NEW
REVISED! (#201)
Starting a Restaurant, Bar, or Catering Business
By Lloyd M. Gordon - New Low Price $59.95
 Every year thousands of men and women hopefully enter the hospitality service
industry to open restaurants, cafes, fast food shops, bars and catering establishments.
A year later, a great many of them are no longer in business.
This book addresses start-up and other problems novices might encounter in
their quest of the rewards of entrepreneurship. The helpful information in this
book will enable aspiring future restaurateurs to organize their thinking and
make plans to avoid the pitfalls and mistakes that can prove
costly in time and money.
The author, Lloyd M. Gordon is the founder of GEC Consultants, Inc. He operated
chain restaurants and during his more than 45-year career has developed more
than 385 restaurant concepts. He has taught at Community Colleges and has conducted
seminars on "How to Go Into the Restaurant Business."
Using the information in this book will organize a change in thinking in the
viewer so that he or she may better understand the reasons why foodservices
operate the way they do. This knowledge will allow fledglings to the business
to anticipate, understand and correctly respond to situations that might otherwise
bring their organization down.
Although operating a food or liquor establishment can be "a lot of fun," it
can also be an exhausting experience both physically and emotionally. The reader
of this book will be better prepared, through example and explanation, to face
unpleasant circumstances and by remaining optimistic, to "overcome" and
be able to move forward into happier pastures.
This comes in loose leaf format so you may add, remove, or copy pages as
you require. It is set up so you may easily begin to accumulate your own information
as you prepare to open your own facility, maintain a record of your activities
and begin to build a library of important trade publications and other information
sources. . .
Format: Three ring binder, loose leaf, 140 pages
List of Topics
Chapter One:
- A restaurant is a special place
- Imagery is an essential talent for any restaurateur
- Down to earth - practical considerations about foodservice
- Catering versus
restaurants
Chapter Two:
- The King seeks a wise man
- How to get into action
- Organizing your thoughts
- Do you need a Feasibility Study
- Three important factors in starting legally
Chapter Three:
- Traits that may influence your success
- Certain attributes of successful foodservice operators
- Pros and Cons of buying a franchise
Chapter Four:
- Means to use to find the right location
- How to find a location that fits your needs
- Facts you need to know to make an intelligent decision
Chapter Five:
- The use of INTIMIDATION as a tool to influence business decisions
- How to get your banker on your side
- Creating confidence in your plan.
- Document what you say
Chapter Six:
- How to go into the Catering Business
- CATERING AS AN ART -- A list of things a small Caterer can do
- Financial
planning for success
- Other advantages of catering as a business opportunity
- Some disadvantages
- Requirements for a successful Caterer
- Evaluating potential markets for your business
- Practical suggestions for getting started
- The importance of your menu
Chapter Seven:
- How to plan your foodservice operation so that it will have a unique character
- Construction and Renovation
- You'll probably need an architect and a competent contractor
- Final Inspection
- Fleshing out the blueprint - determining your menu
- What equipment do you need to prepare and deliver these menu items
- How do you determine the most effective layout of your equipment
- How to design your decor and select furnishings
Chapter Eight:
- Pricing, sales policies and add-ons in Catering Operations
- Pricing
- Closing the Catering sale:
- Making the AGREEMENT (sales contract)
- How to make money from your Catering
Chapter Nine:
- Keeping within the law while Catering
- Fulfilling your insurance needs
- Record keeping requirements
- The need for an attorney
- Funds you'll need to begin
- Used fixture dealers in Chicago land
- Ideas for making your Catering presentation attractive
- Showmanship techniques
in Catering
- Make sure that your food arrives in optimum condition
- Use your personnel for the maximum effectiveness
- How to collect for your services
Chapter Ten:
- How to finally get yourself into business
- How to begin the actual organization and administration of your business
- Perceived price-value
- How to go about remodeling or revising your business
- Can your dream menu be produced practically?
