The 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 52 steps in 8 phases, 27 of them specific to a restaurant. Free to read; ticking steps off and putting in your own numbers come with membership.
The plan52 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 restaurant sells prepared food and drink at a markup.
Typical for one unit is $500,000 to $1,500,000 a year; the owner keeps 14 to 20% 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: buying a proven, profitable restaurant at a fair price is usually lower-risk than building from zero, restaurants have a high failure rate, and existing cash flow is hard to beat. 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 full-service restaurant from an empty space is a real construction project, and most of the money goes into the kitchen, the hood and the dining room before the first cover.
The itemized cost to open10 lines
- Cooking line & dish machine (range, fryers, broiler, ovens): $13,000 to $61,000Budget brands to name-brand Vulcan or Frymaster class gear
- Walk-ins, prep tables & refrigeration: $28,000 to $86,000A walk-in cooler at minimum; a walk-in freezer once volume justifies it
- Hood, fire suppression & build-out (construction, plumbing, electrical, HVAC, grease interceptor): $56,000 to $469,000The biggest swing; a second-generation space with a working hood and grease trap costs far less
- Dining furniture, sinks & kitchen fixtures: $14,000 to $43,500About $125 to $350 per seat for 80 seats, plus the required sinks and work tables
- Smallwares & tabletop: $8,000 to $18,500
- POS, kitchen screens & cameras: $3,500 to $11,000
- Signage, decor & menus: $8,000 to $45,000
- Opening inventory (food, beverage, paper, chemicals): $5,000 to $20,000
- Permits, design, licenses, deposits & professional fees: $22,000 to $105,500Architect, permits, beer and wine license, first insurance premium, lease and utility deposits, opening marketing
- Initial working capital: $30,000 to $150,000Pre-opening payroll and training, marketing, and 3-6 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 financed5 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 restaurant: it funds build-out, equipment, working capital, or an acquisition.
- SBA 504 loan (Up to 25 yr · real estate & heavy equipment)For owners buying the building too.
- Equipment financing / lease (Secured by the equipment · 2-5 yr terms common)Finance the hood, walk-ins, cooking line and dish machine on their own, secured by the gear itself.
- Landlord improvement allowance (Paid as the work is done · ties you to the lease)Landlords often pay part of the build-out to land a restaurant tenant, especially in an empty shell, in exchange for a longer lease.
- Seller financing (Often 5-20% of price · 3-7 yr)Common when buying an existing restaurant.
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 started0/6Open
Find and secure the spaceone to three months
Location drives a restaurant’s traffic, rent, and concept fit.
What decides it for this business: high pedestrian foot traffic, strong visibility & signage, demographics match the concept, parking or transit access, complementary neighbors.
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.
Walk the floor plan and the equipment list, then get contractor quotes. The lender wants the quotes; the health department wants the plan.
- 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 started0/13Open
Permits and the build-outone to three months
A full-service restaurant cooks, serves, and often pours alcohol for the public, so it carries more permitting than almost any small business, and most of it gates the opening date.
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 exterior signage and lighting.
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.
State and local license to serve alcohol, often with a public notice period.
Many sewer utilities permit and inspect the grease interceptor and require pumping records.
City approval for outdoor seating on a sidewalk or patio, often with its own fee and insurance requirement.
The fire marshal tests the hood suppression system and checks exits, alarms, and occupant load; a dining room for about 50 or more people usually needs an assembly permit.
After:Local sign-off that the space 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 staff.
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 started0/11Open
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.
A separate checking account for , tips, and vendor payments, essential for clean books, managing cash flow through slow weeks, and qualifying for...
The heart of the operation, orders, payments, tips, and table management run through it, and it feeds data into everything else.
Restaurants live and die on food and as a percent of .
Hourly staff, tipped wages, and tip reporting make restaurant genuinely complex.
, property, workers’ comp, and often liquor liability, typically both to operate and to sign a lease.
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: Prep, receive deliveries, run lunch and dinner service, manage the... Weekly: Build the schedule, place food orders, run inventory, review ... Monthly: Reconcile food and labor cost percentages, update the menu and...
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.
& waste; & turnover; Rent & .
Growth consumes cash before it produces it. Find the rate your own cash funds before you push.
Restaurants change hands constantly, mostly to owner-operators and to cooks ready to run their own place.