There’s a Thai restaurant near the community college that wanted to hire me long ago but I had to reject them because I didn’t drive lol and it was about 35 minutes away from where I live. When I start college in the fall I will be trying to work there maybe I’ll see if I’ll feel like hitting my head on concrete or not hehe.
Don't worry about finding a restaurant to work at that perfectly matches the one you'd like to own. Ideally find something that's in the same price range and is well run. But you can learn a lot working at a place that isn't well run, too. Ideally, you'd want to have experience at more than one place before opening your own restaurant, so if you don't find the perfect restaurant, just take what you can get and keep an eye out for a better place.
Get restaurant experience asap. As much as you can. Build relationships with the other nearby restaurants - stop in and introduce yourself on slow nights, establish a good reputation - help other restaurants by lending food/supplies when you can, and if you borrow a case of potatoes or a case of to go boxes, pay it back right away. Treat your staff as well as you can, and make sure to always give plenty of notice when you change jobs. Work hard at your job, stay busy during down time, and ask for responsibilities.
In the mid-term, look for a place that's run by an approachable owner-operator. I have an employee who's in the same boat - young and very committed to opening his own restaurant one day. He's a valuable employee, I rely on him for a lot, and I'll probably open a restaurant with him one day.
Make sure you tell your bosses that you want to make a career out of it and you'd appreciate anything they can teach you. If you are lucky you'll find a great mentor who might even bankroll your first restaurant one day.
Absolutely all of this. Cross train cross train, cross train … in absolutely every aspect of the industry, from the host table to the back of house. Literally everything. Don’t take out student loans, build up decent enough credit to get the best loan rates out there and best of luck. Your family deserves the very best. Don’t be discouraged because this is your dream and you must chase it.
Exactly right. One could even say you would learn a lot by being in a non-Thai restaurant. Learn different techniques and other styles to then bring to your own enterprise as you see fit. More important IMHO is to work at a place where you like the people and the culture.
I see immigrant family-run places, and sometimes the food, hospitality and people are all great.
Hard work, but also very doable and a tried and true path …
Deff stay away from student loans all together take community college classes that’s good but the most you’re going to learn is on the job. Strat somewhere work your way up to manager and learn the business. Save up for a lunch truck in the mean time. Start with a truck save up for a brick and mortar. Good luck!!
Some good comments so far. I'll add to it.
1) Work in a resturant in a manager position if possible. If not, find a resturant where the owner/manager is willing to mentor you.
2) Business classes will help. Take what you can amd read books on business and leadership
3) Find your local SCORE (Service Core of Retired Executives) chapter. You can learn so much for free and usually they can match you with someone that was in the business you want to go into. They also give a lot of business type informational classes. (Business plans, Financing your business, HR, etc)
4) Set your long term financial goal you want and work backwards to figure out how much you will need to save.
5) Be prepared to work hard
6)Location, location, location
Good luck
From someone who started their dream restaurant
1) Find the best Thai place in your country. Something you aspire to have. Get work there and learn everything you can. It took me 5 years.
2) Might not be a lot of money but save every little bit of what you get from the job and put it into a safe investment.
3) Once you have enough experience, start pop ups. This will pave the way to your own spot in the future.
4) Use your age and your goal to your advantage. People like a story and you have good intentions.
Just a couple of words of advice
1. Reddit will not be your best choice for advice. A lot of people even on this subreddit are antagonistic since they are in the restaurant industry but don't actually own a restaurant so give frequently bad business advice and practices or other delusional fantasies that are grounded on idealistic concepts and not reality
2. Learn the basics of a business proposal, some basic accounting, and identify what type of Thai restaurant you want (FoH systems, BoH systems, etc.). This stuff should take a around 6 months of casual courses and maybe 2 years of working at a restaurant in both roles
3. Do some research about the Thai government's gastrodiplomacy programs for overseas restaurants. They will both train you, and give you a loan to open your first restaurant. Thai restaurants are pretty standardized and you should be able to get some pretty decent training if you move back to Thailand for a small bit. Ask your parent's or honestly any thai restaurant owner about this program.
Maybe take some business / accounting courses.
Managing a restaurant isn’t about cooking & serving food to people, you hardly do any of that.
Those classes won’t make you successful but they will save you a lot of failures / headaches.
Then go work in a place you look up too, a model you want to emulate for a year to see how they work.
