How to set up a restaurant in 100 days

Are you being bitten by the entrepreneurial bug and would like to invest in the restaurant business?

The easiest route for wannabe restaurateurs is to hire a food consultant who will hold your hand and offer assistance right from propping up the kitchen to standardising menus to designing mood interiors.

But just in case, you want to go about doing your own thing, here are some handy tips from Delhi-based food consultants Manu and Sonia Mohindra on how to set up a restaurant in 100 days.

The Mohindras run Under One Roof Hotel Consultants, a company which has set up over 100 restaurants and industrial kitchens in the past six years.

"Restaurant business is all about good service, good food and hard-core selling. In these times, there's no such thing as word of mouth. Like any other business, it has to be a well calculated plan," says Manu Mohindra, who also does project reports and loan approvals.

But how do you go about accomplishing that? How much should you invest? What are the biggest headaches in working out the right concept and correct menu in this highly competitive business?

Delhi and Gurgaon put together already has about 700-800 restaurants, and Mumbai another 2,000.

Add to this the emerging restaurant markets like Ludhiana (75-80) and Chandigarh (150).

Typically for a 2,500 sq ft or 70-seater dining restaurant, investment could be anywhere in the region of Rs 60-85 lakh, inclusive of consultancy fees, eligibility certificates, pre-operational expenses and first months' working capital.

Several sets of clearances are required: a certificate of approval from the municipal corporation, eating house license from the health department, no objection certificates from the local police station, fire station and the tourism department, and liquor license from the excise department.

At the outset, says Sonia Mahindra, one needs to organise "facility planning" or set up the operational area such as the kitchen, store, dining area and location of wash rooms.

After finalising the layout, the next step is to prepare the tender documents and place order of equipment depending on preparation needs.

The third stage involves designing of service wares such as crockery, cutlery, linen and uniform, keeping in mind the theme of the restaurant. This is also the time to check out on fabric sampling. "Wash worthiness" of fabrics should be looked into to avoid extra expenses of re-ordering.

At this juncture, coordination with the appointed architect is vital as well as working on colour schemes and upholstery for the interiors.

After this, almost all jobs with external agencies are over and undivided attention can now go into the most important driver of restaurants - food and service.

Depending on the concept of the restaurant in mind, careful thought must go into planning of menus and cocktails. This is the time to check on food standardisation to achieve uniform taste of food, presentation and colour.

Simultaneously, restaurant manager, chef, cook, stewards, bar tenders, housekeepers can be hired.

In addition, operational procedures can be streamlined at this stage - how goods will arrive, where is it to be stocked, setting the menu, and other such systems in place.

By this time, the kitchen and dining area is almost ready and the chefs and the staff can be put through an active three-week training on what portion serving to guests and observe general quality control. This is also the time to hire an event management or public relation company, if necessary.

Mock trials can begin where you could invite friends and relatives to try out the menu. As glitches in the kitchen and software billing can be fine-tuned at this stage, trial runs give a significant feedback on what the restaurants would be like when it actually starts functioning as a full-fledged restaurant.