Many of our readers know how their way around a kitchen; even if you’re not a good chef, you probably know at least one or two recipes you can turn into a delicious meal. If you or those you cook for think your food is tasty, won’t others? Of course they will. So, open up a restaurant!

Don’t ninety-percent of restaurants go out of business?

Yep. The reason for this is because they are started by outstanding chefs. That, unfortunately, is the problem. Why? Restaurants need to be started by outstanding businessmen.

Haven’t you noticed that restaurants with mediocre food sometimes thrive and turn into giant chains, while restaurants with excellent food go under? This shows us that the success of a restaurant has little to do with the quality of its food.

Most restaurant owners make this mistake when starting their restaurant; don’t make the same one. Remember, you can’t just improve the taste of your food.

If you’re a good enough cook to make tasty food, then you’re a good enough cook for your restaurant. Don’t worry about the food anymore. The rest of your restaurant needs your attention.

Do as many of the jobs in your restaurant as you can. Every job you do is another job that you don’t have to spend the money to hire somebody to do. You’ll eventually want to hire all of them, but now you have limited funds. Do as many as you can.

Inventory is the next thing you’ll want to tackle. A restaurant cannot function if the owner does not keep track of its stuff. Many owners operate their restaurant kitchen like their home kitchen. This will work, but only to a certain degree. Your restaurant will only grow to the size of your home kitchen. You obviously don’t want that. So, write down instructions on how to do everything. Make systems.

Someday, an employee will take over every job that you’re doing. You’ll need a system for him or her to follow; you need to create an instruction manual for each job in your restaurant. That’s the main reason most restaurants fail – they have weak structure.

Eventually, you will have an employee doing inventory; you need instructions written down so that they know what to do. The lack of structure in a restaurant is the primary cause of failure. A tall building cannot be built with a weak structure. Likewise, your restaurant cannot be built with one.

Next, we’ll tackle advertising. This is essential; you cannot go without it. Use newspapers, but stay away from television commercials until you have several restaurants. For now, it will cost too much money that could be better spent elsewhere. Use the local radio if you can afford it.

On we go to advertising. You simply must advertise. You must. Newspapers are good, and so is television. However, stay away from television while you have little money – it won’t be worth it. Local radio can be good if you can afford it. Systems are a must. Every area we just mentioned needs a system. Without firm, strong systems, your restaurant will survive, but it will not grow.

Imagine your restaurant is a building which you have yet to build. You start with land, and you pour a foundation into it. Any cracks in the foundation will get bigger with each floor you add on to the building. A foundation with lots of cracks might only support a two story house. If your foundation is strong, though, you can build a skyscraper….a huge chain of restaurants!