Getting Started

According to the online census HelloPhiladelphia, Art, Entertainment, Recreation, Accommodation, and Food Services presently make up 8.1% of Philadelphia's industries. Which means that on average Food Services or Restaurants are about one fifth of that pie, approximately 1.6%. So there's lots of room for restaurant opportunities.

3 Keys to Keep in Mind

1.Site 2. Menu 3. Style

Site

If you start your search based on the future site of your restaurant there are a series of subjects to investigate and consider such as-location, price, size, people flow or tourism, hubs of public transport, parking availability, and competition also known as existing restaurants.

Location: Choose whether or not you want to be in a large city, small city, rural or suburban area. In this case you have already chosen a large city and a highly populated area. You could have set up in any large city but it's nice to know that Philadelphia gives you the most bang for your buck, with the cheapest price per square foot of any large city in the U.S.

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Size and Price: Next you should focus on the size you want you want your restaurant to be and the amount you are willing to pay. There are a series of commercial real estate websites you can visit such as, http://www.loopnet.com/ or http://www.phillyliving.com/. It is helpful to know if you intend to have an eat-in or take-out restaurant when making this decision however it s not completely necessary. The following is a map of available commercial real estate in Center City.If you have found other links you thought were helpful for locating available space, please share it below in the comments area.

If You Build it They Will Come

People Flow & Public Transport: In the case that you have found a reasonable price space for you restaurant you may wonder how many people will show up. Its help full to know the amount of people that go through a particular area, or the amount of public transportation stations there are in relation to your establishment. Here are two helpful maps to get you started.

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Parking, Permits, and Codes

Parking: When opening a new restaurant there are many codes to be aware of such as buildings size restrictions, which of course is only applicable if you wanted to add on to your property. If not, you must also consider your parking lot depth and width. Many restaurants in Center City do not have an available parking lot. However there are many parking garages dispersed throughout, and it is more than likely that many restaurants have parking arrangements in place for their customers. This map shows many of the parking garages in Center City. If you know more information on how to accommodate to customers parking needs please leave comments below or leave questions if you need more information we would be happy to help.


There are also inspection codes and zoning to consider as well as how to acquire a liquor permit in Philadelphia, which can be a bit tricky. The Pennsylvania Liquor License Exchange is one group that is trying to help make getting a liquor license easier, visit their website at http://www.pallx.com/licenses/philadelpha_county.html. For Philadelphia inspection codes visit, http://webapps.phila.gov/li/ContentPage.asp?TopNode=resources&level1=78&level2=79&level3=287. Finally to get visual representations of Philadelphia zoning visit http://citymaps.phila.gov/Zoning/OverlayView.aspx. This is one example of their website, it helps to make zoning easier to understand.


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Embracing the Challenge

Competition: A huge part of knowing what kind of restaurant you want to open is by knowing the competition in your area. What food they are making, how many of them there are, and how much they are charging. Knowing your competition is the key to differentiating yourself. For example, you my want open an Italian restaurant, and if the vast number of Italian options in Center City does not detour your efforts the next step would be to know what they are offering, like pizza, manicotti, or a little bit of tiramisu. Amongst all of these staples you may notice that a majority of the Italian restaurants do not offer any authentic soups, such as zuppa canavesana, that gives you an opportunity to set yourself apart. These are a few maps to give you an idea of your competition.

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When checking out your competition it never hurts to know whose the best, and maybe steal some of their steps to success, 22 spots gives a list of successful restaurants in Philadelphia along with tidbits about the restaurant owners. Much of their success has to do with the food they serve and the ambiance created. Which leads to keys two and three, Menu and Style. Here are two examples of successful restaurants in center city Rae and Hyatt XIX.


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Both of these restaurants specialize in New American cuisine. However they have managed to differentiate themselves by their food and furnishings. Rae focuses on taking common snacks and bring them to the next level such as their smoked rabbit nachos. They also transformed a large boxy space into smaller areas by incorporating booths that extend up as walls. At the same time they have created a modern decor with cylindrical hanging lights and metal finishes. Rae balances comfort with urban style. On the other hand Hyatt XIX strives on a sophistication offering uncommon dishes that give the customer a new experience, such as their grilled octopus. The restaurant extends their concept of sophistication throughout neoclassical architecture combined with soft white linens and hanging pearls, it truly provides the customer with a unique space to eat unique food. Both of these restaurants are located in center city, with an average plate price of $31-50, yet both have come to stand out in the public eye through a distinct menu and style.

