Plenty of you are great chefs, and you have been making great food for a long time. Chances are, if this food is enjoyed by the ones close to you, it will be enjoyed by most people. Why don’t you start a restaurant?

You might be thinking of how many restaurants fail. Most do, right?

Yep. The reason for this is because they are started by outstanding chefs. That, unfortunately, is the problem. Why? Restaurants need to be started by outstanding businessmen.

Haven’t you noticed that restaurants with mediocre food sometimes thrive and turn into giant chains, while restaurants with excellent food go under? This shows us that the success of a restaurant has little to do with the quality of its food.

So, stop improving your food; don’t make the same mistake that most restaurant owners make. Think about it; if people like your food when you cook at home, then people will like your food in your restaurant. Your food is good enough. Stop worrying about it. You need to focus on the rest of your restaurant.

If you’re a good enough cook to make tasty food, then you’re a good enough cook for your restaurant. Don’t worry about the food anymore. The rest of your restaurant needs your attention.

Restaurants are composed of many different parts. To begin, you should get a basic understanding of accounting. Many of you will want to hire a bookkeeper instead; remember, however, that you have limited funds.

You want to do as many of the jobs as you have time for. This allows money to be saved and reinvested back into the company. Now it’s time to build an inventory system. You need to keep track of everything! Don’t run your restaurant like you run your home kitchen; you need to systematize everything and write it down. Your company will work if you run it like your kitchen, but it won’t be able to grow.

You will eventually hire somebody to replace you to do this job; you’ll need a system for them to follow. If you don’t give them a system, there won’t be any structure in your restaurant. Just like a building cannot stand without a firm structure, neither can a restaurant. It will surely collapse without structure.

Eventually, you will have an employee doing inventory; you need instructions written down so that they know what to do. The lack of structure in a restaurant is the primary cause of failure. A tall building cannot be built with a weak structure. Likewise, your restaurant cannot be built with one.

You can’t expect people to just know about your restaurant and where it is. You have to inform them; you must advertise. Put an ad in the newspaper. Put a commercial on the local radio (if you can afford it). Stay away from television for now; it costs too much to be worth it for your small restaurant.

Every area we have mentioned needs its own system. Systems are critical. Without them, your restaurant will be like all the others. It will either struggle through existence, or it will just completely fail.

Weak systems are analogous to cracks in a foundation for a building. The larger the building gets, the more pressure is put on those cracks. Eventually, the cracks will be so large the building will collapse. With a strong foundation, however, the building can be very large. Be sure your systems are strong!