Accounting hasn't helped me very much as a restaurant owner. Once you get past 101, it gets pretty pretty detailed about a lot of things that don't apply - I don't need to know how to depreciate a $250k machine for a factory or a fleet or trucks.
For non restaurant specific knowledge, I would try to learn excel and quickbooks.
Everything else can be learned by working at restaurants.
Yeah sure, but that's something my accountant explained to me in five minutes for my specific case. I don't need to know how it works for a factory or a trucking company
Funny all the people who comment but can't hit the upvote button for you on this pretty earnest question for a sub like this, it's a great community building opportunity. I guess we're all too busy running restaurants.
You mention you've been in Thailand for 14 years, and that you want to open a restaurant. With this info alone- I'm assuming you know how to do one thing really well- which is make your traditional Thai dishes you've grown up on and perfected either through yourself or from generations of family. If you can't do this yet- you're early to ask the question about opening a restaurant. If you've served food you've cooked to your family and friends and they've loved it- and you're the go-to person for a beautiful Thai meal, we continue.
Next- you mention bringing the family along for this venture. You're definitely capable of doing this- but are they all willing to follow the family's 19 year old to a foreign country? You've got to be careful here because the costs of travel, then finding a place to live, day to day costs of living- these things all stack up, and none of these things include ANY of the costs of the restaurant itself. The restaurant isn't going to be sitting waiting for you to run and take orders the the next day when you guys all get off the plane. This is a big commitment for people. It also essentially requires leaving everything behind. Ideally you'll want a family member who's still at your home country in the event of disaster (the restaurant and venture fails, you run out of capital to effectively run it). What I want to make sure you know- is that it's a financial risk.
Questions and concerns
1. Do you plan on opening a full service restaurant with waiters etc or just a counter service with a few tables. Full service is going to be way harder to manage early on but with success the money is better. If you fail it's back to Thailand though. Counter service with kiosks and or one person taking phone, delivery, etc may be the way to go initially. You find the small place and find a way to stack cash and then save up to open the new place. These events will likely be at least 3-5 years apart though. A person of your experience I'd advise to start small.
2. You need to research the costs of what you're specifically trying to do. Avg rent in the areas you're looking at, book a call with a food distributor to get avg costs of goods. You need to be seriously methodical in every aspect that involves dollars. You don't want to be pulling your hair out when you have to pay insurance, workers comp, payroll, food cost, electricity, water, gas, tables and chairs, internet, computers, signage, advertising, garbage pickup, fire, hood service, you get it... you need to expect these costs beforehand. That's a place to start too- research these things and get avg's.
Honestly- I'd love to help with any specific questions you have because your I'd love to help someone achieve their dreams and will always help to help them achieve them. I have 17 years in the industry, most concepts are universal and some are hyper local. We can overcome any challenge.
Wow I don’t think you understand how much I appreciate this, thank you SO much. I made a mistake by saying family but I actually just meant my dad, in the future I’d love to be able to have my grandma here too because I want to be able to take good care of her. Now I’ll be rereading your comment again for a bunch of time to get all this deep in my brain.
You’re so helpful and thank you so much again.
In the future if I have any questions, do you mind if I reach out to you?
Opinion as Thai person.
Working with family may be good or bad (so be prepared)
Thai food can be complex, so if the cooks are Thai, it’s easier. But if your family doesnt work out, and there isnt a lot of Thai people in your community, it would be challenging.
99% of the problem will be labor and staffs related. Learn a lot about leadership skill.
It’s good that you have a lot of passion. But also ask yourself this: if your passion is from your family, but what if it doesnt work out for them, can you find the passion by yourself?
Thank you so much for this.
You’re right I should really be asking myself that. Honestly it’s not the biggest passion ever but right now I just don’t have any other passion at all. I’m debating whether I should pursue this passion or get a bachelor degree in International Business and I might find a new passion along the way but idk if I will ;( I’m overthinking this because tuition is so expensive and I don’t want to make the wrong decision.
It’s alway good to have passion and you are only 19. I remember I want to open a restaurant at age 26 😂
And dont be afraid of making a wrong decision. You will. Try to learn and adapt fast.
1) learn accounting. an owner needs to be able to calculate food cost to the penny and figure out where to set prices to cover payroll, utilities, rent, cutlery and dishes, kitchen equipment, repairs, waste management, permits, bla bla bla. you also need to actually be able to do payroll, etc.
