The quick-service restaurant launch plan
Every step from deciding to opening, in the order it happens, shaped to your situation, with your own numbers beside it. About 51 steps in 8 phases, 26 of them specific to a quick-service restaurant. Free to read; ticking steps off and putting in your own numbers come with membership.
The plan51 steps
- 01Not started0/6Fold
Decide with the numbersa week or two
Before a dollar is spent. Most expensive mistakes happen here, and this phase costs nothing.
A QSR sells a low at high speed and lives on volume.
Typical for one unit is $700,000 to $2,000,000 a year; the owner keeps 14 to 22% of it before paying themselves. If that band does not cover what you need, that is the signal to pause and look again.
~50% survive 5 years. Roughly half of all new U.S. employer businesses are still operating after five years, and restaurants land close to that average.
Twelve questions about your money, time, experience and temperament, scored. Then the 5 questions this business asks of its owner, about the hours and the work. Answer both before you spend a dollar.
Rule of thumb: a profitable unit with real, documented volume is usually the lower-risk way in; car counts and a daypart history are hard to beat from a spreadsheet. Answer it in your situation above and the plan reshapes.
Customers, prices, rent, staff pay, what it costs to open. We filled in typical numbers; change what you know and everything on this page follows.
- 02Not started0/5Open
Plan the moneya week
What it costs to open, where the money comes from, and the cushion that keeps you alive until the business pays for itself.
Opening a quick-service restaurant in a leased building is a remodel, a kitchen package, and a drive-thru all at once.
The itemized cost to open10 lines
- Fryers, griddles & hot holding: $5,000 to $74,000Three to four fryers and one or two griddles; name-brand filtered fryers drive the high end
- Walk-in cooler & freezer, prep tables & ice: $44,500 to $84,000
- Hood, fire suppression & build-out (construction, plumbing, electrical, HVAC, grease interceptor): $30,500 to $339,000The biggest swing; a former fast-food building with a working hood and grease trap costs far less
- Drive-thru board, canopy & exterior signs: $7,500 to $76,000A static board and new sign faces, up to a digital board, canopy, and new building signs
- POS, kitchen screens, drive-thru headsets & cameras: $9,000 to $20,000
- Seating, sinks, work tables & drive-thru window: $6,500 to $26,000
- Smallwares: $3,000 to $8,000
- Opening inventory (food, packaging, chemicals): $4,000 to $12,000
- Permits, design, deposits & professional fees: $21,000 to $83,500Architect and site plan, permits, first insurance premium, lease and utility deposits, opening marketing
- Initial working capital: $50,000 to $120,000Crew hiring and training, marketing, and about 3 months of reserve
Costs start on day one; customers take months. Map the first twelve months of cash so the business does not run out of money while it is getting going.
The business has to earn your pay like any other bill. Set it in your numbers and watch the month it move.
How deals in this business are financed4 lines
- SBA 7(a) loan (Up to 10 yr (25 with real estate) · up to $5M · 75-85% government-guaranteed)The workhorse for opening or buying a unit: it funds a remodel, equipment, working capital, or an acquisition.
- SBA 504 loan (Up to 25 yr · real estate & heavy equipment)For buying the building and pad.
- Equipment financing / lease (Secured by the equipment · 2-5 yr terms common)Finance the fryers, walk-ins, hood, and drive-thru system on their own, secured by the gear itself; ice machines are often rented with service included.
- Seller financing (Often 5-20% of price · 3-7 yr)Common when buying an existing unit.
Most new shops pair an with 10 to 20% of your own cash. Know the monthly payment before you look at a single space.
Before you shop. A lender tells you what they would fund, what they need from you (credit, your cash in, a plan with numbers), and a pre-qualification letter makes a landlord or a seller take you seriously.
- 03Not started0/4Open
Set up the companya day or two
A day of paperwork, and it has to come before the space: a lease, a loan application and every permit are in the company’s name.
Your state’s business name search, the trademark register, and the domain, before the name is on a sign, a van, or a lease.
A , an , and the S-corporation election each change what you keep and what you are exposed to. Compare them with the numbers, confirm with a CPA and an attorney, then file with your state.
After:The is free from the IRS in minutes once the company exists. The bank account needs both. Keep business money separate from day one.
After:Pick the accounting software and connect the bank account now, so every cost of opening is captured and the numbers you later are real.
- 04Not started0/5Open
Find and secure the spaceone to three months
In QSR the site often matters more than the food.
