I want to buy an Italian restaurant

[Naughty]

My girlfriend works there and her boss is selling the place to move on to other things. The price is fair and she can run it. I'd be doing some of the financial stuff and meet with suppliers and the like. I'm not giving up my internet ventures, but they cost me only a few hours a day and I have always wanted to own a bar or restaurant.

It is 200 meters from my house in the absolute center of my town, a tripple A location.

Has any of you ever taken on a venture like this? Was it worth it? Why (not)?

[Trev]

I wanted to buy my local pub once... Sat down with my main clever guy (my dad) and within 5 minutes I was convinced it was a bad idea...

A.) It's my local so I'd be drinking all the time
B.) I know everyone and they would do the whole "I know the owner thing"
C.) I’ve spent so long going there for fun that I couldn’t possibly treat it as business
D.) Repeat A.


Go for it though, as a restaurant it is a slightly different theme, but not entirely :)

[Mike AI]

Reaturants are generally low profit margin businesses - and hard work. If you want it for a business, I would pass. If you want it for the ego, friends, family - then go for it.

[JR]

Originally posted by Mike AI@Jun 18 2005, 03:49 PM
Reaturants are generally low profit margin businesses - and hard work. If you want it for a business, I would pass. If you want it for the ego, friends, family - then go for it.
what he said. my observation has always been that restaurants are a nightmare and demand an extreme amount of attention... in addition to being very low margin businesses... unless you can sell lots of hard alcohol.

[Timon]

There is an obscene amount of detail involved with running a restaurant making it a lot of work and very stressful because there are a lot of things that can go wrong, and it's hard to make any decent money for the majority of them.

Do you know why her boss wants to move on to other things? ;-)

[PornoDoggy]

Originally posted by JR+Jun 18 2005, 06:56 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (JR @ Jun 18 2005, 06:56 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-Mike AI@Jun 18 2005, 03:49 PM
Reaturants are generally low profit margin businesses - and hard work. If you want it for a business, I would pass. If you want it for the ego, friends, family - then go for it.
what he said. my observation has always been that restaurants are a nightmare and demand an extreme amount of attention... in addition to being very low margin businesses... unless you can sell lots of hard alcohol. [/b][/quote]
Many people I know think that the maixim "A Fool And His Money Are Soon Parted" was written about going into the food service industry. I know more than a couple of people who thought they were getting into limited responsiblities that turned out to be far more than they expected.

The profit margins/ROI are slim, the hours are atrocious, the help is the stuff of Stephen King novels, and customers are as fickle as a whore when the fleet's in.

Other than that, it's a great idea.

[Hell Puppy]

Most restaurants fail.

Think about it, how many non-chain restaurants do you know that have been in business for more than say 3-5 years under the same management?

You need a killer location, great food and a very experienced manager to stand a chance.

As others have said, if you're primary motivation is profit, I wouldn't go for it. If you're serious about it, maybe look for an opportunity to buy a stake of an existing restaurant with an option to buy it all later and learn the ropes from the current owner.

[el pres]

I used to run the food side of a pub,
long hours and hard work, but enjoyable.

You know the location, you know the customer base,
if the place is making $$ at the moment
& you don't need to borrow to get it, go for it.

[Naughty]

@El Pres: yes to all.

Everything all others say is food for thought, I know it would probably not make a lot of money, but it seems like something 'fun' to do besides running my internet projects.

@Trev, unfortunately my main clever guy is on holiday untill next month :/

@Timon, he wants to open an italian clothing store in the same shopping area.

[TheEnforcer]

Running a restaurant is a very hard and demanding business. That said if it's something you've always wanted to try I say go for it because it sounds like a better than usual opportunity to take advantage and do something you've been wanting to do and have it be successful.

[Trev]

Originally posted by Naughty@Jun 19 2005, 07:31 PM
@El Pres: yes to all.

Everything all others say is food for thought, I know it would probably not make a lot of money, but it seems like something 'fun' to do besides running my internet projects.