Figuring Out What You Want to Be

Menu and Style

Once you have found your location you most likely have a pretty good sense of your menu and style. You should have also already decided if you want to be and fine-dining, take-out, or causality eatery. But if you are still not completely sure about what you want to sell or how you want your restaurant to look you should remember that you are serving a customer.
Consider this list of menu musts:
1. Determine Style- family/ semi-formal/formal/take out/ + definition of items based on level of causality, formal = more description
2. Study other establishments with similar sets of food to your own
3. Breakdown menu items either by region ingredients or style, i.e. BBQ, France, Seafood.
4. Pricing figure out variations for add-ons/ special preparation/ substitution, compare to other places
5. Be familiar with the demographics

Diving into Demographics -The best way to sell to your customer is to know the experience they want out of the restaurant they are eating at, and of course the only want to know that is to know who you are serving. You should check information of the age range of the surrounding population, race, occupation, and income. This all feeds into, who buys (eats) what, where. This also gives a better idea of what is missing or what group of people has not been catered to. Hence presenting an opportunity for your restaurant to be a new niche for an unaddressed market. These are a few charts detailing that information.

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For example the age graph shows there are about 240,000 senior citizens in the city, presumably many of which have the time to eat out for breakfast or lunch. So if you decide you want to create an all American diner open only from 5am to 5pm, it would be smart to print your menu with a large and clear font like Arial size 18. Or if you look at the industry and occupation chart you may notice that there is a large number of people classified as "professional or administrative" for industry and "management" for occupation that means there are a lot of busy professionals that can afford a more expensive lunch but just do not have the time to get out of the building. This provides you with the opportunity to institute a delivery service that brings foie gras from your French bistro to their corner office.

Accounting & Recruiting

Additional Information

Most businesses fail within their first year because of insufficient start up capital, you must have enough money to get through one year without profit. In addition there is a slew of expenses to keep track of such as employees, equipment, advertising, and utilities. The list goes on and on, the restaurant owner, at least for the first few years, has his/her hand in everything to make sure that his/her new establishment is going to run smoothly. It's important to create a budget and take into consideration unforeseen developments, in general set aside a stash of money because new unexpected problems can be around any corner.

Employment
Rules & Regulations: Before you employ anyone you need to get a Federal Employer Identification Number. Then register with the State Labor Division, then you need to post an "employee poster" which is required by state laws. Some states also require an employer to get worker's compensation insurance. Each employee must fill out a W-4, I-9, and a New Hire Report form, each of these forms are to be kept on file by the employer for a minimum of four years. For more information on how to process payroll and keep track of your accounting books visit http://www.mynewcompany.com/employees.htm#hiring, and for helpful printed materials visit entrepreneur.com and businessknowhow.net.

Attire: =Outfits are important because they can help brand your restaurant and are functional.
1. Remember comfort is key
2. Ask Employees for input on the uniforms or potential employees during interviews even
3. Pick easy care fabric
4. Stay simple

For the most part, and especially for minimum wage workers, employers provide the uniform and employees are responsible for keeping them clean.

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Utilities & Equipment

Energy Efficiency for Restaurants

BUY ENERGY STAR APPLIANCES, SAVES YOU UP TO 60% OVERALL

Air
1.Variable controls for the exhaust system, it saves 30-50% of your operations costs
2.Operate two-speed fans on low if possible
3.Use more unconditioned air near the kitchen hood to minimize conditioned air exhaust
4.Have a professional balance your ventilation. – This creates more balanced air circulation. One way to know if your space has improper air flow is if your doors are difficult to open due to suction of if an outside door blows open frequently.

