A well-filled cash register at the end of a busy evening gives every restaurant owner a wonderful feeling. But before that happens, you will really have to incur a (considerable) number of expenses. We list the most important ones:
You can rent or buy property, with the location you have in mind for your restaurant helping determine the price. After all, the rent and purchase price of a catering establishment in the center of a large city is higher than that of a similar property in sparsely populated areas. In addition, you probably want to make investments to make the property to your liking.
Without a refrigerator, deep fryer, stove, microwave and other kitchen equipment and without dishes, cutlery and glasses, you don't have to open the doors of your restaurant. Although the supply of used items is large, the investment quickly amounts to many thousands of dollars.
With tables and chairs, lighting, bar stools and accessories, give your restaurant a cozy look. Depending on your creativity, furnishings don't have to cost the top dollar. Even with a limited budget, quite a lot is possible.
You can't start a restaurant without supplies. Count on a few thousand euros for the purchase of long-life products such as drinks and dried food, and preferably buy products such as vegetables, fruits, meat and dairy products fresh.
To run your restaurant properly, you need technology, such as cash registers, a music system and a reservation system. The cost will depend on the software and hardware you purchase, but count on a one-time expense of 1,000 euros and monthly fees of a few hundred euros.
Staffing represents a sizable portion of your structural costs. How much staff you need is difficult to estimate, but it is smart to set aside a certain amount of personnel costs for a longer period of time.
If your restaurant becomes part of a franchise formula, then you pay a fee for the restaurant's name and intellectual property. The amount of the fee varies from chain to chain.
Your restaurant can only open if you have the required permits. In this article you can read more about the different permits, which can easily cost you a few thousand euros to open.
Guests lining up at your restaurant from day one. A nice but unrealistic thought. To attract customers, you will have to advertise via social media, for example. If you do that yourself, it will only cost you (valuable) time. In many situations it is therefore wise to hire someone to do it.
We understand that you can't cough up the start-up capital for your own restaurant right away. Rest assured: this is true for most entrepreneurs. There are several ways to raise the necessary amount. You can ask family and friends for money or apply for a microcredit from the Microcredit Netherlands Foundation. You can also consider partnering with a business partner, find business investors or ask fellow citizens to invest in your restaurant through crowdfunding.