Now that you’ve decided to open or operate a restaurant, you need to get a good idea of what it takes to operate a successful establishment. Contrary to what some people may think, the best learning opportunities may not come from someplace that is a part of a large national chain.

One of the disadvantages in working for a chain store is that almost all of the foodstuffs used in day to day operations are ordered and come from corporate sources, rather than taking advantage of local vendors. Another disadvantage is that you can’t get a realistic idea of what costs are incurred for such things as utilities and insurances. Many of these policies are purchased using corporate bulk discounts, and the parent chain can garner utility or other operational discounts through the state or territorial government’s chamber of commerce based on the number of locations the chain may operate in any given area or territory.

These discounts are generally not available to smaller, single location establishments, so you can get a more realistic idea of what expenses in these key areas are likely to be.

Rather than trying to gauge these expenses from a place that is part of a chain, try to see if you can go to work in a locally owned or family owned restaurant. The advantages to this approach are huge. For one thing, if you are the one who will be eventually taking over the establishment, you can take advantage of the expertise of the previous owner before the person retires or leaves, especially if the sale includes recipes used by the business because they are for foods the establishment has already gained a good reputation for.

Learning how to prepare the foods properly, in a tried and true manner, can help to insure retention of a loyal customer base if you plan to keep essentially the same menu as the former owner served.

Working in a restaurant can give the perspective owner experience in such key areas as portion control (how much food is necessary for how many servings), what the profit margin is on the size of the portion served and who some of the local suppliers are for such things as baked goods, produce and meats. Other important lessons include the kind of food preparation that needs to be done in order to serve menu selections especially if you’re working with a cuisine that’s new to you, the kinds of restaurant personnel you would likely need to hire and what kind of work they would have to do in order to make your place a success.

Although no one likes to face adverse situations, another area of expertise that the smaller restaurant owner can impart is what kind of emergencies that owning a restaurant might unearth on a daily basis. Unlike a chain location, the owner can’t rely on corporate resources to come to the rescue if something breaks or malfunctions.

This is a good chance to see how to improvise a solution in the face of adversity if a repair person is not readily available and to find out some of the repair and service providers in your local area. This can also give you a more realistic idea of what you can expect to spend for emergency services and repairs.

For A Complete Guide To Running A Restaurant Visit www.runningarestaurant.net

[tags]restaurant management, restaurant business planning[/tags]