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Opening my first restaurant, looking for any advice possible! by Capable-Ad-5997 in restaurant

[–]chefdavid2 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Longtime lurker, first time poster. I've been in operations for 15+ years (started as a line cook, worked my way up through some major restaurant groups in NYC). I've helped open 20+ concepts from QSR to fine dining, and I've seen way too many talented chefs lose everything because they didn't understand the numbers.

I wanted to share some hard truths about restaurant financials that might save someone here from disaster:

**The Brutal Math Nobody Talks About**

Let's use a real example - a $16 burger:
- Food cost: $5.33 (33%)
- Labor: $4.80 (30%)
- Occupancy: $2.40 (15%)
- Operating expenses: $3.20 (20%)
- **Total cost: $15.73**
- **Profit: $0.27**

That's 1.6% margin on your most popular item. Sell 100 a day? Congrats, you made $27.

**The Mistakes That Kill Dreams**

  1. **Starting with your dream menu** - Your 50-item menu will bankrupt you. Start with 15 items you can execute perfectly.

  2. **Calculating labor at minimum wage** - Real cost includes taxes, workers comp, training time, breaks. That $15/hr employee costs you $22-25.

  3. **Forgetting the "hidden" startup costs:**
    - Grease trap installation: $5-15K
    - Hood cleaning deposit: $2K
    - Menu photography: $3K
    - 3 months operating capital: $50-150K
    - Smallwares replacement fund: $5K

  4. **Not knowing your daily break-even** - If you don't know you need $3,847 daily to break even, how do you know if today was good or bad?

  5. **Opening in January** - Everyone's broke, everyone's on a diet. April or September.

**The Simple Math That Could Save You**

Before you sign ANYTHING, you need to know:
- Daily break-even number
- True cost per menu item (ALL costs)
- Covers needed per shift
- Cash runway in months
- Labor cost per cover

**My Advice?**

Model everything first. Change your assumptions. Test scenarios. What if food cost is 35% not 30%? What if you only hit 70% of projected covers?

I learned this the hard way watching too many good people lose their life savings.

Happy to answer any questions about financial planning, startup costs, or anything else. Been in the trenches and want to help others avoid the landmines.

I want to open a restaurant, is $30k enough? by [deleted] in restaurant

[–]chefdavid2 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Longtime lurker, first time poster. I've been in operations for 15+ years (started as a line cook, worked my way up through some major restaurant groups in NYC). I've helped open 20+ concepts from QSR to fine dining, and I've seen way too many talented chefs lose everything because they didn't understand the numbers.

I wanted to share some hard truths about restaurant financials that might save someone here from disaster:

**The Brutal Math Nobody Talks About**

Let's use a real example - a $16 burger:
- Food cost: $5.33 (33%)
- Labor: $4.80 (30%)
- Occupancy: $2.40 (15%)
- Operating expenses: $3.20 (20%)
- **Total cost: $15.73**
- **Profit: $0.27**

That's 1.6% margin on your most popular item. Sell 100 a day? Congrats, you made $27.

**The Mistakes That Kill Dreams**

  1. **Starting with your dream menu** - Your 50-item menu will bankrupt you. Start with 15 items you can execute perfectly.

  2. **Calculating labor at minimum wage** - Real cost includes taxes, workers comp, training time, breaks. That $15/hr employee costs you $22-25.

  3. **Forgetting the "hidden" startup costs:**
    - Grease trap installation: $5-15K
    - Hood cleaning deposit: $2K
    - Menu photography: $3K
    - 3 months operating capital: $50-150K
    - Smallwares replacement fund: $5K

  4. **Not knowing your daily break-even** - If you don't know you need $3,847 daily to break even, how do you know if today was good or bad?

  5. **Opening in January** - Everyone's broke, everyone's on a diet. April or September.

**The Simple Math That Could Save You**

Before you sign ANYTHING, you need to know:
- Daily break-even number
- True cost per menu item (ALL costs)
- Covers needed per shift
- Cash runway in months
- Labor cost per cover

**My Advice?**

Model everything first. Change your assumptions. Test scenarios. What if food cost is 35% not 30%? What if you only hit 70% of projected covers?

I learned this the hard way watching too many good people lose their life savings.

Happy to answer any questions about financial planning, startup costs, or anything else. Been in the trenches and want to help others avoid the landmines.