Water
Reducing hot water bill=save money on water + electricity

1.Fix dripping faucets. Install aerators for hand faucets - this reduces the amount of water lost, especially hot water.
2.Install a timer on a recirculation pump (if applicable)- the timer will automatically shut off the recirculation pump when the restaurant is closed
3.Insulate hot water pipes. Flush sediment twice per year.- Keeps Pipes Warmer so that water heats up faster which saves you money. Flushing the sediment twice a year creates better water flow for less wasted water.
4.Make sure flue damper is on (if applicable)- so heat does not escape up the flue, this of course only will save you money if you have a flue damper.
5.Install high velocity, low-flow pre-rinse sprayers- this is to replace older, high-volume pre-rinse sprayers that waster water, this way you will save on your sewage costs.
6.Use cold water when running food disposal- extremely important when disposing of grease down the drain. Cold water causes grease to solidify making it easier for the garbage disposal to breakdown, which saves you from possible plumbing issues.
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Operation & Maintenance

Recharge low refrigerant
Clean evaporator and/or condenser coils
Replace loose and/or torn door gaskets
Check temperature settings in fridge base setting on manufacturers suggestion
Check Defrost Settings, this prevents the cycle from over running the typical 15minute segments, these occur 4 times a day.
Clean the fryer heating element and remove sediment to optimize fryer performance
Clean burners
Check Oven Doors for Loose Hinges
Flush-Out Steamer Boilers, Remove Mineral Build-Up
Stagger how much the electric cooking equipment is on to keep demand expenses low

Refrigeration

1.Switch incandescent lights to fluorescents and add strip curtains- Switching over to fluorescents will reduce your electricity, and installing strip curtains holds the cold in the walk in refrigerator, saving you even more on your electricity and reducing air filtration by 75%.
2.Install Anti-Sweat Heater Controls.- Anti-Sweat Controls sense humidity and turn the heaters off not in use.
3.Install High-Efficiency Evaporation Motor Fans
4.Add Glass Doors to Display Cases- Saves you the trouble of opening and closing your display cases for every customer, which will make your display case 50% more efficient. Seek professional help when doing so.
5.Purchase High Efficiency Ice Maker- If you make the Ice Maker production hours in the evening when the restaurant is closed. This cuts down the demand charges while the restaurant is open

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Equipment

1. Figure out what equipment you need based on your menu and the amount of each item you will need based on what foods you will make. Review concept plan and have it guide equipment selection
2.Do your homework. Figure out market prices versus prices in of equipment in the area, in this case Philadelphia. Shop around look up the Restaurant Suppliers, check out their merchandise. Compare New vs. Used. Provided is a list of restaurant equipment suppliers in Philadelphia
3.Make a sourcing action plan for those pieces of equipment. Sourcing Action Plan, products on/at (online, networking, trade fairs) vs. who to get them from(manufacturers, distributors, used equipment dealers,etc.)
4.Create a schedule for getting all the equipment
5.If you feel overwhelmed by this get a consultant, he should help evaluate the bids for new equipment
6.If you decide on used equipment, barder for a reasonable price based on the research you have done, make a through inspection of the item before purchase, clarify the warranty of your purchase, schedule delivery. Finally if it is a used item make sure you get a guarantee in writing.
7.If you are unsure of a certain piece of equipment or if you don’t have the money just yet and do not want to take a loan you can always lease equipment. Ice Maker Machines, Coolers, Coffeemakers, Industrial Dishwasher, and Linens
8. Don’t buy very specialized equipment; you make need certain items depending on your restaurant but if you are not sure don’t be impulsive
9.Keep in mind the cleaning maintenance methods you will need to use for each item, so buy simple if you can.
http://www.dummies.com/WileyCDA/DummiesArticle/id-2575.html

Equipment you need you will need:
The Big Guns: Refrigerator, Freezer, Stove-Oven, Sink,
Other Equipment: Dishwasher, Ice Maker, Vertical Mixer, Blender, Microwave,
Small Ware: Dishware, Furniture, and Utensils
There is a wide variety of items you may need however as previously mentioned you must figure out what you are going to cook before you get your equipment.
For a great list of restaurant equipment check out A to Z Resturant Equipment Company by clicking on the link above.

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