Are you sure!!!?
Photo Courtesy of Pari Dukovic
That is my first question to any prospective buyer that comes to me looking for restaurant space, followed immediately by my next one question without even letting them answer the first: Have you ever been in the Restaurant business? Do you know anything about it? Have you had restaurants in the past? That’s rather 3 or 4 questions but they are all necessary; what happens is that I have encountered many people in the past that have come to me because of my experience and track record in both the real estate field and the restaurant business and I have found many times a common denominator, and that is lack of experience or lack of knowledge together with a strong desire for being in the spotlight; after all owning a restaurant looks very glamorous, elegant, gives you the illusion of belonging to the jet-set, of being part of a high class/VIP crowd, it’s a self esteem booster; all these ingredients together are a strong cocktail which will lead an investor to financial disaster- SO....!! Do you really want to open a Restaurant and do you really know what you’re doing? If so I will be happy to help you find the right spot or even build one from scratch...
Apotheke in NYC - Photo Courtesy of Noah Kalina
...but if you have not been in the business, and regardless of all the warnings you are so hard headed that still want to venture in dangerous waters, then there are a few things you need to know which I will be discussing in the following PARTS of this short series. I am dividing it in “PARTS” because there are many topics that need to be discussed and if for you this is something new, and still want to do it, then it is better going slow so the digestion of information will be more effective.
I will be discussing on PART II and PART III of this post things such as permitting, construction, design and concept, on PART IV we’ll be getting into leasing and landlord issues which are a key factor needed to be taken care of BEFORE getting into a commitment and on PART V we will be discussing what I have been seeing a lot lately and that is foreigners with experience in restaurants....in their country.
Cheers!
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