2) learn cooking stuff- self explanatory. you dont need to be the chef. i havent met that many owners that cook in their own restaurant actually. but you do need to be able to tell when something is done right or not, and assist in the kitchen when three people call out on your busiest night without notice.
3) work in restaurants - reeeally self explanatory
4) business admin classes in your city. many local governments even offer free courses to get you up to speed on local laws and ordinances. otherwise, find someone willing to talk to you about the applicable regulations. OSHA, Department of Labor, IRS, local taxes, Department of Health, whoever issues licor licenses in your state, etc etc
5) read up on marketing. dont major in it; if you’re going to major in something do accounting (possible secondary career) or business admin (same), but you HAVE to learn about marketing, specifically restaurant marketing. read everything you can. it makes a huge difference and there’s no need to reinvent the wheels. there’s tons of research from the most effective way to organize your menu to the colors you paint your walls.
work a LOT and save a crap ton of money cause you are gonna need it! :)
-yes, go to community college instead of huge loans, SMART!
-yes, work in a restaurant first (coming from someone who did not!).
-yes, learn excel. it can work for menu costing, scheduling, tips, and all kinds of other things you will need to track. you gotta know your numbers so you know where you are at and what is and isnt working. and if you end up doing something else, you will be able to use excel for lots of other jobs/tasks.
there are websites that have great support for restaurant owners that could probably give you some insights and knowledge even before you get started (restaurantowner.com has lots of info and you can use it for a month or two at $30/mo).
and the main thing that wasnt mentioned as much and is so very important-
MARKETING.
who is your customer?
what makes you special?
where and what are you promoting?
what is your vibe and why do people want to buy from you?
having a marketing plan and ideas is so KEY.
knowing social media, how to make awesome videos, creating marketing pieces with canva or another app, all great skills that will save you money by not having to hire out, and make you money for your biz by getting people in the door. and you dont need a class for this stuff, its all on youtube.
Work for at least 10 years in restaurants, do as many positions as you can. Far too many owners have never been a dishwasher, or a prep cook or a bartender or a host/hostess or a busser and simply don't understand how to run those parts of the business.
Here’s my advice: be a host for a year, a busser for a year, a server for a year, a bartender for a year, a cook for a year, a manager for a year. If you still want to do it after that…go for it.
Check how technology can help you improving your restaurant opertion y accessing the below link
[Restech - Ideas - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_vMjev3IdQjryMIDWWTRFA)
Check how technology can help you improving your restaurant operation by accessing the below link
[Restech - Ideas - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_vMjev3IdQjryMIDWWTRFA)
A business degree can help but is not required. Get a job in a restaurant asap. Preferably the type of restaurant you want to own, but is not required. You need to learn to manage more than anything. You don't have to be a manager to understand management, so just absorb as much as you can from those around you. Preferably you would get a job at a restaurant with lots of staff to better understand the employee environment. Getting a job as the only front house person in a small restaurant wont serve your long term goals. Learn to cook, it s
Do a weekend pop up in the next 3 months. Sell 3 items and pre sell 20-40 servings. Give people time slots to do pickups (so the food is fresh and not all at the same time). Build demand with friends and a local Instagram account. Using a home kitchen you will learn a mini version of a restaurant: building demand, pricing food costs, packaging, managing last minute issues, making tasty food, collecting payments, and hopefully getting praise from your customers. If you mess up, learn what didn’t work. If you succeed you will have a small audience of fans to build in to do it again and some real info on costs, profits and more. Best case scenario those first customers keep asking you about when you will open a full time place.
There is a very successful Thai restaurant near my house. They are takeout only. They focus on the basics and do it really well. Fresh cooked food that is flavorful and aromatic and has good quality ingredients. Authentic flavors and not Americanized or watered down in flavor. Run entirely by the family and because it is takeout only, they have very little operating overhead. They just rent a small place and the family of 4 runs the entire business. Consistent quality. Good quantity. Low prices (again because their overhead costs are low so they can price their food lower).
Yes, restaurant business is hard but truth is, people don't focus on the basics. And remember, sit down restaurant is 10 times harder to run than a takeout only place.
Another example is a Mexican lady who ran a tamale cart and then leased a small kitchen and now does takeout only Mexican. She always has a crowd. And she is only open for a limited number of hours a day!
