Anybody here own a restaurant?

highslice

highslice

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Mar 28, 2008
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Table Rock Lake, Hollister Missouri
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With no viable jobs in sight, I've turned my attention to buying a business. Surprisingly, some of the strongest businesses I have found for sale are restaurants. So is anyone here in the business?
 
I'm in the business. People have to eat. Eating out is a way of life/culture now a days.

In this field though, good help is hard to find.
 
Hard work, long hours and weekends........my buddy has one and works harder at that than he did before.....he has to be there all the time as said above.....tough to get good help and trustworthy help....is it just food or liquor/bar too...
 
How about putting a stripper pole on your boat and starting a new business….:thumbsup:
 
Here is a restaurant you can buy and it will get you out on the water as well. :wow:

hot-dog-boat-500x375.jpg
 
wetpaint said:
Hard work, long hours and weekends........my buddy has one and works harder at that than he did before.....he has to be there all the time as said above.....tough to get good help and trustworthy help....is it just food or liquor/bar too...
Click to expand...

Ditto, A good friend of mine has owned two, both very successful, both also very stressful and way too much drama.
 
It's also a business that many people think they can run......not necessarily so.
 
I took a UCLA class in "How to start a restaurant." They had 5 restauranteurs say the same thing. "Only buy a restaurant if you LOVE the idea of being there 12 hours a day. I didn't and left the class happy that the tuition was money well spent.
 
Actually a few years ago my wife and I bought franchise rights to a Wing Stop fast food restaurant. I did my business plan and while negotiating a location (at the top of the economy) I found that I would have to have outstanding sales to break even. They refunded my franchise fee and we walked away...
 
Thanks for the responses, I think:grin:. I am only looking at places that currently have absentee owners who have incented their managers to run the business like it was their own. That's why I'm buying instead of starting one. Proven concept, proven menu, etc. All that being said, I have no issues being there 12 hours a day. I did that all the time when I was making money for other people, can't see why I would have a problem doing it for myself.
 
I would think of something else if you are thinking that a restaurant will generate income for you from Day 1....it won't. Restaurants that are for sale are for sale for a reason...they're not making money. The ones that are making money are too expensive to purchase.

My good friend started a restaurant last year and they are struggling. The saying "build it and they will come" does not apply to restaurants. You need to get people in the door first and have amazing food and service to keep them coming back. My friend has gone through 2 chefs in one year. The first one was a deadbeat and the second one was showing up to work drunk. The initial wait staff was inexperienced and either gave bad service or they gave so much attention that it was downright annoying. The food was mediocre in the beginning but has gotten better. It takes time to work out the kinks and you will be lucky to start breaking even after 2 years....if you can last that long.

I can personally think of more enjoyable ways to blow my life savings and go broke.
 
Tonka Boater said:
I would think of something else if you are thinking that a restaurant will generate income for you from Day 1....it won't. Restaurants that are for sale are for sale for a reason...they're not making money. The ones that are making money are too expensive to purchase.

My good friend started a restaurant last year and they are struggling. The saying "build it and they will come" does not apply to restaurants. You need to get people in the door first and have amazing food and service to keep them coming back. My friend has gone through 2 chefs in one year. The first one was a deadbeat and the second one was showing up to work drunk. The initial wait staff was inexperienced and either gave bad service or they gave so much attention that it was downright annoying. The food was mediocre in the beginning but has gotten better. It takes time to work out the kinks and you will be lucky to start breaking even after 2 years....if you can last that long.

I can personally think of more enjoyable ways to blow my life savings and go broke.
Click to expand...

And make sure you have a very good look at all financials associated with the restaurant and the owners if possible.
Get a good look at the tax returns and if there is any outstanding sales tax owed etc...

It is really easy to hide an operating deficit with everything coming and going from a restaurant.
 
Just some food for thought (no pun intended) when I was younger (20 some years ago) I managed a restaurant that was doing really well. One of my employees came in one morning looking like death warmed over so I sent her home. Turns out she had contracted hepititis from somewhere and even though she did not work while she was sick the health department issued a public warning for anyone that ate at our restaurant. The whole news media circus got involved and what was a busy restaurant the day before was virtually empty the next day. None of our customers or other employees ever came down with the disease. Of course the media never reported that. Several months later the doors were closed for good. Now you have it, now you don't. I got out of the restaurant business for good at that point.
Like others have said, it is a rough way to make a living. I was told once that the way to make money in the restaurant business is to start up a new one, build it up until it is making good profit, and then sell. There is a lot of risk involved with that though.
 
I cooked in restaurants when I was in college, and other than working on an asphalt paving crew, it was the hardest, dirtiest work I ever did. By the end of the day, you're covered in a thin veneer of grease and dirt and your feet are killing you. After I got home, I used to just get in the shower and sit on the floor until the hot water ran out. My recommendation is that you volunteer to work for this restaurant for a couple of weeks (for free of course) and see what it's like. Also, a few years ago, when a friend of mine was interested in doing this, I bought him a book called Restaurant Reality by Michael Lefever...if it's still in print, I highly recommend reading it. Good luck!
 
Tonka Boater said:
I would think of something else if you are thinking that a restaurant will generate income for you from Day 1....it won't. Restaurants that are for sale are for sale for a reason...they're not making money. The ones that are making money are too expensive to purchase.

My good friend started a restaurant last year and they are struggling. The saying "build it and they will come" does not apply to restaurants. You need to get people in the door first and have amazing food and service to keep them coming back. My friend has gone through 2 chefs in one year. The first one was a deadbeat and the second one was showing up to work drunk. The initial wait staff was inexperienced and either gave bad service or they gave so much attention that it was downright annoying. The food was mediocre in the beginning but has gotten better. It takes time to work out the kinks and you will be lucky to start breaking even after 2 years....if you can last that long.

I can personally think of more enjoyable ways to blow my life savings and go broke.
Click to expand...
Boating for example? :grin:
 
I have 16... hard word lots of risk, location is key. My biggest advice to you is becareful not to buy yourself a mediocre job, pick a good concept in the right location and remember most people do not sell profitable locations with good future earnings potential. proceed with caution and good luck

Scott
 
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