Am I good enough to start a restaurant?

[Timothy Smith]

OK, so first thing's first. I'm currently still an all-time waiter at a local breakfast restaurant, Lou's Cuisine. I want to be more than a waiter though, I just want to show off my cooking skills.

I applied to be a chef, but they said I had to be 18+. I don't want to wait two years to show the whole world what my food tastes like. So I'm thinking of starting my own, at my dad's unwanted house. I know how to make pizzas, sushi, and many others when I get more cookbooks (I only have 1 in my house).

When my parents are sick, I always cook breakfast for them, so they call me a "Responsible Chef". But responsible enough to start my own restaurant?

Please tell me.

[ssandra]

Hi,

As somebody who owned a restaurant in the past, the thing that least (ok, almost least) matters is if you are a good cook.
Business savvyness, good people management skills, and the ability to run a business are more important.

Would it be an idea maybe to start instead as a helper in the kitchen, working your way up and learning the business, while at home trying out new recipes?

I doubt the local health inspection will allow you to run a restaurant from an empty house...

[Timothy Smith]

When I started piano lessons, the teacher used her mom's house. By the way, my dad has left a few things in there.

Been helping mom & dad make dinner since I was 4.

[Lauxa]

No, I don't think you could run your own restaurant from an empty house, no matter how good a cook you are. Food sales are fairly heavily regulated, you will want to look into the laws in your area, it's not like piano lessons. I know that if you want to sell prepared foods here in Texas it must be cooked in a commercial kitchen and the recipe registered with the state.

If you want to share your gift for cooking and the restaurant won't let you be a chef, maybe you could throw occasional dinner parties for friends and family where they help cover the expense of the ingredients and you cook for them. Then you can ask for feedback on your cooking and perfect some of your recipes.

[Timothy Smith]

You said that I can't run it from an empty house, but what about a house with stuff? Like mine, for instance?

[Gerto]

Originally Posted by Timothy Smith

You said that I can't run it from an empty house, but what about a house with stuff? Like mine, for instance?

Timothy,

It's great to see you know what you want and that you don't want to allow anyone to stop you. However, I think you're underestimating what it takes to start a restaurant.

So, maybe it's a good idea if you share a bit more about how you see this:
-Will you be hiring other people?
-Do you have a business plan?
-How will you market the business?
-Do you have enough startup capital?
-Have you looked into the legal side of this? Starting a business under 18 requires work and cooperation of your parents; to start a restaurant you need several permits + insurance for example

[eleveneleven]

Hi Timothy

First off I have to say I think it's AWESOME that you've already got some sweet goals this early in your life! Reading your post just made me think about the last few years of my life.. i've tried starting several businesses in between full time jobs and managed to run one of them full time for 15 months (doing graphic design). Since im probably close to your age I thought I might pitch in with a few ideas which will hopefully get you started in the right direction.

Start small (setup something like a mobile food stall/van/bike) test your ideas on a small scale first. Find a way where you can serve a small number of people at a time (without the pressure to deliver loads of meals all at once) Do some brainstorming or search google for ideas - there's heaps out there!

Find out everything you can about business (this one really caught me out when I went from working as a designer in a marketing firm, to running my own design business!) You suddenly have to think about cash-flow, stock, clients, taxes, accounting, state laws, deadlines and people management! All things that will take a while to learn and get used to...

Talk to people doing what you want to do (I know it's scary asking at first but you'll find many people willing to offer great advice if you're open to it, and you can always ignore advice that doesn't resonate with you!).

That said don't let these things put you off! Just thought it might give you a better idea of the things you'll encounter when running a business. Best of luck with your endeavors!!

[Timothy Smith]

Originally Posted by Gerto

Timothy,

It's great to see you know what you want and that you don't want to allow anyone to stop you. However, I think you're underestimating what it takes to start a restaurant.

So, maybe it's a good idea if you share a bit more about how you see this:
-Will you be hiring other people?
-Do you have a business plan?
-How will you market the business?
-Do you have enough startup capital?
-Have you looked into the legal side of this? Starting a business under 18 requires work and cooperation of your parents; to start a restaurant you need several permits + insurance for example

- I will be hiring a waitress, 3-5 chefs and probably my aunt, for a few cooking tips, she was a chef.
- Yep. If I could, I'd be running the restaurant in my house, with the dining room open to anyone, and every other place locked up tight. Also, my name of the restaurant will be: Tim's.
- Market? You mean the money? Don't worry, I already have a couple of hundred dollars and if I don't have enough, I can always ask my mom for money.
- What's startup capital?
- Mom & Dad would say yes to anything, except the things I can get into jail for doing it. What kind of permits? And I have insurance.

Thanks everyone for all the advice.

[Sam kovacs]

No startup capital is "the money".

Marketing is the process of interesting potential customers and clients in your products or services.

[Lauxa]

Tim,

Where are you located? Regulations vary state by state and country by country and you might get more useful advice if you can give your location.

Also, you might try calling some of your local eateries (especially the non-franchised ones) and asking to interview the owner/manager about what it takes to start a restaurant in your area and how they got into the business.

[Timothy Smith]

I'm from BC, Canada. As you can see, I'm from Japan and I wanted to start a restaurant there but then I figured out how much things you have to pack if you wanna move.

[Lauxa]

I just googled "bc canada restaurant regulations" and this was the top hit:

Home

Might be a good resource for you...

[Still Growing]

You're under 18 and you want to own a restaurant someday? Great you can do it.

I must say that you do sound a bit impatient just as all young entrepreneurs are. You should create a workable plan that is possible.

Follow these directions:
1. Save all the money you can, every cent. Work two jobs. Keep a journal highlighting your goals. Make milestones that are reachable.
2. When 18 start cooking or go to a school for cooking
3. Discover the type of restaurant you'd like to own. Go work for this type restaurant and work your way up to an asst mgr; even if it takes a few years.
4. Once you've saved $100K or so then look into starting a restaurant. Be prepared to loose it all as most businesses do fail.
5. When / if you loose it all then start over and do it again.

This may sound not very enticing however its what it takes.

If your really want it bad enough you'll go through the pain, the risk and reap the rewards.