Opening a Restaurant
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Anonymous
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Please someone talk me out of opening a restaurant!!
My experience: both my immediate and extended families have owned multiple restaurants, I worked in restaurants and bars all of my life doing everything (20+ years so far), I'm a 40year old, 1 sweet grade school child, JD/MBA who currently makes $185k at my policy job. Is this a midlife crisis? I always knew I would open a restaurant but this year the calling got so loud, I can't ignore it. I want to quit my job and run my own restaurant. I know the high failure rates, the lack of life outside of the business, the crazy work days and nights but still I feel like I must do this. My very supportive friends and family are like, "Go for it! Do it!" So your mission, should you choose to accept, is to talk me out of this crazy dream of mine. |
Anonymous
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Yes, midlife crisis. Don't do it. You will work 10x harder than you do know for less money and your family will suffer as a result.
If you want to go in the food related business, why not start smaller with a food truck - something with less overhead and initial costs. |
Anonymous
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Do you have a plan beyond "quit my job?" What research have you done?
I'm all for following your dream, but make sure there's a solid plan before pulling the trigger. Also, do you have a spouse? If so, what does he/she say? |
Anonymous
| My husband is all for it. Leaving my job would cut our HHI to just his: $100k. I have a business plan, investors, partners, and a letter of intent to lease a space. |
Anonymous
10:03 here. Well then, go for it. Good luck! What kind of food? |
Anonymous
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Upscale comfort small plate menu for sharing.
It's not too late to pull out of this. I think I'm chickening out! |
Anonymous
the food truck market is saturated and you usually need a "base" to clean your equipment and prep food etc, that's not something that can be done at home. Usually if that is you're only business then you need to rent space from a real restaurant with parking and use their facilities at night, if they will let you, meaning you'll need a key to someone else's business. Then you need to store the vehicle over night which your neighborhood might have a restriction on commercial vehicles. It's not as easy as it sounds. It's probably more of a pain in the ass than an actual restaurant. |
Anonymous
Well don't chicken out, if it's what you love, but for heaven's sake, please find a concept that hasn't been done to DEATH in the last few years. If I'm offered one more "small plate", I may scream. It was fun a couple times in 2004, but it's really, really tired now. If you DO want to be talked out of it still, imagine your employees. Imagine how you're going to be washing dishes at 11pm because neither dishwasher showed up. Imagine getting asked for an advance on pay every damned week, by the same three employees. Imagine the hiring and the firing that is inevitable in the low-skill labor market. And now imagine your customers! Not the friendly regulars, not the 5-star yelp reviews... but the ones who shoot cell phone video of your employees misbehaving. The ones who insist they know more about your menu and your ingredients than you do. The ones who get drunk and mistreat your staff. Still in? ok, good. How's that new concept coming? |
Anonymous
What location? The small plate and comfort food concepts have been done a lot in DC lately. I could see this working well in an area that doesn't have a lot of either already, though. |
Anonymous
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I make the best pizza in the world, cheesy with turkey sausage and mushrooms. The secret's in the sauce. Everybody who has eaten it just loves it. I wonder if I could sell pizza from my house and still keep my job? Then, I guess, with all the traffic people would think I was a drug dealer. Oh, well.....
Good luck to you, OP! |
Anonymous
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Go for it... It's a dream, you've thought a lot about it, it could be a reality. Yes it will be hard, it is risky, it might fail but if you're the creative type and are driven by your dreams, going back to your career for money will eat away at who you are... your soul. I don't think that you want to be talked out of it. You don't sound like someone who lives with their head in the clouds and impulsively jumps into things, meaning, you've already TRIED to talk yourself out of it. All I've heard is a bunch of strangers tell you things you've already thought about. I never respond to these things... but please, do not settle without giving this a shot. This dream is part of your joy which is the thing that we all need to fight for in life. I support your fight. Let me know when you move forward! I'm happy to help with anything conception related! Go for it.
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Anonymous
| Make sure to sell Mojitos and Caipirinhas, but don't ruin them with sugar-syrup or clubsoda. You have to sell alcohol to make it...lots of it. |
Anonymous
Can I take over your policy job 
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