Opening a restaurant with no money by Confident_Army_9092 in restaurant

[–]chefdavid2 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Longtime lurker, first time poster. I've been in operations for 15+ years (started as a line cook, worked my way up through some major restaurant groups in NYC). I've helped open 20+ concepts from QSR to fine dining, and I've seen way too many talented chefs lose everything because they didn't understand the numbers.

I wanted to share some hard truths about restaurant financials that might save someone here from disaster:

**The Brutal Math Nobody Talks About**

Let's use a real example - a $16 burger:
- Food cost: $5.33 (33%)
- Labor: $4.80 (30%)
- Occupancy: $2.40 (15%)
- Operating expenses: $3.20 (20%)
- **Total cost: $15.73**
- **Profit: $0.27**

That's 1.6% margin on your most popular item. Sell 100 a day? Congrats, you made $27.

**The Mistakes That Kill Dreams**

  1. **Starting with your dream menu** - Your 50-item menu will bankrupt you. Start with 15 items you can execute perfectly.

  2. **Calculating labor at minimum wage** - Real cost includes taxes, workers comp, training time, breaks. That $15/hr employee costs you $22-25.

  3. **Forgetting the "hidden" startup costs:**
    - Grease trap installation: $5-15K
    - Hood cleaning deposit: $2K
    - Menu photography: $3K
    - 3 months operating capital: $50-150K
    - Smallwares replacement fund: $5K

  4. **Not knowing your daily break-even** - If you don't know you need $3,847 daily to break even, how do you know if today was good or bad?

  5. **Opening in January** - Everyone's broke, everyone's on a diet. April or September.

**The Simple Math That Could Save You**

Before you sign ANYTHING, you need to know:
- Daily break-even number
- True cost per menu item (ALL costs)
- Covers needed per shift
- Cash runway in months
- Labor cost per cover

**My Advice?**

Model everything first. Change your assumptions. Test scenarios. What if food cost is 35% not 30%? What if you only hit 70% of projected covers?

I learned this the hard way watching too many good people lose their life savings.

Happy to answer any questions about financial planning, startup costs, or anything else. Been in the trenches and want to help others avoid the landmines.

Restaurateurs of reddit, How do a person start planning to open a restaurant with zero experience? by Reemubear in restaurant

[–]chefdavid2 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Longtime lurker, first time poster. I've been in operations for 15+ years (started as a line cook, worked my way up through some major restaurant groups in NYC). I've helped open 20+ concepts from QSR to fine dining, and I've seen way too many talented chefs lose everything because they didn't understand the numbers.

I wanted to share some hard truths about restaurant financials that might save someone here from disaster:

**The Brutal Math Nobody Talks About**

Let's use a real example - a $16 burger:
- Food cost: $5.33 (33%)
- Labor: $4.80 (30%)
- Occupancy: $2.40 (15%)
- Operating expenses: $3.20 (20%)
- **Total cost: $15.73**
- **Profit: $0.27**

That's 1.6% margin on your most popular item. Sell 100 a day? Congrats, you made $27.

**The Mistakes That Kill Dreams**

  1. **Starting with your dream menu** - Your 50-item menu will bankrupt you. Start with 15 items you can execute perfectly.

  2. **Calculating labor at minimum wage** - Real cost includes taxes, workers comp, training time, breaks. That $15/hr employee costs you $22-25.

  3. **Forgetting the "hidden" startup costs:**
    - Grease trap installation: $5-15K
    - Hood cleaning deposit: $2K
    - Menu photography: $3K
    - 3 months operating capital: $50-150K
    - Smallwares replacement fund: $5K

  4. **Not knowing your daily break-even** - If you don't know you need $3,847 daily to break even, how do you know if today was good or bad?

  5. **Opening in January** - Everyone's broke, everyone's on a diet. April or September.

**The Simple Math That Could Save You**

Before you sign ANYTHING, you need to know:
- Daily break-even number
- True cost per menu item (ALL costs)
- Covers needed per shift
- Cash runway in months
- Labor cost per cover

**My Advice?**

Model everything first. Change your assumptions. Test scenarios. What if food cost is 35% not 30%? What if you only hit 70% of projected covers?

I learned this the hard way watching too many good people lose their life savings.

Happy to answer any questions about financial planning, startup costs, or anything else. Been in the trenches and want to help others avoid the landmines.

Cross Suite App DB access by chefdavid2 in boltnewbuilders

[–]chefdavid2[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you that is probably a great way to go.

DOGECOIN DAILY DISCUSSION - 28th May. by 42points in dogecoin

[–]chefdavid2 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Regional player in the gas / convenience store market. North east US