What decides it for this business: high vehicle traffic count, easy ingress / egress, room for a drive-thru lane, strong road visibility & signage, daytime population & density.
One call to the planning desk with the address: is this use allowed there, and what will it take (, permits, health department plan review, fire sign-off)? A space that needs a change of use can add months.
Rent, free months for the , who pays for what, the and the renewals, subject to financing and permits. The lender needs this letter or a draft lease to take your application.
After: ,, renewal options, increase caps, what the landlord adds on top of rent, and what happens if you have to leave. For a location business the lease is part of the purchase price.
After:at minimum; property, workers’ compensation and the rest as the business needs. The landlord asks for a certificate at signing and the lender at closing.
- 05Not started0/2Open
Get the loanfour to eight weeks
Four to eight weeks with an SBA lender, longer if the file is incomplete. Everything else waits on this, so send a complete file.
Your plan with numbers (download it as a PDF from this page), the company’s papers, the or draft lease, the and equipment quotes, your personal financial statement, and proof of the cash you put in.
After:The lender approves against the ; you sign the lease once approved; the loan closes against the signed lease and the insurance certificate. Ask for the to match the or longer.
After:
- 06Not started0/12Open
Permits and the build-outone to three months
A quick-service restaurant carries the full food-safety and build permitting of any kitchen, plus site approvals for the drive-thru lane and road signs.
Bind the policies you had quoted before a contractor, a vehicle or a customer is in play. Keep the certificates; the landlord, the lender and the city will ask.
After:The health department reviews the layout, the sinks, the refrigeration and the finishes before you build. Building first and fixing later is the most expensive mistake in food.
After:The health department reviews the kitchen layout and equipment plan, inspects the finished kitchen, and issues a permit you renew each year.
After:Local approval for building signs, the pylon or monument sign, and the drive-thru menu board.
Register your or corporation and obtain a city or county business operating license.
State registration to collect and remit tax on food and drink sales.
Planning review of the drive-thru lane, stacking length, traffic flow, and parking; some cities require a special use permit for any new or changed drive-thru.
Many sewer utilities permit and inspect the grease interceptor and require pumping records.
The fire marshal tests the hood suppression system and checks exits, alarms, and occupant load.
After:Local sign-off that the building is approved for restaurant use, before you can open the doors.
After:Food-safety certification (e.g., ) for a certified manager on every shift and, in many states, food handler cards for crew.
After the build, with the refrigeration cold, the facility clean, a certified manager on site and the final menu in hand. The permit comes after the inspection; post it where customers see it.
After:
- 07Not started0/12Open
Set up to runduring the build
During the build, so the business runs from day one: the systems, the prices, the people and the routine.
The POS takes counter, drive-thru, kiosk, and mobile orders in one place and sends each item to the right kitchen screen.
A crew of 20 or more hourly workers means from week one: withholdings, overtime, and workers’ comp.
A dedicated business checking account keeps card deposits, cash, and supplier payments separate from personal money, essential for clean books and for any...
Close the books every month so you see food and as a percent of while there is still time to act.
, property, and workers’ comp at minimum, plus equipment breakdown for the walk-ins.
Count food and packaging on a set day and order to par from your distributor.
See the price the the business needs implies, then check it against what the market pays.
Federal plus state employer, withholding, and workers’-comp registrations once you hire; a music license (ASCAP, BMI, SESAC) if you play music.
After:Wages are the start: , insurance, training time and the hours you stop billing. Owners usually post the jobs a month out and hire two to four weeks before opening so training happens before the doors open.
Daily: Open and prep to par, run the lunch and dinner peaks, watch ... Weekly: Cut the schedule against forecast volume daypart by daypart, place... Monthly: Reconcile food and as a percent of , walk the line by...
Opening, closing, the sale, the complaint, the cash. One page each. This is the manual a franchise would have sold you.
Free, and it is how most people will find you. Address, hours, photos and the menu or price list, live before opening day; then the sign, the soft opening and the first regulars.
- 08Not started0/5Open
Open and measurethe first ninety days
You own it. Now run it on the numbers.
Friends, neighbors and a short menu or list. Find the problems while the room is forgiving.
Enter the real numbers and see every cost line against the for this business.
& throughput; & waste; & .
Growth consumes cash before it produces it. Find the rate your own cash funds before you push.
Quick-service units trade actively, to owner-operators, multi-unit operators, and SBA buyers, and they command some of the higher multiples in food service because the systems...