As I am opening a restaurant I may need to consider applying for an alcohol licence, as I will be selling alcohol and wine. If my proposal for a licence is refused I may be forced to cancel my plans for a restaurant. Also the law of restaurants closing at midnight will effect closing and opening hours. Also The Health and Safety at work act, all facilities will be clean and hygenic and staff must also maintain cleaness and good hygiene.
Hiring employees will be hard, as I will need staff with good qualifications and maybe experience in the restaurant business. To recruit I will advertise in a local paper or magazine, or I could register the restaurants details in a local job center. A few other ways of recruiting maybe to contact
Employment agencies. As my restaurant isn't a franchisee I think training staff to high standards would be done by On-The-Job training, internally as this will save money and they would only need to learn what is needed for that specific job. If I sent staff off to train, externally this maybe costly but it could better in its own way. They would learn skills not already at the restaurant and they could train at their own pace.
Objectives
My objectives for my business is to break even within a year, any profit made before that would be used to pay off my debts. If within a year I don't break even, I will try many things to try make some profit. I will cut down on staff if there is no business, I will add new foods to the menu to attract new and different sorts of customers. I could also try and advertise the restaurant a bit more. After 2 years of making a good profit and all loans paided off I plan to diversify, and maybe go nationwide. If I don't start to make profit after a year I will have no choice but to close the business as it will be hard to run the business by just breaking even. To find out if I am making a profit or breaking even I would need to write a Profit and Loss Account statement, so I know if I am making a profit or not. Also after every year I will need to publish a balance sheet so I know how much the company is worth just incase I decided to sell it.
Target Population
My Target population will vary from area to area, different people live in different areas. Some areas people of higher status and class will want high quality goods. Other areas rent could be lower so this could effect my choice of location as well. Also the time of year could effect my target population, during the summer there would be more tourists than locals, and not many people like to go out to dine during the winter. The style of the restaurant will affect the target population, how I decorate the restaurant, the choice of colours and sorts of music as well. The choice of advertising will attract different sorts of target population, if I advertised in a higher class magazine or paper, I would get customers with a higher status. If I advertised in a teen magazine I would expect teenagers to come to my restaurant. Advertising on the city radio could attract local business men or commuters to the restaurant. Also allowing people to make party bookings or reservations will help attract a wealthier target market, if they want to book the whole restaurant.
To attract a good target population I may decide to set lowest possible prices for my first menu, this will capture customers. Then I could raises prices and add new meals to a next menu.
To really find my target population I have decided to draw up a questionaire and ask a few members of the public to fill it out to find out what they are interested in.
The Business And The Product
I have chosen to start a chinese themed restaurant and I will be selling both vegatarian dishes and meat dishes. I have considered starting the business near central London, therefore aiming mostly for tourists as customers. The rent in the area is quite high so I have decided to hire just enough staff to cover floors. Staff will be trained internally by a manager, this will set high standards and will save money, also staff will learn skills they need not irrelavant skills. I will have to ask a friend to design a high class menu, asking a friend to design the menu will save some money. I will decorate the restaurant depending on my questionaire results, but if I was aiming for a higher class and tourists I would use simple decoratives, at the same time different and unique. Pricing will differ from meal to meal, and also on demand and ingredients used.
Location
To find a suitable place to locate my restaurant I will need to look around certain areas for cheap affordable places. The place will need to be easy to find and have easy access. I may need to look for areas new famous landmarks or sites, to attract tourists. Also location will effect availability of labour and how much salary will be. If located in a wealthy area salary will be higher.
Promotion
Advertising
Well, I have decided to advertise in a local specialist magazine, and local paper. I chose these because they will allow me to include some information about the restaurant where as, if I was to advertise on radio not many words can be fitted in and it isn't visual. I need visual advertising so I could include a Map so customers can cut ths out and keep it so they know where to locate my restaurant. If I have the money I considered renting a billboard or producing posters to put up in the local area. This will attract a larger audience if placed by busy roads or streets and I could also include a map, but they can not cut it out and refer to it.
Sales Promotion
I could have special lunch offers, or issue vouchers for the next time a customer visits they could get money off. I could also offer free dishes to promote new additions to the menu. This sort of promotion could make customers want to come back since they know they are getting money off, or they might come back to try out new additions to the menu. Also this helps promote new additions to the menu so customers may want to order them next time.
Direct Marketing
I am also going to post menu's of the restaurant to local residence's alerting them a restaurant is near by. This will include a map, a telephone number incase people might consider ordering a takeaway. This sort of marketing is quite effective and could draw alot of customers to my restaurant.
Public Relations
I could invite people from local papers and local magazines to taste my meals, asking them to write a review about the restaurant. If the public was to read about the reviews and the reviews are good people might come just to see if the crittics are right. This is quite effective but can also have disadvantages, if the food is not too good crittics will write bad things about the restaurant.
Questionaire
- What age group do you fall into?
10-17
18-25
26-35
45 +
- How much are you willing to spend on a good meal for 2?
£30-50
£50+
- Would you order some sort of alcoholic drink when your eating?
Yes
No
- How often do you go out to eat?
Once a week
Twice a week
Three times a week
More than 4 times a week
- Would you prefer to eat at a restaurant or order a takeaway?
Restaurant
Takeaway
- How far would you travel to go to a restaurant?
Within a mile
1-2 miles
2+ miles
- What kind of eating environment would you like?
Posh + relaxed
Old fashioned
Simplistic
Other …………………….…………………
- What kind of music do you like?
Pop
Jazz
Rock
Classical
Hip Hop/R’n’B
Other …………………………………………..
- What time is the lastest you would consider going to a restaurant?
10-11
11-12
12+
- If a waiter or waitress offered you the chef’s special would you consider ordering it?
Yes
No
- Would you try a new free dish if a restaurant is promoting it?
Yes
No
Spider Diagram