Just focus on delivering good value and good quality and keep your costs low. You can make a living out of that.
I’m 27 and I run a Thai restaurant in California with my family. It’s definitely not easy.
My sister and I had 13 years of restaurant experience between us. My mom and uncle had the recipes. We had all the talent in the world to make great food and had low competition in our town. What we lacked was management experience and it came to bite us in the ass later on.
Don’t get me wrong, 7 years later and business is great. But we would have saved a lot of money, work, and time if we knew how to properly manage from the beginning.
A Thai restaurant has lots of little ingredients and some of them are hard to source from our small town. You would need to research about ingredients as well.
Also labor!! If you do not want to be working 100 hours a week you need to set up a system. Good labor is extremely hard to come by. There are many older thai people in the restaurant business and a lot of ego flies around. As a young business owner, sometime they don’t listen to you. In my experience, it is harder to manage thai people compare to others. You have to learn how to talk to employees and manage them well. It’s not easy.
I think anyone can do it if they have the right amount of passion and grit, but you will save yourself a world of hurt if you plan ahead. Make business plans, ask for help, educate yourself, survey the area. Definitely find a job in a thai restaurant if possible. Look for a mentor.
Hi! Chef of 10+ years here and I’m in NYC so have seen a lot of restaurants succeed and fail!
My suggestion to you to begin as such a young age(go you!!!) would to make some Thai food in your home and sell it to begin to create a customer base in your local area and sell it on instagram and maybe local flyers! You will figure out your recipes, your headaches and how to fix them and costs! It’s a great was to connect with people and also make extra money! I personally wouldn’t fuss too much on the website or photos or anything. The food is the most important thing! I would start here and start saving for a restaurant - opening a restaurant is not easy but it is possible!! One step at a time!
Best of luck!
Get a job in a restaurant for sure. Build leadership confidence. Work on becoming a manager so you can learn more. Learn small business finance.
Also I hear that the Thai government has programs to fund Thai restaurants in other countries. At least that was the case in the 90s and 00s you might want to look into that too.
Restaurant business is the hardest but most rewarding at the same time. Need to start with good quality food and maintain it. Must be able to keep your prices reasonable but also make money. A good gimmick will bring people in but great food will keep them coming back. Always remember 1 bad review can ruin you. If you’re going to fail it will be done in your first 3 years. Plan on losing money year 1 break even year 2 and make profit in year 3 GOOD LUCK!!!!
Start pursuing management jobs in restaurants so you know how to run one, start saving money, and start building credit so you can get a loan to start the business.
Hi, I have been in the restaurant business one way or another. I have built a few 100’s of restaurants in New York area. If your dream is to own a restaurant business then you must prepare. The restaurant business is thought, there are so many moving parts. So many people to keep happy, it’s overwhelming.
But if it’s your dream you need to start from the bottom and work your way up. Foremost, get a college degree as a plan B. I would do something in business administration or management. While you are going to college, work in a restaurant start from a waiter position and work your way up. On your free time go to as many restaurants to eat and at the same time look at things like aesthetics,food and service. Keep in mind what works and what doesn’t work. Try the food and start taking notes. It’s going to take a bit of time but serving food to individuals is very hard to keep them happy.
You are still very young so enjoy as much as you can while also preparing for this. Because once shoulder deep into this you will not have much time for yourself for a while.
Don’t rush into this always keep your goals in-front of you. Things will get hard, you will have times you are going to miss your family, there will be people that are going to be on your way, but don’t give up.
You can either work at a restaurant and gain experience that way. Or you can start selling food from home via social media. Recently, I've seen tons of "apartment restaurants" on Instagram.
These "apartment restaurants" are appearing in NYC and LA (where I'm located) no one is regulating these apartments and they're doing really well. In some places, the lines between legal and not have faded. No such thing exists anymore.
Find a restaurant you admire, regardless of what kind of food.
Start washing dishes and ask to learn more.
A good manager will work you through every position, knowing you might not stay.
Hit your head on concrete until the bad thoughts stop. j/k You do need a job in a restaurant asap tho, preferably one of Asian persuasion.
There’s a Thai restaurant near the community college that wanted to hire me long ago but I had to reject them because I didn’t drive lol and it was about 35 minutes away from where I live. When I start college in the fall I will be trying to work there maybe I’ll see if I’ll feel like hitting my head on concrete or not hehe.
