Best Practices
Our Readers Respond: Why Did You Decide to Open a Restaurant?
Opening and running a restaurant requires a unique set of personality traits. No two days are the same and many of our readers have found their business requires them to be everything from a therapist and a salesperson to a magician and expert juggler. Figuratively speaking, of course.
Living the Dream
For many of our members, opening and running a restaurant didn't just fulfill a dream: it brought them new opportunities.
Katy Rizzo is living her passion. She and her husband, Tony, converted a historic railroad depot in Woodruff, Wisconsin into Anthony's Ristorante.
"It was meant to be. After many years, my husband and I still work our little restaurant every day. We're very hands on. We love what we do, and do what we love."
Customers and Community
The restaurant business is a hospitality business. Taking care of people and enjoying it comes with the territory.
Tracy Dueck, the CEO and owner of Tracycakes Bakery Cafe in British Columbia, highlights hospitality as a key motivator in opening her café.
"I wanted to take care of people using food as a catalyst," she wrote.
Taking care of people doesn't stop at serving customers. Making a positive contribution to the community is another strong pull factor for restaurant owners.
The team at The Lobster Pot in Provincetown, Massachusetts summed up their motivation for setting up shop: to serve the community and provide jobs.
"Plus, we love food!" they said.
The success or failure of any company boils down to one question: Are you operating from passion? If you are, you're going to succeed. If you believe in what you're doing, you're going to make sure that everyone around you believes it too.
–-- Maggie Hughes
Building a legacy
Several of our readers were drawn to the restaurant business by the idea of creating something and challenging themselves.
"After many years of working in great restaurants, I really wanted to create one myself. There's an incredible sense of pride when you feel you got it right," says Joe Gleason of Joe Caribe in Auburn, California.
Amy Zander of Grand Ledge, Michigan agrees. She thought building up her café would be a great way to enrich her community. She didn't realize how much she would grow in the process.
"It was so much harder than I thought, but also much more rewarding in ways I hadn't imagined. I built up my cute little cafe and tea room in 15 months and just sold it for profit!"
A big move (1,000 miles to be exact) was the start-up catalyst for Travis Guthman.
"I'd been in the pizza industry for almost 14 years. I started as a dough boy and worked up to acting CEO and new franchisee consultant. The next logical step was ownership."
After his move, Travis found a building and built it out from the ground up. Pizza was the natural choice for the new site and The Pizza Peel was born. The decision has paid off, says Travis.
"8 years later, I'm never in the restaurant, I have a GREAT team, and it's been an amazing ride!"
What's YOUR reason to open a restaurant?
Living the dream, serving others, a challenge, a project, a love of food – there are a lot of motivations for opening and running a restaurant. Whether you've been in business for 20 years or are thinking of taking the plunge, we want to know: what's your reason for opening a restaurant? And did you identify with any of the stories here?
Check out these resources from RestaurantOwner.com that will help you decide if you’re ready to open a restaurant:
Are You Cut Out for the Restaurant Business?: Assess whether you possess the necessary skills, mindset, and resilience to thrive in the demanding restaurant industry.
10 Commandments to Open Your Own Restaurant: Insights into ten critical factors that significantly influence the success or failure of new restaurants, offering practical advice from seasoned restaurateurs.
How to Open a Restaurant Resource Guide: A comprehensive compilation of tools and resources designed to assist you in systematically planning and executing a successful restaurant opening.
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Are You Cut Out for the Restaurant Business?
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10 Commandments to Open Your Own Restaurant
From my years of opening my own restaurants and those of my clients, here are 10 factors that often contribute the most to the ultimate success or failure of any new restaurant.
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How to Open a Restaurant Resource Guide
One of the most often asked questions we get is on how to open a restaurant. Whether you are a newbie to the industry or a seasoned veteran, the requirements for "running" a restaurant differ from those needed to "open" a restaurant. The How to Open a Restaurant Resource Guide is a listing of resources ...
