercial Stock Pots:

     We often recommend stainless steel with aluminum bottoms for it's strength, durability, long lasting, easy to clean and maintain, dishwasher safe, never peels, food won't stick and it looks great!
    

Commercial equipment Stainless Steel Stock Pot with lid

(image by amazon.com)

Stainless Steel Commercial grade 8 quart stock pot with lid NSF certified
Professional Commercial Grade Heavy Duty 8 quart stock pot with lid NSF Induction ready
Professional Commercial Grade Heavy Duty 16 quart stock pot

Calculating Assets and Liabilities for your Restaurant Business Plan

Anatomy of a Business Plan by Linda Pinson courtesy of amazon

As part of your restaurant business plan, there should always be a section labeled 'Assets and Liabilities' so that your lender can see what you own, have, owe and will need to obtain their loan.

This section will take some thought since most of us don't have a journal of all our assets. You will once you create your own business plan. Restaurant loans are one of the most difficult to obtain, banks simply don't want to be in the restaurant business if yours fails and at least 3 out of every 5 do fail, sadly. Liabilities are a little easier to know, find or remember. Your business plan will become a helpful resource to you in your business once you take the time to document your holdings and liabilities and it should also help you to have the proper amount of insurance for your business and your home. Check out Linda Pinson's Anatomy of a Business Plan, voted Best Business Book of the Year, winner of the Ben Franklin Award for step by step instructions.

When creating your list of assets and liabilities use this guide to help you create your columns, it will be easier to read, understand and total the columns:

Attitude of Success

You'll need an attitude of success to start a restaurant and to keep going to make it profitable. There will always be days when you wonder why the heck you even started a restaurant. You'll have days when orders don't arrive on time causing your kitchen to rush to get ready for the dinner hour. You'll have days when staff doesn't show up or even bother to call to come to work and you're short staffed. You'll have days when it's slow and you wonder where all the customers are. Don't despair!! Stay focused, stay positive, tomorrow's a new day and you'll get through today! We're here to help with these inspiring quotes.

Here we provide some of our favorite motivational and inspirational tips and quotes to use and think about every day. We love The Road to Success is always Under Construction poster, it's a great reminder of why you're working hard in your restaurant and can inspire you every day. See the rest of our site for links to our favorite cheap art pieces from allposters to use in your office, business or home to keep you inspired.

Setting up your restaurant office space

Use these tips to help you set up your restaurant office space so that it has everything you need to run a successful business. Get what you need at the best price to save money while helping you to be most productive at your new business.

Best equipment ideas for your restaurant office:

     Laptop - get the best laptop you can afford that allows you to work fast and most efficient. Your laptop or desk top computer will also be a write off so don't get the cheapest one. Get the most gb and ram and features you'll need. Dell, HP, Apple, Toshiba all make very good laptops that don't cost too much but, will really help you in your office. Check out these Best Laptops on Sale.

Business Plan for a Restaurant - Table of Contents Continued

Sections 5 - 8 of your Restaurant Business Plan Table of Contents

We've broken down the steps for you to write your own unique business plan in another post and this one will include the rest of the table of contents we find most helpful to lenders. Hopefully, you've already started working on your own plan using the prior post but, if not here it is if you need to refer to it.

Let's get busy with sections 5 - 8 now!!

Tips for Creating your Restaurant Business Plan

Tips for Creating your Restaurant Business Plan 

  The first four areas for your Table of Contents
     Our last post gave you the highlighted areas that should be included in your restaurant business plan. This post will give more details on what can be included in each of the categories. If you've already started writing your table of contents, now you can move on to giving your lender the information about you, your partners, your goals and ideas for your new restaurant. These are the categories used in our business plan and it should get you the attention you deserve from a lender. Take your time, don't rush the process. It's worth the effort you put into giving the best information you can. If you have no skills at all and need some additional help with graphs, demographics and calculations, we recommend Complete Restaurant Business Plan or Anatomy of a Business Plan Step by Step.
       Create your business plan continuing with these categories:

Getting started on the Business Plan for your restaurant!

It's an exciting day! We've added a new page called Business Plan for a Restaurant for your enjoyment of our restaurant success tips blog. We hope you'll start to take the time to review our categories that we feel create a unique and powerful business plan to help you get the financing you need to open your own business.

We've started with the categories that you should include in your Table of Contents page and build each page from there.

We'll further explain each of the categories in more detail to help you know what will be most helpful to your potential lenders.

Check it out and let us know what you think! It may seem like a large list of categories but, they are all important parts of what you need to express to a lender - most especially if that lender is a stranger. Read the prior posts we've made on choosing a lender if you need help  there.


Thanks for reading, see you soon. Cheers!

Don't quit your day job!

Just a quick note today as I continue working a restaurant! It's busy and sometimes although I'd love to be posting here to help you, work is necessary at my business.

That's the point I want to make today, don't quit your day job.... just yet!

There will be plenty of time to get your restaurant up and running and there's much to do before you actually get there so, for the time being you'll probably need to keep working to keep your income growing. That will only help you with more money down for your own loan or to assist your investors. Oh, and of course to keep paying your own bills on time.

How's everything going so far? Hope you've taken some of our advice already given and started working on it.

I'll try to get back here before the end of the weekend, we need to get your business plan in place and that the next section that we'll be discussing.

So, back to work I go and hope you'll be doing the same.

Until we meet again, thanks so much for reading and I appreciate your comments and plan to help you get started in business soon.

Cheers!!

