Anybody here own a restaurant?

Tim,
Some good advice above for both the pro & con sides. Since you are considering a carrer change, and it sounds like you may have a choice, I'd like to suggest that you pick something that you love doing. If that is a restaurant, then great. But don't choose that just because one in your town is available.

Ask yourself this... If you had a million dollars & wanted to use it to start a business, what would it be.

I'd also suggest the book "48 Days To The Work You Love"....

http://www.48days.com/store/48daysbook/

Good luck in whatever you decide.
 
My friend JR built a brand new building and opened a Diner & Grill.
He's making alot of money from it. Heres a writeup from our local paper. :thumbsup:

Heres his web site http://seymoursdiner.com/Home.html


Westmoreland —
At Seymour’s Diner and Grill, the owner of the eatery pays tribute to the local community.

“I did a lot of traveling before I opened the restaurant,” owner Burt Seymour Jr. said. “We are a family restaurant. We tried to make it fun and to give (the community) the support that they give us.”

A quick glance at the menu and some of the names will sound familiar: Warrior wings, named after the Clinton and Whitesboro high schools’ Warriors; Continental Chili, named after the Hamilton College Continentals; the Bulldog Burger, named after the Westmoreland High School Bulldogs, and Red Skins Roni and Eggs, named for the Oriskany High School Redskins.

The diner, which opened last March, is on Route 233 in Westmoreland.

A popular menu item is the Rising Star, named after Rising Stars Soccer Club of CNY — a soccer facility down the road from the eatery, Seymour said. The Rising Star includes pancakes, eggs, a choice of meat and home fries.

Seymour serves everything from traditional diner fare to paninis, Philly cheese steaks, wraps, homemade pies and soups, various salads, homemade hash and lots of barbecue.

“We do a lot of catering in the summertime, so barbecue is a lot of our business,” he said.

Catering is available year-round, and workers customize catering orders.

And business is good, Seymour said.

“We get a lot of regulars coming in, and we do a lot of catering in the summer and we got a private, 50-seat banquet room that we use for different meetings and for baby showers and bridal showers,” Seymour said.
Breakfast and lunch is served daily. The diner has a fish fry on Fridays — the only day of the week dinner is served. Seymour said he is thinking about serving dinner on Saturday nights, too.

On Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday, the eatery is open from 5:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. On Friday, the restaurant is open from 5:30 a.m. until 8 p.m., and on Sunday, it’s open from 6:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
 
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Tim,

One last thought regarding the "absentee owner" concept mentioned early on in this thread. There may be some that can truly hire someone to run their business for them while they simply sit back and rake in the profits (or losses), but I believe those are few and far between.

I was an officer at two Fortune 500 companies and had lots of administrative support for the "details". I too assumed that you could hire someone to run things on a day to day basis and as long as you hired the right person and incentivized them appropriately. It would seem that in this economy that you could find good people for this even easier than in 2002.

What I found out is that in a small business, there is no such thing as a truly absentee owner. Without getting into the gory details (that would take pages and pages, and a full bottle of something strongly alcoholic to write), suffice it to say that you MUST be ABLE and WILLING to execute each task in the restaurant in a professional manner, because you will have to, and probably sooner than you think. People quit their jobs, they move away, they get sick, they die, they may steal from you, they don't come to work, etc, etc. There are a million reasons why you will end up doing their job for them.

You must be ok with the idea of doing the most menial tasks, and in front of all of your friends and family who are used to you in your former role. I can assert from personal experience that this can be jarring if you assume that you won't have to do this. There's nothing wrong with doing all of this, but you need to be mentally prepared for it.

Another mental shift is having to deal with customers. I was amazed at how poorly customers treat those serving them. When you are in a role that they see as subservient (ie-waiting tables and serving food), they will act in ways that they never would if they just encountered you on the street, at a party, etc. Be ready for this. My brief experience at operating a kiosk in a mall (never, never again) brought this experience to me abruptly. Because of this experience, I treat servers a lot better and tip them better that I ever did. Empathy can be powerful.

I truly wish you good fortune. My businesses have turned out successfully, but it took more time than I thought it would, and to say I made a lot of expensive mistakes and learned a lot in the process is a vast understatement. If you elect to press forward with the restaurant, my strongest suggestion to you is to work there first and in the most menial jobs. If you can't handle that, then stay away, and keep your powder dry for another opportunity.
 
Great post MD.......When the boss is away, the employees will play.......When I come back from a vacation (absent for 10 days), I believe they had a mini vacation too......Watch your pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves...
 
We bought a well known restaurant a few years ago because we wanted the real estate that it sat on. I briefly considered operating it for a while to recoup the investment inasmuch as we were already in a business the serves lots of meals. Changed my mind when I looked at the cost of upgrading the kitchen to meet current public health requirements. That would have cost big bucks and made it impossible to make a profit. We ended up tearing the building down and added badly needed parking.
 
mddickens said:
Tim,

One last thought regarding the "absentee owner" concept mentioned early on in this thread. There may be some that can truly hire someone to run their business for them while they simply sit back and rake in the profits (or losses), but I believe those are few and far between.

