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Anyone dream of running a restaurant?

cinnamon - you have a wonderful idea! Please don't think I am trying to end your dreams - we had several bread-only bakeries here - and they ended up closing. Their bread was fantastic! their prices had to be high because of the amount of overhead - but unfortunately the profit was not there.

My suggestion - go for it! But - do it out of your home. Put the money into either adding on or remodeling so that you can have the proper size ovens. Advertise in the little newspapers, church bulletins - much cheaper. One regular listing in the phone book is cheaper than a large ad. A small older home remodeled to your needs can be purchased - easier than moving into a strip mall/plaza and paying high rent, untilities and all those CAM charges for the parking lot, dumpsters, etc. The health department will demand certain things in order for you to operate - proper machinery, maintenance, etc. but it is worth it.

Before you go out on your own - try to get a job working in a bakery and see what they have to do and what they go through. Even if it is a supermarket bakery. It will give you a chance to see how some things are done. Even if it's cleaning for a bakery - at least you can peek around and see what they use and how they handle things.
 
cinnamon - I agree that you should start really small out of your home. Sell to friends, family, coworkers, etc. and start building a customer base. Then you can expand to advertising in newspapers, flyers, etc.

Good luck if that's what you decide to do. :)
 
Mama-
I miss your post about the trouble with running a restaurant. I've just found the user cp and now can see what I've written and have responses too!

When I was in A-School for the Navy in Memphis, we had turkey luncheon meat for Thanksgiving dinner because the contractors has stolen all of the turkeys. Can you beleive that? No turkeys for Thanksgiving. The same types of people that do that are the ones spamming us with email -- they don't have any feelings for anyone and so don't care about what they do. I think the term is sociopath -- these people have no conscience. And the trouble with them is they usually have personalities that hide the inner evilness in them and you don't find out until it's too late. And they make up 4% of the population.

Which is why I don't think you can trust anyone. That's one of the reasons when you leave a Sam's or Costco that they check the cart. It's not that the don't trust you -- they don't trust the cashier's who could be sliding things past the scanner and into the cart. Someone at one of the Price-club told me they were looking for doubles -- two or more of the same item which fits that they're watching out for the employees giving things to friends and family.

I have a friend that learned a trade from a top notch company and after 7 years of apprentice and making good money, started his own business and took some of the key customers away from the company that paid to train him so I know what you're talking about with competing interests. I think that happens a lot. On NPR they were talking with those companies that send computer geeks to your house to fix your computer. One of the guys on the show had worked from one company like that and then started his own franchise.

I'm not sure I'm up for 16 hour days and am not sure I could take customers yelling at me with me keeping my mouth zippered! Talk to my wife about that! But the long days means you don't have enough income to pay someone, and that must mean the profits not there. Which means,I think, too much competition?
 
Old Bay - there is competition everywhere! And as soon as you come up with the "ideal" idea - someone else has done it! You mentioned that customers at Cosco and Sam's have their items checked - of course - it is for sweethearting! (that's where only every third of fourth item actually gets scanned! and years ago things were rung up for $.19 and $.05 when the cashiers had to punch in the item price!) Sweethearting has been going on forever - and someone will always try to find a way to get away with it. Actually - it's stupid to look for doubles in an order - many people buy doubles. Who said they can't just go in and do a month's shopping for the one checking them out and go back at a later date for their own - which will have "sweethearted" items for their time and trouble???

You also mentioned having turkey luncheon meat on a Thnksgiving - we have the churches collecting gifts for needy children and parishoners would leave them at the alter - until 2 days before Christmas and they were stolen! And that happened at other agencies this year that were collecting for kids. Several of our soup kitchens were left bare by thieves. A woman working for the county in charge of bus passes for the welfare recipients handed out over $300,000 worth of free bus passes for a small profit! Cripe - look at our polticians, Martha Stewart, big CEO's, priests, etc. You cannot trust any of them. Even Cheney's company was giving our troups rations that were outdated and not fit for consumption!

And to think we worked all our lives for what we got. And we worked hard. We were the ones that used our gas or bus money to travel to the store to make the purchases. We are the ones that pay our utilities, taxes, etc. And if we didn't have the money - we went without. Not once would we have ever dreamed of taking something that was not ours.

