Owning and operating a successful restaurant is a lot harder than many people think. Restaurants are not easy to start from scratch, but manageable with the right tools. A recipe for a successful restaurant includes a combination of a valuable location, strategic marketing skills, and proper management skills.
The most crucial step in starting a new restaurant is deciding on which location is right for a business to be successful. Survival in the food industry is dependent upon location choice. Even if a restaurant serves the best food in town, it may not do well if it’s not placed in a highly populated area. According to H.G. Parsa, an associate professor in Ohio State University’s hospitality management program, “about one in four restaurants close or change ownership within their first year of business. A bad location is one of the biggest reasons for restaurant failure.” A restaurant’s location is just as important as the food and customer service. When choosing a location it is important to look at all aspects that will enable a sustainable business. The United States census can determine the population in an area and provide an idea on what type of audience to target in order to have a lucrative business. Opening a restaurant in a bad location, for example with little traffic flow and terrible parking, will not give consumers any reason to enter the establishment. A bad location could cost a restaurant the type of audience or consumers it needs to survive.
In addition to location, marketing is also an important factor for running a successful restaurant. Understanding the customer is the heart of a successful business, and everyone within the establishment must focus on satisfying customer needs and wants. Marketing consists of attracting new customers and increasing the volume of the current customer base. A restaurant owner must first decide who their target market will be and then focus marketing