Making the Dough!

So you want to start your own restaurant? Where to start? Well having some money would help! Before you can rake in the dough you need someone, a bank, or company to lend and/or invest in your restaurant idea. Let’s review some ways to finance a startup business.

            The first place people will turn to for money, the bank. More than likely, the bank will consider a restaurant too risky to finance so scratch that off the list unless you are considering opening a national franchise. If this is the case, the bank will require the following: collateral of a dollar for dollar of the amount that you are borrowing. The bank would loan 80% of the project cost only and require you to provide the 20% balance (financing).

            The next place to look is the Small Business Innovation Research Grant. There are also grants listed just for women and minorities. If you receive a grant this tends to attract attention from other investors. You can check the website here to check for different listings of grants. Grants are wonderful things because you do not have to pay back this money!

            Next option, angels. Angel investors are someone who you can talk to if you a business plan and have further developed a company/business. Angels are individuals that invest large amounts of money into companies for the return. To locate angels look in your area to see if there are any angel clubs. Here is just one link to help you to start locating the angels in your area.

            Try to avoid some of the top mistakes when starting to plan your restaurant: not having the proper training, trying to please everyone, and lack of preparation. Training procedures and manuals are a must. Rules and regulations have to be set for a restaurant to operate properly and succeed. Remember, not everyone will like what your restaurant has to offer, but make sure to stick to your niche. Finally, make sure the restaurant is prepared for the opening day. Customers will make a first impression and if things don’t go well the first time it will be hard to get them to return.

            To make the dough you have to have all of the ingredients, mix well, and cook for the successful outcome.

Sources

http://www.restaurantmagazine.com/tag/financing-a-restaurant/

http://money.cnn.com/2007/05/03/magazines/fsb/raising.money.fsb/

http://www.sbir.gov/

http://www.inc.com/magazine/20050701/angels-in-america.html

http://www.therestaurantblogger.com/10-restaurant-startup-mistakes/