Anyone works in restaurant industry, advice?

Where are you going to open the business? That could possibly have an effect on the business model you should use.

Hi,
Thank you for your response How about area around SF? I know SF is too crowded but how about good location around that area? What do you think? I know its too competitive in this industry and i have trouble with calculating finance etc.. All new to me.

I have only been to SF a couple of times, so I don't know anything about the coffee shop climate there. In general, especially with foodservice companies, the main reason for failure is not having enough cash in startup. Some times it takes a while to get the business profitable, and if you don't have enough cash to make it through the tough times, you will have to close shop and possibly loose money. It may be a good idea to build a business plan that keeps your initial and continuing costs as low as possible. Because of the high failure rate in the foodservice industry, there are a lot of good used equipment that you can buy. Also look closely at the location you open and balance potential returns vs higher rent. Whenever you put together your business plan, it is a good idea to look at probable financial outcomes and worst-case financial outcomes.

Thank you so much, thats really helpful. Can i have your email address if you dont mind? It d be great if i can ask you detailed questions later on?

Hi, I have opened restaurants all over Asia the past 30 years. Some suggestions:

Don't do it, there is a 95% failure rate within one year for restaurants. Even if you know what you are doing and do everything right you could get wacked. Then again, I have seen people do everything wrong and do well.

If you still plan to do it I suggest.

1. A business plan (Keep it to one page and keep it simple). What are you going to sell and to who. You should be unique or be the best at what you sell.


2. A cash flow chart. Rent should be 18% of sales, labor 25% not only salary in the US but may be some medical and related labor insurance, food or bar cost of goods 30%, bank fee 10%, utilities 8%. You also have operating supplies, maintenance, taxes, insurance, legal, transportation, marketing and advertising, stationary and there is always the surprise.

Add this up!

2-A. Your startup cost. I would add the rent, Insurance and legal for one year plus deposit, equipment, marketing and supplies.


3. A marketing plan (One page and keep it simple). Who will you sell to. Are you selling what you want or what the market wants? So many people want others to want what they want. Once you determine your market, how and what will you communicate to them.

People - who are they and what do they want. When you find this find a way to communicate to them.

Product - What are you selling. OK does not make it. It has to be good, very good or great.

Packaging, your identity, your design, your name, your website. Remember who you are selling to.

Pricing. Be careful, see who is selling a similar product and what are they selling it for. You have to do this right.

Promotion, do not promote until the above is in place. Advertising brings people in but does not bring them back. Advertising can hurt you if you are doing it wrong or have a bad product. Never stop, attack, use pricing, at slow times do a promotion for the retirees. Sell at cost or give away your hat, T-shirt or coffee cup or calendar. It is a way of advertising your business.

I hope this helps and good luck

Agreed with the previous post.  What we call restaurants are mostly for foreigners, and the number that can be supported by middle class Vietnamese and foreigners is small and overburdened already.  I know several places with good food I expect to see shuttered any day now.

When people go out to eat, they usually go bình dân, it's cheap, and the places either run from kiosks or small storefronts.  The bigger ones that do well are selling one dish and they're the best at it.

lostvietdreamer wrote:

Hi, I have opened restaurants all over Asia the past 30 years. Some suggestions:

Don't do it, there is a 95% failure rate within one year for restaurants. Even if you know what you are doing and do everything right you could get wacked. Then again, I have seen people do everything wrong and do well.

If you still plan to do it I suggest.

I hope this helps and good luck

I truly appreciate when people share quality information. This is well written and thought out. Excellent advise for anyone wanting to start ANY business.

Thank you so much

I know its gonna be tough aaaa

I am still trying to figure out should I or Should I not.

Thanks for your advice

Yeah

I am thinking to start with small menu still researching

Thank you

Hi Huyenle,

Are you going to do a restaurant or coffee shop?

SF is a big city. Actually it is 5 cities when you cross the bridges or go by land to San Jose. If you do something in downtown SF the rents are some of the highest in the world.

So you may want to think about doing something around U C Berkley (one of many possibilities).

What is your concept? When I know that we can start looking for a market that fits it.

Have a good day

I was not sure just where the SF you referred to was. Godd luck I hope you have boat loads of start up capital. If you can make a go of it w/ cost of goods sold at an extremely low rate of 30% please let us all know how. You are trying to enter the business world of one of the most litigious societies on earth. Carry plenty of liability insurance. Not mentioned in the above post is the cost of workmen's comp insurance, unemployment insurance or the employers portion of social security. Unless you are a trained accountant and know how to set upon a chart of accounts and navigate the income tax laws you should hire an accountant. I must say I have yet to read a single page business plan of a successful company. When you get your business plan together I would suggest you go to the Small Business Administration office in SF. There you will find how to seek the advice of many S.C.O.R.E. members. These are retired company executives that offer their services for free. They will  look over your business plan and give you great advice. I must tell you, short of the grocery industry, this area has the lowest return on investment (ROI) 6%. Considering the risk/reward ration is something we in the investment business refer to as Opportunity Costs. That is where can we get a better return on our investment at any given time. It does not take much to beat 6% return and far less risk. I helped many people with the same dream as you. They are the best cook of this or that. Remember you are not the judge of what is best when it comes to your business, your customers are. Even then, how many times a week do you want to go eat the best food at the same restaurant?
There  are places on every corner and the competition is keen. Do a ton of research and have many look at your plan...and listen to them.

lostvietdreamer wrote:

Hi Huyenle,

Are you going to do a restaurant or coffee shop?