I was an officer at two Fortune 500 companies and had lots of administrative support for the "details". I too assumed that you could hire someone to run things on a day to day basis and as long as you hired the right person and incentivized them appropriately. It would seem that in this economy that you could find good people for this even easier than in 2002.

What I found out is that in a small business, there is no such thing as a truly absentee owner. Without getting into the gory details (that would take pages and pages, and a full bottle of something strongly alcoholic to write), suffice it to say that you MUST be ABLE and WILLING to execute each task in the restaurant in a professional manner, because you will have to, and probably sooner than you think. People quit their jobs, they move away, they get sick, they die, they may steal from you, they don't come to work, etc, etc. There are a million reasons why you will end up doing their job for them.

You must be ok with the idea of doing the most menial tasks, and in front of all of your friends and family who are used to you in your former role. I can assert from personal experience that this can be jarring if you assume that you won't have to do this. There's nothing wrong with doing all of this, but you need to be mentally prepared for it.

Another mental shift is having to deal with customers. I was amazed at how poorly customers treat those serving them. When you are in a role that they see as subservient (ie-waiting tables and serving food), they will act in ways that they never would if they just encountered you on the street, at a party, etc. Be ready for this. My brief experience at operating a kiosk in a mall (never, never again) brought this experience to me abruptly. Because of this experience, I treat servers a lot better and tip them better that I ever did. Empathy can be powerful.

I truly wish you good fortune. My businesses have turned out successfully, but it took more time than I thought it would, and to say I made a lot of expensive mistakes and learned a lot in the process is a vast understatement. If you elect to press forward with the restaurant, my strongest suggestion to you is to work there first and in the most menial jobs. If you can't handle that, then stay away, and keep your powder dry for another opportunity.
Click to expand...

By far the best post of the lot. Let me give you some background. I started working when I was 13. Since then, I have seal coated driveways and parking lots (if you've never sprayed coal tar on a parking lot in 100 degree weather, you haven't lived), shoveled asphalt, finished concrete, operated light and heavy equipment. No job is too menial for me. I have never asked anyone to do what I haven't done myself. I never delegated anything that I hadn't done myself. After 5 years in a fortune 500 company, I moved on to a small company that my brother owned a piece of. I was the controller, IT, payroll, AP, AR, Federal DOT program creator, and trash can emptier.

I understand the effort needed. I am not looking to buy a business and sit back and reap the rewards (I am looking at other things than restaurants, but the best prospects happen to be restaurants and I have always wanted to do that) I have an MBA and have spent 16 years as a controller or CFO, so I can read financials better than most. I have cooked more books than most, so I know where the bodies usually end up. I have pulled two cash flow challenged businesses from the brink of bankruptcy. I have been through acquisition due diligence several times. My attorney started and owns a very successfus restaurant of his own.

Finally,except for boating weekends in the summer, I plan to live at the restaurant. Oh, and one more thing, I have spent the last 9 years working for lawyers (6 yrs) and CPAs (3 years) so I know what it means to be treated poorly. But it's a lot easier to have someone treat you like $hit when you are taking their money...

Thanks, all. I appreciate the posts.
 
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I have friends that seem to have done well with car washes. They have two types of wash systems wand and drive through. They are in a rural areas and have them set up so they will when driving through wash the under side of the car or truck. Staff is a problem unless you pay them well. No idea if they are good idea or how much they cost to set up and run. Wash water is a problem as you need to make sure it is clean before is is sent back to the town. If you have enough money to pay cash for a good buisness you might be better off istting on your boat and collecting revenue from your money.
 
highslice said:
By far the best post of the lot. Let me give you some background. I started working when I was 13. Since then, I have seal coated driveways and parking lots (if you've never sprayed coal tar on a parking lot in 100 degree weather, you haven't lived), shoveled asphalt, finished concrete, operated light and heavy equipment. No job is too menial for me. I have never asked anyone to do what I haven't done myself. I never delegated anything that I hadn't done myself. After 5 years in a fortune 500 company, I moved on to a small company that my brother owned a piece of. I was the controller, IT, payroll, AP, AR, Federal DOT program creator, and trash can emptier.

I understand the effort needed. I am not looking to buy a business and sit back and reap the rewards (I am looking at other things than restaurants, but the best prospects happen to be restaurants and I have always wanted to do that) I have an MBA and have spent 16 years as a controller or CFO, so I can read financials better than most. I have cooked more books than most, so I know where the bodies usually end up. I have pulled two cash flow challenged businesses from the brink of bankruptcy. I have been through acquisition due diligence several times. My attorney started and owns a very successfus restaurant of his own.