@Trev, unfortunately my main clever guy is on holiday untill next month :/

@Timon, he wants to open an italian clothing store in the same shopping area.
I should point out that my "main clever" guy has lost me allot of money, but made me allot as well :)


We're batting 4-2, with the 4 being wins :awinky:

[justb]

Restaurants can be a real pain and you also should consider how working with your girlfriend may affect your relationship.

[Bhelliom]

Being a business student ... while restaurants do tend to have low profit margins... they can be successful IF you do the proper analysis before buying it. Why does anyone sell something? cause they're not making enough money. if it was a gold mine he'd be keeping it.

Having said that. If you do the proper analysis before hand you should be able to see where there is any room for improvement (if any)that could boost the bottom line. Also keep in mind when looking at the financials of the business, keep in mind also that restaurants are mostly a cash business... so the "reported" numbers may be a little low. not to say that anyone would try to screw the gov't and pay less taxes of course :P

just some food for thought.. most businesses fail because they get too excited about it and fail to do what needs to be done beforehand.

[JR]

Originally posted by Bhelliom@Jun 20 2005, 06:49 AM
Being a business student ... while restaurants do tend to have low profit margins... they can be successful IF you do the proper analysis before buying it. Why does anyone sell something? cause they're not making enough money. if it was a gold mine he'd be keeping it.

Having said that. If you do the proper analysis before hand you should be able to see where there is any room for improvement (if any)that could boost the bottom line. Also keep in mind when looking at the financials of the business, keep in mind also that restaurants are mostly a cash business... so the "reported" numbers may be a little low. not to say that anyone would try to screw the gov't and pay less taxes of course :P

just some food for thought.. most businesses fail because they get too excited about it and fail to do what needs to be done beforehand.
ok business student. write a solid business plan as all great business students do... then take it to the bank of your choice and then try to get the loan officer to stop laughing long enough to explain to you why banks don't loan money for restaurants.

:)

[Bhelliom]

Thanks :P The fac that i'm a business student was meant to show that I don't have much practical experience with restaurants or running such a venture.

However, having analysed many restaurants I can say that there is usually room for improvement and that things aren't always what they seem. One of the reasons restaurants fail is because they don't do a good analysis of what they're getting into. restaurants also tend to have a pretty short life cycle. Unless you put in the effort to keep on top of things and continually evolve a restaurant they tend to get old, drab and die.

As for getting a loan from a bank. There are MANY other ways to get funding and several of them are perfectly happy to fund something like that as long as they're creating jobs.

Oh and I never said it'd be easy... but added my opinion like was asked for

[EroticySteve]

Run fast.

If you've never been in the business I wouldn't get into the business by buying someone else out. This may be just the exit plan that they were looking for.

Not a smart move. NOW, if you are also an expert restaraunteur I'd say that you'd know enough to evaluate the business. Owning the place or buying it may not be the tough part. Running it will be.

There are a lot easier ways to make $$$$$$.

[Mike AI]

If you understand what you are getting into, and still want to do it for fun...

Then go for it! These are the people who should be running reasturants - it has to be a passion!

[Trev]

Originally posted by Mike AI@Jun 21 2005, 12:36 AM
If you understand what you are getting into, and still want to do it for fun...

Then go for it! These are the people who should be running reasturants - it has to be a passion!
:blink:


Fun or passion... one might make it a success, the other one is just fun though.

[Red]

Originally posted by Mike AI@Jun 20 2005, 03:36 PM
If you understand what you are getting into, and still want to do it for fun...

Then go for it! These are the people who should be running reasturants - it has to be a passion!
Mike is right. If it's not a passion, you won't be happy.

I owned an ice cream parlor/bakery/cafe and I can tell you from first hand experience if you get into the food business you are married to it. It's lots of hard work and long hours. It can take it's toll on your relationship. It almost broke up my first marriage. (too bad it didn't, I would have had a lot less years of a crappy marriage. :) )

but seriously, only do it if it's something you really want.