So you have decided to invest in the restaurant business. How much money will it take and how do you manage them wisely to ensure maximum return on your investment?
The restaurant business enjoys considerable investor appeal. Upon the initial rough calculation of the amount of future investments in a public catering enterprise, specialists recommend calculating it as 1,000 dollars per square meter of the premises. Given a wise approach to management and if everything goes according to plan, already four months down the road your brainchild will start to show an upward earnings trend. Meanwhile, after 1.5 to 2 years (this being the average payback period for investments in restaurants) you will start making a profit. The minimum profit margin for this business is 20%, average - 25%, and may even reach 50-60% if successful.
The amount of investment and future earnings depend on the level and scale of the business: you can open either a restaurant in the classical sense of the word or simply a bar or cafe. There are also various combination of the cafe-bar, bar-restaurant type, and the like.
According to the traditional classification in the country, restaurants are divided into three classes: “deluxe”, highest class, and first class, each of them having a certain set of requirements. Still, modern experts use a somewhat different grading: elite, middle-class, and fast-food restaurants. We will follow this most widespread classification system in the Russian restaurant business. It should be noted that besides ordinary bars and cafes there is a special type of public catering outlets - coffee shops.
Elite restaurants differ in that they have an exquisite interior, high level of comfort, a broad assortment of original and chef dishes at high prices, of course. Middle-class restaurants offer a varied menu for a moderate price. Fast-food joints offer a standard set of dishes. These are mostly self-service outlets.