I have a few friends who want to delve into the restaurant business. Probably inspired by Ratatouille. Having a talented rat as chef not considered, running a restaurant is a tough job. Compared to a regular employee, restaurateurs have more reason to work longer hours, simply because the restaurant is dependent on his commitment. Being a food lover is only the first requirement of being a successful restaurant owner.

Do you have partners, or are you the sole owner of your restaurant? According to Forbes, most small business choose an LLC structure (limited liability company) because this type of structure is more asset-friendly. Here’s more about LLC.

How much do you have? What type of restaurant do you plan to have? Do you want it fancy or do you like the idea of a casual diner? Your intended type of restaurant will determine your startup costs and other costs you’ll have to shell out later on for maintenance, etc. You can set up an entirely new food business or you can fix up an already existing restaurant which costs way less.

Secure necessary business permits. Register your business and have it approved. Putting up food business requires paperwork, of course, where you’ll have to meet with the local laws regarding owning a restaurant like health standards, inspection and food safety requirements.

Be ready for long hours. Unless you have enough capitalization to hire a force, many startup restaurateurs would do a lot of work for themselves. And that includes going to market early to get the best produce (or have a trusted supplier deliver your needs). You have to be prepared with the hustle of peak hours and even the amount of work needed after store hours.

Have a menu that you can actually deliver. I observe that some of the newly-opened cafes try to be very grand with what they offer. A very diverse menu would mean that you have to stock up on all the necessary ingredients – which might not be practical especially if no one really orders a particular item. Some would go by specialties and only diversify a “menu for the day” to experiment which food items that customers would get.

People love to eat. The moment you get your permit, and you’re all set to cook, you can start welcoming your would-be regulars. It only takes one bad food item to ruin your restaurant so be prepared to meet all the challenges, head on!