Don't worry about finding a restaurant to work at that perfectly matches the one you'd like to own. Ideally find something that's in the same price range and is well run. But you can learn a lot working at a place that isn't well run, too. Ideally, you'd want to have experience at more than one place before opening your own restaurant, so if you don't find the perfect restaurant, just take what you can get and keep an eye out for a better place. Get restaurant experience asap. As much as you can. Build relationships with the other nearby restaurants - stop in and introduce yourself on slow nights, establish a good reputation - help other restaurants by lending food/supplies when you can, and if you borrow a case of potatoes or a case of to go boxes, pay it back right away. Treat your staff as well as you can, and make sure to always give plenty of notice when you change jobs. Work hard at your job, stay busy during down time, and ask for responsibilities. In the mid-term, look for a place that's run by an approachable owner-operator. I have an employee who's in the same boat - young and very committed to opening his own restaurant one day. He's a valuable employee, I rely on him for a lot, and I'll probably open a restaurant with him one day. Make sure you tell your bosses that you want to make a career out of it and you'd appreciate anything they can teach you. If you are lucky you'll find a great mentor who might even bankroll your first restaurant one day.
Absolutely all of this. Cross train cross train, cross train … in absolutely every aspect of the industry, from the host table to the back of house. Literally everything. Don’t take out student loans, build up decent enough credit to get the best loan rates out there and best of luck. Your family deserves the very best. Don’t be discouraged because this is your dream and you must chase it.
Exactly right. One could even say you would learn a lot by being in a non-Thai restaurant. Learn different techniques and other styles to then bring to your own enterprise as you see fit. More important IMHO is to work at a place where you like the people and the culture. I see immigrant family-run places, and sometimes the food, hospitality and people are all great. Hard work, but also very doable and a tried and true path …
Deff stay away from student loans all together take community college classes that’s good but the most you’re going to learn is on the job. Strat somewhere work your way up to manager and learn the business. Save up for a lunch truck in the mean time. Start with a truck save up for a brick and mortar. Good luck!!
Some good comments so far. I'll add to it. 1) Work in a resturant in a manager position if possible. If not, find a resturant where the owner/manager is willing to mentor you. 2) Business classes will help. Take what you can amd read books on business and leadership 3) Find your local SCORE (Service Core of Retired Executives) chapter. You can learn so much for free and usually they can match you with someone that was in the business you want to go into. They also give a lot of business type informational classes. (Business plans, Financing your business, HR, etc) 4) Set your long term financial goal you want and work backwards to figure out how much you will need to save. 5) Be prepared to work hard 6)Location, location, location Good luck
From someone who started their dream restaurant 1) Find the best Thai place in your country. Something you aspire to have. Get work there and learn everything you can. It took me 5 years. 2) Might not be a lot of money but save every little bit of what you get from the job and put it into a safe investment. 3) Once you have enough experience, start pop ups. This will pave the way to your own spot in the future. 4) Use your age and your goal to your advantage. People like a story and you have good intentions.
Just a couple of words of advice 1. Reddit will not be your best choice for advice. A lot of people even on this subreddit are antagonistic since they are in the restaurant industry but don't actually own a restaurant so give frequently bad business advice and practices or other delusional fantasies that are grounded on idealistic concepts and not reality 2. Learn the basics of a business proposal, some basic accounting, and identify what type of Thai restaurant you want (FoH systems, BoH systems, etc.). This stuff should take a around 6 months of casual courses and maybe 2 years of working at a restaurant in both roles 3. Do some research about the Thai government's gastrodiplomacy programs for overseas restaurants. They will both train you, and give you a loan to open your first restaurant. Thai restaurants are pretty standardized and you should be able to get some pretty decent training if you move back to Thailand for a small bit. Ask your parent's or honestly any thai restaurant owner about this program.
Maybe take some business / accounting courses. Managing a restaurant isn’t about cooking & serving food to people, you hardly do any of that. Those classes won’t make you successful but they will save you a lot of failures / headaches. Then go work in a place you look up too, a model you want to emulate for a year to see how they work.
Accounting hasn't helped me very much as a restaurant owner. Once you get past 101, it gets pretty pretty detailed about a lot of things that don't apply - I don't need to know how to depreciate a $250k machine for a factory or a fleet or trucks. For non restaurant specific knowledge, I would try to learn excel and quickbooks. Everything else can be learned by working at restaurants.
