The success of a restaurant depends on many factors. All of the details involved in restaurant operations are important, from your receptionist’s smile to the color of plates you use to serve food. We will walk you through the most important factors to consider before starting your successful restaurant enterprise.

1. Establish a restaurant concept

Let us begin with harsh statistics. Approximately one out of every three restaurants will be shut down within the first year of opening for business. Half of those who survive the first year of operations will be closed within the following five years. Why do some reach success while others experience disaster? Those who are able to survive have established remarkable brands and have implemented quality concepts for their restaurants. It is important to define the concept of your restaurant and plans for its future development in the earliest stages.

The right concept will define your plans and will prevent you from unexpected costs in the future. There is one goal to remember: Your restaurant must attract attention. Your task is to propose plans for your business that no one has proposed before. We are not talking about exotic menus or fashionable decorations. It is possible to attract clients by offering high-quality services, finding unique ways to prepare or service meals, and providing additional services or special offers. Think over exactly why clients would want to come to your restaurant instead of another one across the road. Once you can answer this question, you will have your restaurant’s concept. The table below presents the key aspects of restaurant concepts to give you an idea of what all you need to consider:

What is in the concept	Content
Institution’s name	Logos are developed according to the chosen name
Format and type of the institution	This defines the logistics of your operations and future steps for growing your restaurant enterprise
Slogan	The slogan delivers an emotion and idea to your client
Unique style	Determine how you will communicate visually with clients (symbols, lights and colors)
Kitchen selection	It is necessary to determine how you will develop your restaurant business and to adapt the menu accordingly
Premises zoning	This action should be conducted based on the physical needs of your guests and will depend on the format and type of institution chosen
Interior design	Includes furniture, decor and other selected elements for rooms
Service features	Standards for serving and originality of style must be taken into consideration
Marketing	Develop advertising products, menu forms and invoices
Staff outfit and music	These selections should match the whole concept
Individual features of the institution	Finding what characteristics set your business apart from others is a crucial aspect

You may choose to entrust the development of your restaurant to professionals, as use of concept development services is popular in the restaurant industry. These services can provide you with not only an original style and design for your restaurant but can also help you solve organizational concerns related to the design, repairs, or equipment required for your business. The help of professionals can make the process of preparing your restaurant operations significantly easier, although their services may be relatively costly for newly opened businesses.

It is also important to consider how you will complete the whole process of establishing a restaurant before beginning the implementation stage. Restaurant owners often face difficulties when trying to bring their restaurant concept to life in the form of a fully operational business. These difficulties can connect to a low budget mistakes made among management, or unqualified staff. You must find the best ways to implement your ideas for your restaurant business.

2. Choose a restaurant location

According to many restaurant owners, the right location is one of the most important factors to consider for a successful restaurant. Yet it doesn’t mean that a restaurant opened in a popular downtown area will automatically reach success. You should find a place with high pedestrian traffic and know where your target audiences reach the greatest concentration. When choosing a place for your future restaurant, you should consider your whole restaurant concept. For instance, a cafe for young people or a fast food restaurant should be located close to universities or malls, while a fashionable restaurant in the city center or a family cafe should be near residential buildings. The wrong location will leave your restaurant without the desired number of visitors.

To summarize, the steps to choosing a quality restaurant location include the following: First, pick a place with high pedestrian traffic to avoid depriving yourself of a powerful advertising tool. Secondly, settle your restaurant in a place where your targeted audience is concentrated, otherwise you will lack the customers needed to support your business. Thirdly, keep in mind that the location of your restaurant influences the business’ reputation. For example, a cafe located in the middle of nowhere is unlikely to become a prestigious one. Moreover, the place you pick for your restaurant should have convenient transport accessibility and parking zones. Lastly, you should choose your location according to who your competitors will be. If you plan to open a fast food restaurant in front of another one that has been operating for a long time, you may find the location choice is a bad idea.

3. Decide on the form and cuisine of the restaurant

Choosing the best form for your restaurant entails selecting a certain plan of action for leading the business, including the way you will serve dishes and the menu itself. You might choose to establish a coffee house, canteen, place for serving food on the go, or any other type of restaurant. The form of your restaurant should closely relate to the form of kitchen you choose. Many restaurant publications rank the popularity of national cuisines. These rankings should be considered but not blindly relied on as nowadays there are more restaurants available to consider. It can be difficult to impress any critics with one more newly opened Chinese restaurant or street- food business. Keep in mind that exotic cuisine should be adapted to match the tastes of the majority of your visitors. This also applies to a properly adapted menu.

4. Think through the menu

A well-marketed restaurant menu can stimulate sales for businesses. When menus are designed well, they can drive notable interest among customers. All visitors value colorful pictures of dishes and original designs in menus, so pay attention to these aspects of your menu and remember that all details matter.

To make your dish look more attractive in your menus, you might involve a food photographer’s services. The work, experience, and ability of food photographers in properly capturing your dishes in pictures will significantly help your menu seem more attractive and your meals appear more appetizing Some restaurant owners make a mistake in waiting to develop their menus at the last moment before they open their restaurants. It is crucial to remember that the foundation of your establishment is based on the dishes you propose. When creating a menu, pay attention to these factors:

      1. Uniqueness. Once a customer sees an unusual way of serving a meal, they want to try it.

      2. Quality, not quantity. A typical menu consists of about 25 dishes. This number is more than enough to create diversity in your menu options without making the work of your kitchen staff too difficult. You must determine the capacity of your kitchen in advance as it will be hard to adjust your menu when your restaurant has begun operating. Concentrate your efforts on preparing quality dishes and not on quantity.

      3. Your customers’ preferences. Track which orders are popular and unpopular among customers. The unpopular items should be removed from your menu.

      4. Upgrading. Professional restaurant owners suggest upgrading or adding new specials to your menu every 4 months. This approach might help you to keep a steady number of customers.

5. Select a restaurant name

A restaurant’s name serves as a key part of its concept. The name of your business should be catchy, reflective of the atmosphere, optimistic and sound nice. If your institution offers one signature food product, try to put that into the name. Choose a clear, readable font if you do not want to find your restaurant included in an internet compilation of pictures with amusing, double-meaning names. There are nuances to choosing a name. Many restaurant owners seek help with the task from professionals who can assist with concept development, styling, and branding of a restaurant business.

6. Monitor the performance of your staff

People go to restaurants not only for tasty food but also to relax in a comfortable atmosphere. Providing excellent service plays a key role in creating comfort for guests. Finding quality employees can be a difficult task. A chef often shares a restaurant owner’s hopes for their business, and many people believe having a chef that can make quality food is all that is needed to keep restaurants open. Yet that is not the whole truth. The restaurant industry is complex and all components of operations contribute to businesses’ success or failure in the industry. When a customer comes to your restaurant and sits in the visitor area, they expect to receive the menu and have their orders taken immediately. It is very important to pay attention to your customers’ needs, as they will offer the same attention to the quality of your service.