We've got a couple of morons (I'll be polite) in my neighborhood - all friends - all cronies for years. Notorious for breaking into box cars. Finally got caught and got arrested. Three of them were hurt in the process when in their twenties. Did the crime - paid the time - but get this - THEY SUED THE RAILROAD BECAUSE THEY GOT HURT - and they not only got huge settlements - but they are collecting SSD from an early age and they have never had to work. And they come and go as they please, lift furniture, work under trucks and cars, plow snow (under the table) in the winter and party constantly. Would you call that DISABLED FOR LIFE??????????

I don't care what the next person makes - I am not looking for a get-rich-quick scheme - I will do it myself at my own pace and I will do my own books and banking (I have an accouting and tax background - and I have seen many businesses get ripped off by the ones that were doing their books, deposits, etc!) and I will settle for that. I worked by butt off all my life - long hours, sleep deprived, stressed to the max - you name it. I am not going to let someone take that away from me. I worked hard for what I got and I can hold up my head and know that I did it without ripping off anyone or doing anything that I would not want done to me.

Even in later years - a person can do something ona small scale that will elp to supplement their income. And don't forget - once you are past the retirement age (up to 70/71), for every two dollars you make the government takes one of them. After the age of 72 you can make all you want without that penalty. Now tell me that makes any sense???

Do it yourself - don't trust anyone - do it your way - it pays off that way!
 
oh - and by the way - anyone who wants to do quantity cooking and baking out of their homes - make sure you can replace your stove in an instant! I've burned out many ovens............................
 
My husband has managed quite a few pizza places and was just an Executive Manager at an Italian restaurant. They closed down last week. Guy got in over his head and went bankrupt. The original owner wants to open it back up and wants my Hubby to run the whole thing. He goes for a meeting tomorrow and I am worried. The hours he put in before will be nothing to what he will have to do now.

It is hard work.
 
Mom & I always planned on having a restaurant of our own
but a family friend has one and it doesn't really seem to be all that fun
that I thought it was.
 
I've thought about this a bit and it seems that those that are successful in a small restaurant are putting in 12 hour or more days. The larger restaurants are using replaceable staff, and are managing the assets and expenses. The latter part is probably more important then the cooking for long term success.

Even if you're just running a small diner style place, there's food to be ordered, and bills to pay, and banking (one hopes), etc. I think a good small restaurant needs a team of skilled folks with a skilled business person watching the scene closely, and a good cook making the recipes and (perhaps) cooking too, and a good cook cooking, and good serving help, etc.

So it seems to me that to be a good restaurant operator, you're not the one making the food, or the recipes, etc. You're manage the business and letting those with great cooking, serving, etc skills operate in their skill zones.

That makes opening a new restaurant mean you need really good people skills, and a way to make payroll until established. That might be more than I want to take on.

The folks I mentioned that operate the barbecue place at the beach are only open from May to Sept, so the long days that they work have only a several month duration. But they do put in the long hours, and I'm sure they cook, and smoke the food with assistance from some temporary help.

At one time I tinkered with the idea of a hot dog place on the boards that would serve hot dogs, chili-dogs, and all of the interesting add on to hot dogs, along with fries and sodas. The trouble there is you have to beat the rent, utility bills, food, tax and labor costs. I think though that the hot dog place would have to be on the boardwalk to get the traffic needed. And yet, while I don't eat hot dogs personally ... I just feel there is a market for them and if properly packaged, they would be a great beach lunch.


Thinking about all of this for several months has made me understand why a bucket of popcorns costs $5.00 at the theater.
 
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old bay - I miss the restaurant business very much! I have a degree in accounting and taxes so the made longer hours as well. I never slept - I worked my butt off. I'm older now - and I want to do it again.

For "seasonal" (summertime) cooking - I think one of those hot dog/french fry carts you see at fairs would be the best idea. Work small area lawn fetes, etc. I'm not into the gypsy life or the carnie life. My bed is too comfortable!

Then I could cook for a few days or a week and rest when I want. I wonder if that would get it out of my system??
 
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