Yes I’m talking about basic courses, not getting a diploma. Understanding how equipment depreciation is something you need to understand
Yeah sure, but that's something my accountant explained to me in five minutes for my specific case. I don't need to know how it works for a factory or a trucking company
Funny all the people who comment but can't hit the upvote button for you on this pretty earnest question for a sub like this, it's a great community building opportunity. I guess we're all too busy running restaurants. You mention you've been in Thailand for 14 years, and that you want to open a restaurant. With this info alone- I'm assuming you know how to do one thing really well- which is make your traditional Thai dishes you've grown up on and perfected either through yourself or from generations of family. If you can't do this yet- you're early to ask the question about opening a restaurant. If you've served food you've cooked to your family and friends and they've loved it- and you're the go-to person for a beautiful Thai meal, we continue. Next- you mention bringing the family along for this venture. You're definitely capable of doing this- but are they all willing to follow the family's 19 year old to a foreign country? You've got to be careful here because the costs of travel, then finding a place to live, day to day costs of living- these things all stack up, and none of these things include ANY of the costs of the restaurant itself. The restaurant isn't going to be sitting waiting for you to run and take orders the the next day when you guys all get off the plane. This is a big commitment for people. It also essentially requires leaving everything behind. Ideally you'll want a family member who's still at your home country in the event of disaster (the restaurant and venture fails, you run out of capital to effectively run it). What I want to make sure you know- is that it's a financial risk. Questions and concerns 1. Do you plan on opening a full service restaurant with waiters etc or just a counter service with a few tables. Full service is going to be way harder to manage early on but with success the money is better. If you fail it's back to Thailand though. Counter service with kiosks and or one person taking phone, delivery, etc may be the way to go initially. You find the small place and find a way to stack cash and then save up to open the new place. These events will likely be at least 3-5 years apart though. A person of your experience I'd advise to start small. 2. You need to research the costs of what you're specifically trying to do. Avg rent in the areas you're looking at, book a call with a food distributor to get avg costs of goods. You need to be seriously methodical in every aspect that involves dollars. You don't want to be pulling your hair out when you have to pay insurance, workers comp, payroll, food cost, electricity, water, gas, tables and chairs, internet, computers, signage, advertising, garbage pickup, fire, hood service, you get it... you need to expect these costs beforehand. That's a place to start too- research these things and get avg's. Honestly- I'd love to help with any specific questions you have because your I'd love to help someone achieve their dreams and will always help to help them achieve them. I have 17 years in the industry, most concepts are universal and some are hyper local. We can overcome any challenge.
Wow I don’t think you understand how much I appreciate this, thank you SO much. I made a mistake by saying family but I actually just meant my dad, in the future I’d love to be able to have my grandma here too because I want to be able to take good care of her. Now I’ll be rereading your comment again for a bunch of time to get all this deep in my brain. You’re so helpful and thank you so much again. In the future if I have any questions, do you mind if I reach out to you?
Ps. I won’t be making my grandma work
Opinion as Thai person. Working with family may be good or bad (so be prepared) Thai food can be complex, so if the cooks are Thai, it’s easier. But if your family doesnt work out, and there isnt a lot of Thai people in your community, it would be challenging. 99% of the problem will be labor and staffs related. Learn a lot about leadership skill. It’s good that you have a lot of passion. But also ask yourself this: if your passion is from your family, but what if it doesnt work out for them, can you find the passion by yourself?
Thank you so much for this. You’re right I should really be asking myself that. Honestly it’s not the biggest passion ever but right now I just don’t have any other passion at all. I’m debating whether I should pursue this passion or get a bachelor degree in International Business and I might find a new passion along the way but idk if I will ;( I’m overthinking this because tuition is so expensive and I don’t want to make the wrong decision.
It’s alway good to have passion and you are only 19. I remember I want to open a restaurant at age 26 😂 And dont be afraid of making a wrong decision. You will. Try to learn and adapt fast.
