Small business help.

Vancouver is a really hot market for Resturants, especially ones that have some sort of special edge or something a little different. Like, we have a place that only serves breakfast cereal, and the dude is rich...

But, the market is REALLY crappy right now Sucks to say it, but getting a loan will not be easy for a 19 year old right now. Maybe with experience in the field, some backers, or when the market gets better? But there is no harm in trying!

About writing a business plan, i JUST dropped my business writing course hah, but from what i learned they are not hard at ALL. They are very much just "follow the guidelines to the letter". Im sure if you google how to write one it shows you examples and you just basically copy the format and edit the info.

But if you REALLY want to do this, seek advice from either a current buisness owner you know or a financial consultant. You will need lots of information, sample date, blueprints, menu, ALOT of stuff....its not easy for sure. But if your set on this, then fuck anyone who says you cant and GO FOR IT If you dont try, then your only letting yourself down!

 

I ment if you know one via your parents, friends, ect. Connections are were you get things like this going ("I know a friend of a friend of a friend who can __" type thing)

And that definitely would work in Vancouver or Toronto. All the young yuppies who eat that shit up! Pun intended But honestly, big cities with young populations love stuff like that!

 

i suggest going to school for it first and saving up some money

 

Your odds of getting a loan to open a restaurant are close to zero. Not just because the economy is awful, and not just because you're 19, although those factors won't help matters any. The real problem, I think, is that it's a "sudden realization". This seems to imply that you don't have much experience in restaurant ownership or management. (Well, I guess the fact that you're 19 sort of implies that, too.)

So before you start hitting up banks, do some research. After all, I'm assuming you don't just want to open a restaurant. I'm assuming you want it to thrive, to succeed. You don't want to have to shut it down two months later, and face a mountain of debt that you'll have to repay over the next ten years. So start educating yourself.

First stop, go to the library, or go online. Read a couple books on restaurant management/ownership. Not necessarily to become an expert in the field, but you'll want to learn some of the basics.

* How do restaurants get contracts with food suppliers?
* How do restaurants/chefs set their menus?
* How much money is needed to stage a successful opening?
* What sort of turnover do restaurants need in order to be profitable?
* How do restaurants ensure they're staying on the right side of the health department?

Again, you're not looking to become a whiz at it, necessarily. But you'll want to at least be able to have a basic grasp of the issues facing someone running a restaurant.

Next, find some restaurant owners that will sit down and talk with you. Just call a few, or stop by. Tell the owners "I'm thinking I'd like to open my own restaurant someday, so I'd like to talk to some restaurant owners firsthand about the issues they have to deal with." Best bet is to find and talk with them between the meal rushes - between 2 and 4, probably. Most won't be available when you first call or stop by. That's fine - see if you can set up an appointment to talk with them later. And don't just talk to owners of fancy restaurants, or ones that are similar to the one you've got in mind. Talk to burger shop owners, and sandwich shop owners. Because even at that level, more than half of the "stuff they deal with" is the same.

When you do go, listen. Take notes. Even if it's obvious stuff you've already gotten from a book. You'll want to convey to them the fact that you ARE interested, and you ARE serious about this. Let their answers guide your next questions. If a guy tells you that it's hard to keep staff, go into that. Where do they advertise for positions? What positions are hardest to fill? What do they look for in applicants?

Once you have all this information, you'll have a much better idea as to the work and money needed, and you can decide if you really want to make a go of it. If so, you can start working on your business proposal - and you'll be in a much better spot to write it, too.

Lex

 

While all of what Lex says is great advice to learn things right now, a more tried and true way to get to where you want to go is to start from square one. Get a job in a restaurant. Be a great employee while also being open and confident and inquisitive about all the workings of the place. Ask questions, offer to help with things beyond your regular duties--administrative tasks such as ordering, hiring/interviewing, accounting, permitting/inspections, etc. At 19, in this economy, I think that's all you can do right now.

 

Even though Lex and Olides84 made some good points, I would still suggest going to school for it. I'm sure there are programs all over Canada for it. Take it from someone that in that kind of program, there's a lot of essential information that you wouldn't get through working at a restaurant. Someone telling you what they do is entirely different then doing it yourself and learning how to do it.

I'm taking the Hospitality Management course at SAIT in Calgary. Not to sound like I'm promoting my course/school, but it's a great program that provides hands-on learning. If you're a hands-on kind of person, this would help a lot. Even though it is basically half restaurant and half hotels, there are many courses that will help you if you do choose to open up a restaurant later in life. To give you some examples of classes in the course that would be beneficial, here are some:

Entrepreneurship - starting your own business, group project consist of coming up with a business and writing a business plan on it.
Business Communications - how to write a business plan, formats, resumes and interviews
Marketing - how to market your business to consumers
F&B Service - learn about serving techniques and styles. Live Classroom, you serve real customers food and learn how to bar tend and open and serve wine, setting up tables etc... Learn a little about food, terminology etc. You also learn the POS system and how to manage a dining room. Basically run by ALL students, Professional Cooking students cook the food, Hospitality Mangement students serve and run the dining room. 5 course meal, considered pretty high end.
Food Production - Live Classroom, learn about food, cooking techniques etc, while you actually make it and eat it
Food Safety and Nutrition - basically is what the name is. Proper temperatures, storage and sanitation.
Wine and Spirits Studies - if you're going to have a restaurant, you're going to need to know about wines; red, white, dessert, tasting etc... you learn a bit more in F&B service too.
Finance - costs and money etc..
Hospitality Law - learn about the laws surrounding restaurants and hotels, liability, licenses etc...
Professional Internship - Paid, between 1st and 2nd year, anything you want as long as it is hospitality related, experience
There are a lot of 2nd year classes too that would be useful, but I have yet to take them so i don't know what they consist of. There's accounting, F&B cost management, Supervision etc...

http://sait.ca/pages/cometosait/academic/diplomas/ahra.shtml

Here's a link to it. It's a 2 year diploma program with transfer option to a University to do another 2 years for the degree. It's a good program if you think it's right for you.

If you have any questions, feel free to PM me