SF is a big city. Actually it is 5 cities when you cross the bridges or go by land to San Jose. If you do something in downtown SF the rents are some of the highest in the world.

So you may want to think about doing something around U C Berkley (one of many possibilities).

What is your concept? When I know that we can start looking for a market that fits it.

Have a good day

Yes Berkley is where I wanted to start After researching, I think it might be better to do some kind of franchising than setting up something from the beginning. What do you think?

bta87 wrote:

I was not sure just where the SF you referred to was. Godd luck I hope you have boat loads of start up capital. If you can make a go of it w/ cost of goods sold at an extremely low rate of 30% please let us all know how. You are trying to enter the business world of one of the most litigious societies on earth. Carry plenty of liability insurance. Not mentioned in the above post is the cost of workmen's comp insurance, unemployment insurance or the employers portion of social security. Unless you are a trained accountant and know how to set upon a chart of accounts and navigate the income tax laws you should hire an accountant. I must say I have yet to read a single page business plan of a successful company. When you get your business plan together I would suggest you go to the Small Business Administration office in SF. There you will find how to seek the advice of many S.C.O.R.E. members. These are retired company executives that offer their services for free. They will  look over your business plan and give you great advice. I must tell you, short of the grocery industry, this area has the lowest return on investment (ROI) 6%. Considering the risk/reward ration is something we in the investment business refer to as Opportunity Costs. That is where can we get a better return on our investment at any given time. It does not take much to beat 6% return and far less risk. I helped many people with the same dream as you. They are the best cook of this or that. Remember you are not the judge of what is best when it comes to your business, your customers are. Even then, how many times a week do you want to go eat the best food at the same restaurant?
There  are places on every corner and the competition is keen. Do a ton of research and have many look at your plan...and listen to them.

Very helpful info, thank you I do realize its tough competition, high risk and long run investment. I am not even a chef, thats the hard part. However, there is theme that I really think its gonna be unique there and I believe if its done right, it might work.

Well that would be a better idea I think. You sounds as if you have a boat load of money. There are many sources on the internet where you can at least get an idea of what type of franchise you would like to buy. Then you can also get an idea of how much money it takes to open a place. But do your due diligence with a franchise as well. Not all are created equal. This would give you some training in this area before you launch your own business as well. Again good luck.

bta87 wrote:

Well that would be a better idea I think. You sounds as if you have a boat load of money. There are many sources on the internet where you can at least get an idea of what type of franchise you would like to buy. Then you can also get an idea of how much money it takes to open a place. But do your due diligence with a franchise as well. Not all are created equal. This would give you some training in this area before you launch your own business as well. Again good luck.

I dont have a boat loads of money, if i do i would rather travel LOL. Kidding.

I think I can find someone who wants to expand their market as well and work as partners ( share investment etc..) ( more exact word than franchise). Still working on it to see how it goes

Well it takes a boat load of money. Good luck in getting a partner to put up the money for your "Theme". Once they have the idea of your theme and it is that good why would they need you…no money, no cooking experience, no business experience, what do you bring to the table they would want to invest in? They already have your idea.

bta87 wrote:

Well it takes a boat load of money. Good luck in getting a partner to put up the money for your "Theme". Once they have the idea of your theme and it is that good why would they need you…no money, no cooking experience, no business experience, what do you bring to the table they would want to invest in? They already have your idea.

Something that hasn't been discussed is how huyenle2012 will get over to the USA to open her restaurant.  I am assuming huyenle2012 is a Vietnamese citizen?  To get a business visa, I do believe you must invest something like $500,000 USD in a business that will employ X number of American workers.  I will need to research it further.  But recently there was a Vietnamse businessman that just bought a pit-stop on the I-80 through Wyoming and I thought he had some issues with getting a visa.

http://www.wyomingnews.com/articles/201 … -04-13.txt

If you sell Phở in North Dakota you will succeed...hands down.

1)  Phở is nice and warm for the N.D. cold winters.
2)  There is an oil boom in N.D. bringing thousands of single men to work there.
 
I bet you can get $10 a bowl easily....since the roughnecks make over $100,000 a year ($48 / hour).