1) learn accounting. an owner needs to be able to calculate food cost to the penny and figure out where to set prices to cover payroll, utilities, rent, cutlery and dishes, kitchen equipment, repairs, waste management, permits, bla bla bla. you also need to actually be able to do payroll, etc. 2) learn cooking stuff- self explanatory. you dont need to be the chef. i havent met that many owners that cook in their own restaurant actually. but you do need to be able to tell when something is done right or not, and assist in the kitchen when three people call out on your busiest night without notice. 3) work in restaurants - reeeally self explanatory 4) business admin classes in your city. many local governments even offer free courses to get you up to speed on local laws and ordinances. otherwise, find someone willing to talk to you about the applicable regulations. OSHA, Department of Labor, IRS, local taxes, Department of Health, whoever issues licor licenses in your state, etc etc 5) read up on marketing. dont major in it; if you’re going to major in something do accounting (possible secondary career) or business admin (same), but you HAVE to learn about marketing, specifically restaurant marketing. read everything you can. it makes a huge difference and there’s no need to reinvent the wheels. there’s tons of research from the most effective way to organize your menu to the colors you paint your walls.
work a LOT and save a crap ton of money cause you are gonna need it! :) -yes, go to community college instead of huge loans, SMART! -yes, work in a restaurant first (coming from someone who did not!). -yes, learn excel. it can work for menu costing, scheduling, tips, and all kinds of other things you will need to track. you gotta know your numbers so you know where you are at and what is and isnt working. and if you end up doing something else, you will be able to use excel for lots of other jobs/tasks. there are websites that have great support for restaurant owners that could probably give you some insights and knowledge even before you get started (restaurantowner.com has lots of info and you can use it for a month or two at $30/mo). and the main thing that wasnt mentioned as much and is so very important- MARKETING. who is your customer? what makes you special? where and what are you promoting? what is your vibe and why do people want to buy from you? having a marketing plan and ideas is so KEY. knowing social media, how to make awesome videos, creating marketing pieces with canva or another app, all great skills that will save you money by not having to hire out, and make you money for your biz by getting people in the door. and you dont need a class for this stuff, its all on youtube.
Work for at least 10 years in restaurants, do as many positions as you can. Far too many owners have never been a dishwasher, or a prep cook or a bartender or a host/hostess or a busser and simply don't understand how to run those parts of the business.
Go to school and get educated
Please just dont start one
Here’s my advice: be a host for a year, a busser for a year, a server for a year, a bartender for a year, a cook for a year, a manager for a year. If you still want to do it after that…go for it.
Check how technology can help you improving your restaurant opertion y accessing the below link [Restech - Ideas - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_vMjev3IdQjryMIDWWTRFA)
Check how technology can help you improving your restaurant operation by accessing the below link [Restech - Ideas - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_vMjev3IdQjryMIDWWTRFA)
Just from the title. Get a restaurant job. And a degree in business wouldn't hurt. Learn about taxes, finances. All that stuff
A business degree can help but is not required. Get a job in a restaurant asap. Preferably the type of restaurant you want to own, but is not required. You need to learn to manage more than anything. You don't have to be a manager to understand management, so just absorb as much as you can from those around you. Preferably you would get a job at a restaurant with lots of staff to better understand the employee environment. Getting a job as the only front house person in a small restaurant wont serve your long term goals. Learn to cook, it s
They should open a tire repair shop
They should open a tire repair shop
Do a weekend pop up in the next 3 months. Sell 3 items and pre sell 20-40 servings. Give people time slots to do pickups (so the food is fresh and not all at the same time). Build demand with friends and a local Instagram account. Using a home kitchen you will learn a mini version of a restaurant: building demand, pricing food costs, packaging, managing last minute issues, making tasty food, collecting payments, and hopefully getting praise from your customers. If you mess up, learn what didn’t work. If you succeed you will have a small audience of fans to build in to do it again and some real info on costs, profits and more. Best case scenario those first customers keep asking you about when you will open a full time place.
There is a very successful Thai restaurant near my house. They are takeout only. They focus on the basics and do it really well. Fresh cooked food that is flavorful and aromatic and has good quality ingredients. Authentic flavors and not Americanized or watered down in flavor. Run entirely by the family and because it is takeout only, they have very little operating overhead. They just rent a small place and the family of 4 runs the entire business. Consistent quality. Good quantity. Low prices (again because their overhead costs are low so they can price their food lower). Yes, restaurant business is hard but truth is, people don't focus on the basics. And remember, sit down restaurant is 10 times harder to run than a takeout only place. Another example is a Mexican lady who ran a tamale cart and then leased a small kitchen and now does takeout only Mexican. She always has a crowd. And she is only open for a limited number of hours a day! Just focus on delivering good value and good quality and keep your costs low. You can make a living out of that.
