Resources to turn your good restaurant into a Great Business. Resources to turn your good restaurant into a great business Restaurant Startup and Growth Magazine
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Home | Startup & Growth
 
Startup & Growth
Restaurant Startup & Growth

There no denying it, opening a new restaurant whether it’s your first or fortieth entails risk, usually lots of it. It’s estimated that of the half million or so restaurants in the U.S. around 10 to 15 percent are forced to close each year. Most of these failures are restaurants that have been open fewer than 3 years.

It takes lots of planning, capital, hard work, perseverance, and a little luck doesn’t hurt either, to launch a new restaurant that hits the mark and becomes a financial success.

There are many factors that can increase a new restaurant’s chances for success in the areas of planning, location, market analysis, concept, menu, financial feasibility, staffing, operating systems and more. We are focused on bring content in a variety of formats to these areas with the objective of providing you with resources that will enhance your ability to better plan the opening process, evaluate the financial feasibility, make more informed decisions and go into the development process with tools to stay organized and on track with your plan.

The Startup & Growth section is our newest addition to the Toolkit. Please give us your thoughts and ideas of what other materials would be useful in this area and how we can make it better.

Leverage What You Already Have: Add a New, Highly Profitable Income Stream With Catering
Leverage What You Already Have: Add a New, Highly Profitable Income Stream With Catering Catering provides restaurant owners with an opportunity to significantly boost profitability without taking on a lot of risk or capital investment. Here are some proven tactics and strategies for launching a successful and highly profitable new income stream in catering. . . . more >>
DOWNLOAD: New Restaurant Opening Manual
DOWNLOAD: New Restaurant Opening Manual While every new restaurant opening has it's unique requirements, this 50 page manual can be a useful guide to anticipate, organize and plan the primary activities that every new restaurant must execute well to have a successful opening. Includes weekly checklists, forms, schedules for procuring products, services, marketing activities, employee hiring, training & more. . . . more >>
How to Reduce the Risk of Opening a New Restaurant
How to Reduce the Risk of Opening a New Restaurant Understanding and considering this one ratio may be the key to keeping you from making an unwise startup decision. Learn how chain operators use this ratio to identify marginal locations and reduce the risk of failure. . . . more >>
DOWNLOAD: Sample Restaurant Business Plans
DOWNLOAD: Sample Restaurant Business Plans Get design, content and other ideas for your own restaurant business plan from our sample plans for a casual-theme, seafood concept and a quick-serve Mexican restaurant venture. . . . more >>
Survey Results: How Independent Operators Finance Their Restaurants
Survey Results: How Independent Operators Finance Their Restaurants Financing or raising enough startup capital is often the biggest challenge in making your first restaurant a reality. Find out how over 400 independent operators financed their restaurant and what advice they offer prospective first-time restaurant owners. . . . more >>
Things to Consider BEFORE Expanding Your Single-Restaurant Concept
by Jay Goldstein
Things to Consider BEFORE Expanding Your Single-Restaurant Concept Now that you have one successful restaurant you may be contemplating additional units. Before you jump in with both feet, there are several key principals required for successful growth. Learn what you need to know to grow, how to gain the knowledge, and who can help you . . . more >>
10 Common Restaurant Startup Mistakes (and how to avoid them)
10 Common Restaurant Startup Mistakes (and how to avoid them) In any new business venture good decision-making is vital. Opening a new restaurant requires so many decisions that it's not hard to make some bloopers along the way. The key is not totally missing the mark on the really important issues that can make or break your chances for success. Here are 10 of the most common & potentially fatal missteps new owners make and what you can do to avoid making them. . . . more >>
How to Turn Your Good Restaurant into a Great Business
by Jim Laube, RestaurantOwner.com
How to Turn Your Good Restaurant into a Great Business Many people who open a restaurant don't fully understand the role they should play as an owner. They're convinced that managing or performing the operational functions in a restaurant is all that's needed to create a profitable operation and it's a fatal flaw behind many underperforming or failed restaurants. . . . more >>

DOWNLOAD: Restaurant Startup Checklist
DOWNLOAD: Restaurant Startup Checklist Starting a restaurant means dealing with a myriad of details and activities. Missing a critical step or activity can mean delays, cost overruns or worse. Use this 300+ point checklist from 12 months out to opening day to better plan and manage the process. . . . more >>
DOWNLOAD: Restaurant Quality Assurance Program
DOWNLOAD: Restaurant Quality Assurance Program As restaurant organizations grow, maintaining quality and consistency in each location becomes more of a challenge to control and maintain. The Restaurant Quality Assurance Program template is a series of inspection points and checklists to evaluate adherence to predetermined quality and consistency standards. . . . more >>
Audio: What Every Operator Should Know About Restaurant Construction
Audio: What Every Operator Should Know About Restaurant Construction How an operator handles the construction process can significantly impact every aspect of a new restaurant, including it's ability to survive. Learn from 2 seasoned restaurant startup & construction experts what to expect and look out for when working with contractors. . . . more >>
Restaurant Failure Rates Recounted: Where Do They Get Those Numbers?
by G. Sidney
Restaurant Failure Rates Recounted: Where Do They Get Those Numbers? Failure and attrition is a fact of life in business. Painting an unrealistic picture of restaurant startups may build drama on television (NBC's "The Restaurant"), but it does little to support the hopes and dreams of those wanting to enter and improve the restaurant landscape. . . . more >>
AUDIO: How to Choose the Right Location for Your Next Restaurant
AUDIO: How to Choose the Right Location for Your Next Restaurant Many operators, large and small rely on professionals to guide them with the crucially important decision of where to open their next (or first) restaurant. Liste to site selection expert Jim Fisher, who assists restaurant and other retail operators with analyzing potential new store locations throughout the country. Learn what site selection pros consider and look for before putting their client's cash and their reputations on the line. . . . more >>
Ordering the Right Number of Smallwares
by Joseph Gill
Ordering the Right Number of Smallwares Do you have 10,000 spoons when all you need is a knife? Get some proven benchmarks and rules of thumb for stocking silverware, glassware, china and barwares from a pro that knows. . . . more >>
How to Design Your Restaurant's Floorplan
by Jeff B. Katz
How to Design Your Restaurant's Floorplan Getting from the dream to a solid concept and then to an operating restaurant is a challenge. Don't let the excitement and energy of creating your new restaurant cause you to overlook or rush by design issues that will be crucial to your success. . . . more >>
Restaurant Economics: Inside Expansion
by Jim Laube and Chris Tripoli
Restaurant Economics: Inside Expansion There are successful growth strategies that involve expanding an initial restaurant in ways you might not have considered. These include adding day parts, banquet and catering operations, increasing tables, or making the restaurant a commissary for kiosks and concessions. Explore these strategies and more to grow your business without adding units or franchising the concept. . . . more >>
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