- Test to make sure your equipment works
- Pick a date to reopen
- Should you advertise the opening?
- Get your key staff in advance
Chapter Eleven:
- How to buy for your restaurant or catering business.
- Theory and practice of food preparation, management and control
- Terminologies
used in food production
- Terminologies used in purchasing
- How to develop a strategy for purchasing foodstuffs
- The food marketplace: How products get to your foodservice
- How to purchase for your restaurant or catering business
- Purchasing items
other than food
- How to determine your initial requirements for equipment
- Planning your
supplies purchasing strategy
- How to determine the cost effectiveness of a product
- How to purchase the best cash register for your needs
- Do you need a computer system?
- Plan to use your equipment to maximize its effectiveness
- How to keep your equipment running with minimum repair costs
- How to be aware of methods for fire and accident prevention
Chapter Twelve:
- The need for Developing a Superior Work Force.
- Developing a good working team of employees Hiring, training and motivating
of good personnel
- Determine your basic staffing needs
- How to interview effectively
- Select the best candidates from those you interview
- Be prepared to train each employee
- How to know if you are supervising effectively
- How to handle personnel problems
- How to motivate workers to achieve common goals
- How to get your ideas to actually work
- How to achieve superior service
- Serving food professionally
Chapter Thirteen:
- Marketing food professionally
- Catering to public expectations
- What is palatable food?
- What is good service?
- Marketing your restaurant
- The four stages of marketing
- How to develop a market philosophy
- How to budget your marketing and teach it to others
Chapter Fourteen:
Count down to opening day
- D-Day minus 8
- D-Day minus 7
- D-Day minus 6
- D-day minus 5
- D-Day minus 4
- D-Day minus 2
- D-Day minus 1
- D-Day
- How to keep your foodservice business thriving and profitable
- Controls, systems and efficiencies
- Good budgeting and forecasting - profit strategy
- How to keep up with industry techniques and methods
- The need for good internal audit system and reports
- Controlling cash flow
- How to create checks and balances
- How to effectively use a computer in your foodservice operation
- How to satisfy government sales, payroll and data reporting requirements
- Bad tax philosophies and how they can ruin your business
- Institute a workable and simple bookkeeping system
- Accident prevention, safety, sanitation and certification
Chapter Fifteen:
A checklist for organizing your restaurant's development
Addenda:
- Catering Inquiry Check List Form
- Catering Contract
- Work Assignment Form
- Vehicle Packing Check Sheet
- Employee Work Schedule
- Cash Paid Out Journal of Payments
- Check Journal Detail of Food Payments
- Accounts Payable
- Opening Bank Fund (Cashier)
- Cashier Daily Shift Summary of Cash
Take a peek at some info
from the first pages of this book. . .
"Once you've joined the over 500,000 restaurants and caterers already
in the business you'll begin to sense the spirit of excitement that comes from
dealing with your personal group of the over 12 million people employed in the
industry as well as your elation at being an owner in an Industry where 40%
of businesses are sole proprietorships or partnerships and 60% are single-unit
operations. Annual sales are reaching a mean average of $830,000 for all restaurants.
"You'll probably be serving your friends and neighbors, since 79% of all adults
are regular food service patrons. Per person check averaged from $6.00 to $20.00
in 2004.
"But can you make money doing this? The answer is 'usually yes.'
If you go into business the right way, in a planned and thought-through manner,
you may well make as good or a better living than the median of all wage earners
in this country.
"Your return on the assets you create for your business, be it a small catering
facility or a substantial rest aurant, may net you over a 25 percent return
per year. Your net income before taxes, after you take a suitable salary for
your services, could be 4% to 10% of your total annual sales.
"Many people think of service to the public as emotional ly gratifying but
not necessarily financially rewarding. However, today in a restaurant, you and
every full-time employee working with you, can generate over $38,000 in sales
during the first year of business."
To Top |
