After 40 years advising new restaurant owners, I have come up with 10 of the most common red flags that increase the risks of failure.
- Not having a good idea of the type of customer you want to draw and the corollary; not providing an appealing experience for that customer.
- Having multiple partners with roles and functions not clearly documented. Misunderstandings between partners are more common than you may think and can ruin an otherwise successful project.
- Underestimating what it costs to open or take over an existing restaurant and the corollary; being undercapitalized.
- Not having prior restaurant experience in at least a general manager capacity.
- Not having prior restaurant experience and thinking you can hire people to do everything.
- Thinking you are going to save money being your own lawyer or accountant and the corollary; having poor legal or financial records.
- Do it yourself accounting. This may be self-serving but if you ask any consultant, the absence of well organized and implemented accounting systems is a big factor in failures.
- Not enough sales. You can fix just about any problem in a restaurant but if the sales is not there, your chances of success go down significantly.
- Over-leveraged and the corollary; paying too much for what the restaurant is capable of producing.
- Not having weekly reports and paying attention to prime costs like labor, food and beverage.