Finally,except for boating weekends in the summer, I plan to live at the restaurant. Oh, and one more thing, I have spent the last 9 years working for lawyers (6 yrs) and CPAs (3 years) so I know what it means to be treated poorly. But it's a lot easier to have someone treat you like $hit when you are taking their money...

Thanks, all. I appreciate the posts.
Click to expand...
Well, you're much better prepared for this than I was when I took the leap from the corporate world! Good luck in whichever direction you decide to go!
 
Had a friend that bought one of those 'take and bake' pizza places. Thought he could hire a manager and rake in the cash while he did his regular job. He obviously did not hire the right manager, and did not watch thing carefully enough. Within a year it drove him to bankruptcy.

As someone else said, many small businesses and franchises for sale are nothing more than buying yourself a low paying job.
 
I used to travel a lot on buisness. I got to eat in a lot of resteraunts. I found good hotel charged about the same as a regular good resteraunts. Over time I got so see a lot close and some stay. The ones that stayed were the big hotels and family run ones. The family ones, the owner would be there when it opened and when it closed. Did not seem they made that much but it employed their family. Bars seemed to have a better markup, but people do not drink as much compared to 20 years ago so they are not doing as well. After I retired I started a buisness doing what I did in my real job. It has done well. Best advice I ever got was DO NOT GET GREATY. Good luck.
 
There is a lot of give and take owning your own business. Finding good people that can do things the way you want and maintain your reputation can be challenging. We have done projects that we needed to increase our staff to make profitable and it just seems that I need to hire 5 to find one keeper. It can be frustrating. There are people who commit to their employer and do what needs to be done. But I find most just want to punch the clock and take the "It's not my job" attitude about things. The Key to a succesful business is good people. It doesn't matter what you do.

I own my own business and hate my boss! He works me too many hours. He talks about himself in the third person and he is on Club Searay when he should be working.
 
1. Location
2. Location
3. Location
4. Location
5. Location
6. Great Menu
7. Great Staff
8. Work your butt off.

Best of luck

In a past life I bused tables, washed dishes, preped food, short order cooked, waited tables, stacked the tables, moped the floors, filled the ready freezer, dumped the trash cans. The one guy that was always ahead of me was the boss. I worked several resturants and I had a couple of good owners, you will have to be one to get the most out of your staff. The others, we did not get along to well and I made a exit stage left. I don't believe you are going to need to hire the perfect manager if you train your staff well. 1-2 Key people can make it or break it for you.
 
highslice said:
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?
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I have never owned a restaurant, but like so many here I have worked in one through what seemed a life time. My parents owned 4 at one time. I grew up in a restaurant, ate my meals in a restaurant, did my home worked ect ect ect... Some would say it was a hard life and no life for a kid. Maybe rightfully so. I was running a cash registrar, busing and waiting on tables, washing dishes and doing prep work well to be honest as long as I can remember.

A family own business means it is family owned... The family is going to be involved and affect. I cant say it was all bad. My parents taught me great work ethics and the value of a dollar, and good customer service skills. Things you really are not taught in any classroom.

My parents started to sell the restaurants one by one. By the time my mother had a heart attack at age 55, all the restaurants were gone. Huge decisions. One I would never favor or recommend a young person with a young family, that is for sure.

GOOD LUCK! What ever you decide.
 
My wife caters a bit and there is good money in it but lots of work and on weekends usually. Fast service and good quality food keeps everyone happy. It seems that everybody eats out these days when money is tight? We only eat out when on the road or a special occasion. I'm very critical on what I pay for and service needs to be the best because.....that's what we do and expect. I always ask the server what their best meal is....why not? They should Know! My own business is just me and I like that. I only sub-contract larger jobs and have worked with those individuals in the past. High quality in everything is hard to achieve with lots of staff you don't know. Even when gas prices skyrocketed the other year, people were eating out? McDonald's stock has always been a money maker and people laugh at it....I'm not big on their food but it is consistant, Mike.
 
You have some excellant background and a good handle on what you want to do so, I can't offer much advise. What I can tell you after being self employed for 17 years is, do not buy or start a buisiness to create a job for yourself. Do it with only one thought in mind, to make money!, and you will do well. I wish you the best of luck.
 
hislice,
Great insights from other members. I am a chain restaurant consultant and work for a large food manufacturer. I see sales data for franchise concepts all over and work with many in the southeast. I've also owned a restaurant as well as managed several corporate chain concepts. It is a hard business but if you and the family are committed to its success, it is very rewarding. Not very profitable, but it is something you have to love doing. If there is a specific chain you are looking at, I would be happy to share the info we pay big bucks to receive from analysts and companies like NPD Crest. Send me a PM if you would like an unbiased review and best of luck...Dan
 
tollycraft said:
You have some excellant background and a good handle on what you want to do so, I can't offer much advise. What I can tell you after being self employed for 17 years is, do not buy or start a buisiness to create a job for yourself. Do it with only one thought in mind, to make money!, and you will do well. I wish you the best of luck.
Click to expand...

Thanks! All I am interested in is making money.
 
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