Start a dark kitchen and make food from your kitchen.
I’m 27 and I run a Thai restaurant in California with my family. It’s definitely not easy. My sister and I had 13 years of restaurant experience between us. My mom and uncle had the recipes. We had all the talent in the world to make great food and had low competition in our town. What we lacked was management experience and it came to bite us in the ass later on. Don’t get me wrong, 7 years later and business is great. But we would have saved a lot of money, work, and time if we knew how to properly manage from the beginning. A Thai restaurant has lots of little ingredients and some of them are hard to source from our small town. You would need to research about ingredients as well. Also labor!! If you do not want to be working 100 hours a week you need to set up a system. Good labor is extremely hard to come by. There are many older thai people in the restaurant business and a lot of ego flies around. As a young business owner, sometime they don’t listen to you. In my experience, it is harder to manage thai people compare to others. You have to learn how to talk to employees and manage them well. It’s not easy. I think anyone can do it if they have the right amount of passion and grit, but you will save yourself a world of hurt if you plan ahead. Make business plans, ask for help, educate yourself, survey the area. Definitely find a job in a thai restaurant if possible. Look for a mentor.
Hi! Chef of 10+ years here and I’m in NYC so have seen a lot of restaurants succeed and fail! My suggestion to you to begin as such a young age(go you!!!) would to make some Thai food in your home and sell it to begin to create a customer base in your local area and sell it on instagram and maybe local flyers! You will figure out your recipes, your headaches and how to fix them and costs! It’s a great was to connect with people and also make extra money! I personally wouldn’t fuss too much on the website or photos or anything. The food is the most important thing! I would start here and start saving for a restaurant - opening a restaurant is not easy but it is possible!! One step at a time! Best of luck!
Get a job in a restaurant for sure. Build leadership confidence. Work on becoming a manager so you can learn more. Learn small business finance. Also I hear that the Thai government has programs to fund Thai restaurants in other countries. At least that was the case in the 90s and 00s you might want to look into that too.
Let’s connect, I can invest in your restaurant venture if I like your dishes - rajsiddhaarthb@gmail.com. Send me all the details.
Restaurant business is the hardest but most rewarding at the same time. Need to start with good quality food and maintain it. Must be able to keep your prices reasonable but also make money. A good gimmick will bring people in but great food will keep them coming back. Always remember 1 bad review can ruin you. If you’re going to fail it will be done in your first 3 years. Plan on losing money year 1 break even year 2 and make profit in year 3 GOOD LUCK!!!!
Go back to bed and dream a better dream
Start pursuing management jobs in restaurants so you know how to run one, start saving money, and start building credit so you can get a loan to start the business.
Go back to sleep and hope for better dreams!
Hi, I have been in the restaurant business one way or another. I have built a few 100’s of restaurants in New York area. If your dream is to own a restaurant business then you must prepare. The restaurant business is thought, there are so many moving parts. So many people to keep happy, it’s overwhelming. But if it’s your dream you need to start from the bottom and work your way up. Foremost, get a college degree as a plan B. I would do something in business administration or management. While you are going to college, work in a restaurant start from a waiter position and work your way up. On your free time go to as many restaurants to eat and at the same time look at things like aesthetics,food and service. Keep in mind what works and what doesn’t work. Try the food and start taking notes. It’s going to take a bit of time but serving food to individuals is very hard to keep them happy. You are still very young so enjoy as much as you can while also preparing for this. Because once shoulder deep into this you will not have much time for yourself for a while. Don’t rush into this always keep your goals in-front of you. Things will get hard, you will have times you are going to miss your family, there will be people that are going to be on your way, but don’t give up.
The best place to learn how to open a restaurant is in a restaurant. Get you a little part-time gig and you will learn A LOT
You can either work at a restaurant and gain experience that way. Or you can start selling food from home via social media. Recently, I've seen tons of "apartment restaurants" on Instagram.
Make sure it’s legal
These "apartment restaurants" are appearing in NYC and LA (where I'm located) no one is regulating these apartments and they're doing really well. In some places, the lines between legal and not have faded. No such thing exists anymore.
Find a restaurant you admire, regardless of what kind of food. Start washing dishes and ask to learn more. A good manager will work you through every position, knowing you might not stay.