Summer - A Great Time for Planning Your Restaurant

Granted many businesses slow down in the summer months while people relax and vacation. But, what better time is there than now to gather the info you need to start your new restaurant, cafe, coffee shop, bar, or other food facility.

With concept in hand, grab your phone and your notepad to contact a restaurant consultant or restaurant designer first. First things first are the concept plan and the drawing of your space. These you will need for the next steps with the city for approvals, the contractors, and the equipment companies for bids.

While you are working on your layout drawings with a designer you can be putting together a list of contractors for building, equipment companies, a graphic designer for your logo, menu, signage and web site, an interior designer if needed for colors and furnishings, etc.

In this day and age with email, text messages, twitter and facebook, directory listings and the like, the best and most productive contacts are still by phone or face to face. So, while you are sitting by the pool relaxing, grab your phone and start talking to people. You can nurse your tan and work toward making money in your new business.

Frank Stocco, Restaurant Consultant and Designer
National Restaurant Design Co.
651-464-5072

Business is beginning to pick up for those of us in the restaurant consulting and design area. Especially the Eastern United States. That area certainly does set trends, so the trend for new restaurant business is looking hopeful since the many months of recession we've seen. No one can sit back for too long. Who isn't wanting to make money?

With the recession though we have made some changes in our business to attract more business, and that is to offer graphic design services such as logo design, menu design and web site design. We are hearing that more restaurant entreprenuers are looking for interior design help too, so that is an addition to our services at National Restaurant Design Co.

But the long and the short of it is that business is looking up and we hope for the best for all you restaurant people. It's such a fabulous and exciting industry to be a part of.

Frank Stocco
Consultant and Designer
National Restaurant Design Co. - http://www.nationalrd.com/

Small Business Administration

Good news from the government stimulus package. SBA 504 loans are @ 5.25 percent interest rates. The federal government is reducing the loan acquisition fee in order to attract small business. They are also guaranteeing 90% of the loan. Small business makes up 80% of all business and employs over 60% of the population. We hear constantly about big business and the bailouts. The federal government loves small business. They are never asked to be bailed out and are generally to small to effect the economy. In a recent interview, the fed is going to make every effort to promote small business and reduce the liability of having businesses too big to fail. SBA is very friendly to food service establishments. The deals that are out there are too good to pass up. If you have the resources now is the time.

Frank Stocco

Is Now The Time

A big Yes. The government is now in the process of upping the guarantees for small business (SBA) loans to 90%. That greatly reduces the risks to the banking industry which may enable you to secure financing. Landlords along with contractors and equipment dealers are striking incredible deals. The fast casual food service sector is doing extremely well while white table cloth restaurants are still struggling. That all makes sense.

Check out our restaurant design services. We design according to your budget. We also design strategically. This is huge. We eliminate needless plumbing and electrical rough-ins which can cost thousands of dollars.

Frank Stocco

Tough times for all. I hope everyone is hanging in there. It seems that restaurant sales are holding up. What is apparent though, is the lack of new start-up Ma and Pa restaurants. We are discovering that even large chain restaurants are having a hard time securing financing. There are many ways to raise funds to open a restaurant. If the funds are available, now is the time. Landlords are giving massive incentives for leasing, restaurant equipment companies are marking up equipment packages well under 10%. Contractors, plumbers and electricians are taking jobs almost at cost to keep the cash flow going.

Fast casual and fast food restaurants are cashing in on the population switching form fine dining to moderately priced restaurants. The food service industry historically has not been greatly affected by a bad economy. If you can, do it now.

We have been involved in studies that are trying to determine the reason for the large percentage of restaurants that close months after opening. Our findings have been unexpected. We always have been aware that one of the big reasons for restaurant failure is the restaurateur's lack of knowledge. They simply did not have a clue about running a restaurant. What we have discovered unexpectedly is that the great majority of people opening restaurants are highly qualified. So where did they go wrong? They did not know how to open the restaurant. Our great discovery is that most of the mistakes occur before the restaurant is open. The problem with pre-opening mistakes is that they are extremely costly. This is an undisputed fact. If you are opening a sports bar and you have made $30,000.00 worth of pre-opening mistakes you will not have enough funds to finish the project properly. It could quite honestly cost you your audio-visual system. That would substantially destroy the customer experience. Why do restaurants fail? The big reason; an extremely poor customer experience.

I am co-authoring an instruction manual to eliminate pre-opening mistakes. It is geared towards not only first-timers but also the most seasoned restaurant veterans. The goal is to help restaurateurs establish a pre-opening budget and stick to it. The only way to establish a pre-opening budget is to completely understand all of the requirements and issues that have a big effect on costs. Again, we know factually that the majority of mistakes are made prior to opening resulting in quick failure. I anticipate the publishing date of the instruction manual will be in early summer. Stay tuned.

Frank Stocco

Happy New Year News.

Happy New Year. I hope for all that this will be a profitable new year in the restaurant business, especially. This year will be full of challenges but also full of unbelievable opportunities. Prices have come down on everything related to the restaurant business if you are a good negotiator. Landlords have considerably reduced the rental rates, equipment suppliers are writing packages well under the percentage rate that they are accustomed to, the cost of construction materials have dropped along with contractors costs. Like the housing market, if you have the money, there are extraordinary deals out there for you restaurant entrepeneurs.

The casual, fast casual and fast food segments of the food service industry have remained fairly strong throughout the country. We work with great companies like Hooters. Their revenues are staying strong. White-tablecloth is struggling a bit. They rely on white-collar big business for much of their weekday clientele.

There are ways of raising money to open a restaurant. The main thing is to have a great business plan to present to perspective investors, banks, landlords and leasing companies. In the business plan you must have a clear vision of your concept, a concept drawing and at least 3 years of financial projections. Because of the glutton of space available your land lord is a great source of money.

A few things we know for sure:
1. People are going to continue to eat. The casual sector of the food service industry will stay strong.
2. Rent and services can be negotiated to receive exceptionally good values.
3. If operated frugally, the restaurant and food service industry is extremely profitable. I know this may sound crazy but this is the time to open a restaurant.

I would love to encourage all to participate in our restaurant consulting blog. I would like for this to be a forum for the exchange of ideas. We are all in this together. There are so many wonderfully talented people in our industry. Your input can be valuable to someone's success as well as your own.

We will be starting our series on restaurant design trends starting this Monday. I look forward to a fun year.

Frank Stocco

Restaurant Design Trends

National Restaurant Design is starting a series of blogs examining the latest and upcoming trends in the food service industry. This focus will help direct you in identifying your concept and vision. Some of the topics will include; Restaurant Design, Interior Design, Graphic/Web Design,Service Options, Restaurant Cooking Equipment, Going Green, Point of Sales Systems, Bar Design, Labor, Budgeting and Marketing. The restaurant industry is a wonderful business to be associated with in good and bad economy's. To be successful you must take advantage of all the strategies that are available to you. Please feel free post a comment. We would look forward to answering any related questions necessary to help you identify your vision. There's amazing adrenaline rush in starting and having your own food service business! We know!

Frank Stocco
888-727-0377