Nothing teaches as well as the voice of experience. So we asked established food service business operators to tell us what’s contributed to their success and what they think causes some companies to fail. Here are their stories.
1. Start with a job.
The best preparation for starting your own restaurant is to first work in someone else’s establishment. While you should certainly read books and take courses, you should also plan to work in a restaurant for at least a few years, doing as many jobs as possible. Pay attention to people who are doing different jobs in the restaurant as well, so you can understand the various positions. Think of it as getting paid to learn.
But just because you worked in a McDonald’s doesn’t mean you’re ready to open a fine-dining restaurant. You need to work in a restaurant, pizzeria, deli baker, or catering business that’s similar to the one you plan to start. Paul Mangiamele, president and CEO of Bennigan’s says, “Work in different positions, in the front of the house, back of the house, bartending, hosting, serving, cooking,” he says. “Know every single aspect of the operation, because when you’re an owner, the buck really does stop with you. No matter what comes up, you need to be able to jump in and handle it because it’s your business.”
2. Do basic market research.
When Jim Amaral decided to start Borealis Breads, a wholesale bakery specializing in sourdough bread, no one else was doing anything similar in Maine. To find out if there was a market for the bread he wanted to bake, he called restaurants and retailers, explained his idea, and asked if they’d be interested in buying his bread. “I came up with about 15 accounts that said they’d be interested,” he says. That was enough to get him started.
3. Test your real market.
When your test marketing, be sure you conduct your tests on sample groups that represent the market you plan to target. And remember that many people will complement free food because they think it’s the polite thing to do. So ask questions that will get you the information you can work with. It’s not enough for people to say they like something. Find out why they like it if there’s anything they don’t like if there’s anything they would change and if they’d be willing to buy it.
4. Find your market niche and stay focused.
Amaral says one of the key things he’s done that has contributed to his success is to find a market niche that no other baker occupied. “We’ve positioned ourselves as having a unique product. We don’t have a lot of competitors, and that’s allowed us to maintain fairly high wholesale prices.”