Check your Credit Report

Just a quick post today to let you know if you don't already, that you should definitely check your credit report before you make any appointments to meet with any type of lender for your new restaurant. This is a necessary step to getting a restaurant financed through anyone as they will want to make sure that you are current with your bills and pay on time. Start now to pay everything on time and learn how to get a free credit report.

You can get a free credit report every year by going to creditreport.gov. If you need more than one per year you will be charged a fee of $15.00 each time you request your report.

Once you get your credit report, let's take a look at what you want to check. Your lender will also get a copy of your report so, it's a great idea if you already know how it reads before meeting with the lender.

     Here's what to look for on your credit report and how to make changes if needed:

Commercial restaurant equipment

Just a quick word about the equipment you'll need for your new restaurant.

Before you go out and start buying restaurant equipment, you must know that you will be required to have all commercial grade equipment installed in your entire restaurant. That includes your restaurant kitchen, your bar and your service areas.

Many people are unaware of this and begin to accumulate equipment that maybe they've used in their home such as a microwave, coffee maker or toaster. These appliances simply are not made for continued use day in and day out and for long extended hours as you'll be working in your restaurant.

The Board of Health, your Department of Revenue and the Liquor Control Board as well as the Fire Department for your state, no matter which state you live in, will not approve your restaurant without

Organize your Bills for the Lender

Let's Get Organized!

Keep a clean and organized office at home as great practice for when your new restaurant is up and running! Good habits start at home.

     Your lender is going to want all the information you have about your current finances in order to determine your eligibility to get a loan so you'll want to make sure you are organized. Use these simple strategies for organizing your bills so you're ready when your potential lender is ready!


Use a file cabinet that looks good - take it to your restaurant later! Keep it affordable

   ** Keep a file system
          Any kind of file box will work and you can keep manilla folders inside of it, labeling each of those folders with the name of the bill. Once you start to use a file box, all your bills can easily be added once they're paid and you'll be able to find the most recent interest rate you're being charged, the total balance due and the monthly amount due. Your lender will no doubt ask you all of these questions so a file box will really come in handy. You can find file systems at any office supply store, Pier I and online at places such as amazon.com and you'll get free shipping with amazon and some good deals when you buy items in bulk.

What paperwork should you be preparing to own a restaurant

Taking your next step in owning a restaurant has to be to start to get your own paperwork in order so that's what we'll discuss here.

Before you go to any lender and it doesn't matter if that's going to be a bank, credit union, family member or another private financier, you'll want to start to get your own ducks in a row and that means getting all your paperwork in order!

Tax Returns
     It may seem obvious that you'll need at least three years of tax returns and many times you may also need up to five years but, trust me, some people haven't even filed last year taxes so it must be discussed.

     What information will tax returns provide to your lender?
     Your tax returns will show a lender your current address and prior ones. A lender may appreciate the fact that you have been at the same address for 3-5 years and shows you are stable and a member of the community. If you have had an unstable address meaning you've been moving around a lot, be ready to explain why that is the case and how you are now done moving and ready to take on the responsibility of owning your own restaurant. This will be discussed more in your business plan but, for now just now that it will be something that comes up with your financial institution.
     Tax returns show your income which is a very important part of getting financing for your start up restaurant.
     Tax returns show your social security number and your financier can instantly (or at least rather quickly) get your credit report to match it against your return.
     Tax returns also show not only your income but, any loans and debt if you have itemized your deductions.
     Your employer is listed on your tax returns so your financier will be able to verify the information you tell them simply by comparing it to your tax returns.
     Can you tell by now that your tax return tells a lot about you already so

Financing your restaurant

Before you get too involved with starting a restaurant, you need to understand a few key concepts in regard to financing.

Do you have the funds in cash yourself to open your own restaurant? Most or at least many people do not and must rely on financial assistance to get the ball rolling. If you are going to need some financial help, let's take a look at where to find the financing for your dream restaurant.

Banks
     Banks are typically very large institutions and they do have a lot of money so, you may think that the first place to go would be a bank, right? Understand that banks don't want to be in the restaurant industry and most restaurants fail within the first 3-5 years so getting a bank to lend you money for your start up is probably the most difficult way to go. Oftentimes, banks are also so large that they may be too busy to get to know each of their customers as well as their corporate offices aren't located in your town or city and all the paperwork and decision making could happen at the corporate office. That's not always the case though and many banks are trying harder these days to get more in touch with their customers.
     If you already do business with a large bank, keep your accounts current, up to date, pay all your loans on time and make friends with your banker. Don't lose hope and think that there's no way you can do this without a bank, there are other options and you just might end up with a bank after all.

Private Financing
     There are private financing individuals or companies that lend money to start up businesses and this could be a viable option for you. Some of the best places

A rewarding opportunity

Owning a restaurant can be one of the most rewarding opportunities of your lifetime and congratulations to you if you are considering becoming self employed and one of the many entrepreneurs to undertake this new role! Maybe you already own a restaurant and need success tips to help you make it better and more profitable. We'll cover that too.

You no doubt have many questions on how to start a restaurant, what it takes to open a restaurant, how to run a profitable restaurant and more questions on financing, design, staffing, taxes, payroll and the rest of the business.

We're here to help you and have first hand experience with over 35 years in the restaurant industry and own one of the most beautiful designs and favorite restaurants in town.... You can too if you follow along and take it one step at a time!

Thanks for joining us on what will be a wild ride at times and feel free to post comments so that we know what your needs are so we can post about them.

     Use these tips to avoid procrastination - Get started now!