Starting a Restaurant: Tips from the Pros

Starting a small business in America is a very difficult challenge, but is one that Sason Azani and Franke Eghtesadi have overcome.

Together, the two entrepreneurs own Sonny’s Place, a family-style Middle Eastern restaurant in Atlanta. To find success in the industry, they offer the following advice to anyone looking to start up a restaurant:

  1. Get two to three years of experience in the restaurant business before attempting to start one. Study the operations of the business and work in a variety of different positions to learn as much as possible.
  1. Take time to choose the proper location, and research the area to make sure a restaurant would go well there. Choose a location that sees a lot of traffic, has plenty of parking, and is close to other popular businesses.
  1. To open a restaurant, there are many permits that are required, such as construction, health, plumbing, fire, sanitation and waste, and beer and wine licenses. Make sure these are all included in the budget.
  1. When it comes to financing the start-up, small business owners will always need more than they think.
  1. Start with a small layout for the restaurant and grow out from there, making sure that all the restaurant chairs and tables can move around to accommodate different sized crowds.

Source: http://www.ehow.com/how_2323724_start-small-cafe.html