Had an idea

[datmexicankid]

yo dog i work at a restaurant to the big thing keep people happy good simple food with a few diffrent things and keep people moving in and out dont hire more people than you need step 5 profit

[hershy314]

Free wifi And if you can beat prices on alcohol. Good food good service. A welcoming environment. Having like weekend specials. Maybe entertainment?

If it's something you truly want to do, don't the fear of failure stop you. At least you can say you tried which is more then any of the haters and People who doubt you would ever do.

You guys are giving me some great ideas and making me wish I could open up a place. Its not the fear of failure thats preventing me from moving forward, its the lack of funds. Really not worried bout it right now, got a more important matter to attend to now. Another thing I think would help is opening up in an area that your familiar with.

[Nine8SST]

This country was built on dreams......follow yours! Be smart about it, be genuine, treat people with respect, and never forget that your patrons and employees ARE your business, without them you have nothing! Good luck, it's a tough business!

[hershy314]

You could get a loan. You dont 100 grand in your bank account. Everyone's gotta start some where you know? Haters will be haters. To be successful you don't have to start perfect its just not possible. GL dude and if thats your dream go for it.

Even a loan would be a challenge, but anything is possible. If it ever got to the point where I could move forward I'd talk to my bank. Think one way to help with cost is to find an old restaraunt that hopefully still has working equipment so I wouldn't have to get to many new things. But yeah

[Kevin M]

Have you checked out the local area around the location you want to setup? Like they mentioned you want to offer something that is unique and has people coming back. Check out the competition and see they areas where they fail and excel.

A simple menu with a handful of gret apps, entree's and deserts. That will keep your food costs low. Fast turn around in the kitchen keeps customers happy.

Organic and local food sourced restaurants are wildly popular right now. You could start with a smaller place and branch out as business and money allows. There are a hundred ways to do it and I imagine you could do it for alot less than a hundred g's.

[CleanSierra]

I DEFINITELY didn't mean to come off as a hater and am very sorry if I did. There are SO many factors when opening a restaurant that you need to consider. Many of these factors you can NOT affect and very few that you can. Things you can control are menu, pricing, staff, and location(to some extent). What you can't control are if people are gonna step into your restaurant and pay your prices. You can't control whether or not your staff is going to be dependable and show up, or do the level of service you expect from them. Location can also be limited by what you'd be willing to pay for rent, or where you decided would be a profitable area or not. Town size has a lot to do with what people(and how many) are willing to try for 'new' restaurants. I just say do tons of resaearch before going and taking out a small business loan. You wouldn't want to have a restaurant fail that was your dream because you doomed it from the start. Paying a loan off for a restaurant you didn't have would be a constant reminder that the business had failed. I really hope that you CAN create a kickass restaurant or lounge where people would flock to and be customers for life. Good luck with your research and let us know if you see some possibilities or opportunties.

[dkahns51]

Those seeem to make a place popular... something unique like someone else said. If your next to a college add some wifi and call it a study area + beer.

[00_XJ]

We have a BBQ joint around here. It started out with one restaurant 3 years ago ran by a 25 year old. They have the best BBQ in the south and on the weekends they have live bands so if you just want to sit out side and drink a few cold ones while listening to music then you can. He has now expanded to six restaurants all in major cities and at 28 is one of the richest guys down here. It has even been featured on the food network a few times.

That shows you right there that you can have a successful restaurant if you add some fun into it also.

Also, I'm in college and a lot of kids these days spend their weekends at Hookah bars. You could look into a restaurant/hookah bar.

[hershy314]

I haven't decided on what foods and such would be offered, but I agree gotta have something that makes the place stand out. The area I'd want to put this restaraunt in is in an area I grew up in. So I know it very well. I say 8 out 10 places that opened up over the past few years are still going strong. So that counts for something. Free wi-fi would def be part of it, I know I enjoy using it when I'm killing time between my two jobs. Also T.V would be good, after all it is a sports town. (Cardinals, Blues and Rams are our major home teams). This is something I am NOTtaking lightly. I know its going to be a lot of hard work, not only to get it open but to keep it open. I've seen the invintory list for one of my jobs and we are paying around 10gs a week in food and other supplies. Guess it all comes down to whats offered, maybe I could get by with 5gs a week. Having something unique will help, I kinda like the idea someone had bout having the shop towers like what Steve Meade has. Think that would really set the place apart from the pack. Depending on size of location, maybe do 4 towers instead of 2. I already know a couple good managers, servers and bartenders. I know some decent cooks too. I'm sure I'll think of other things as well. When or if this thought ever becomes a reality, you fine folks of SMD will be the first to know. Hell if I could, I'd some how incorpirate SMD into the place some how. That is if Steve would allow it.

[BassJunkie]

Open it near a large college campus, as close to student housing as physically possible. Be open late at night and have free wifi and offer breakfast at all hours and you'd be set.