Opening a Restaurant or Other Food Business Starter Kit: How to Prepare a Restaurant Business Plan & Feasibility Study: With Companion CD-ROM Review

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(More customer reviews)Often people who start a restaurant are creative people who are excellent at visualizing their ideas and sadly lacking in skills that help them realize the practical details, forgetting that without expertise in the practical details, their ideas will never get past their home kitchens. Opening a Restaurant is a detailed plan on how to organize your restaurant ideas into something that will a) help you sell your ideas to loan officers and other investors, and b) clarify your vision to help you avoid the pitfalls that drag down most new restaurants within their first year of opening.
What this book will do is teach you how to build a business plan--the document that any institutional lender or investor will want to see before deciding to plunk down money on your hip, new concept. The book is totally specific to the restaurant/food service industry, and weeds out what you need to know from other business-plan instruction manuals, listing many questions that it would be helpful for a new business-owner (or the owner of an existing business planning to make modifications or reassess existing strategies/trends). The book also details how to put together feasibility analysis (both for your restaurant as a whole and for specific project), a marketing plan, how to gather facts and make valid estimates from them, and how to make your plan look professional.
There are two drawbacks to this book. Despite the excellent advice that it gives, the structure can be very confusing at times. For example, throughout the book, Fuller tells you to come up with estimates and answers to questions, but doesn't tell you how to make the estimate or find out the answers to the questions until almost the end of the book. The other drawback is that the formatting and editing of the book leave something to be desired--the information you need could be located in any of several different places. If you have time to read the entire book before starting, this is an excellent book, but looking for a specific answer to a quick question may require more time than you'd like to use. On the up side, there's a good guide to online resources.
Overall, a great little book for clarifying your ideas about your restaurant and putting together a restaurant-specific business plan; I just wish it were organized a little better.

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Restaurants are one of the most frequently started small businesses, yet have one of the highest failure rates. Survivors need a powerful strategic advantage: a sound business plan and feasibility study prior to opening. A new study from The Ohio State University has found the restaurant industry failure rate between 1996 and 1999 to be between 57-61 percent over three years. DonÂ't be a statistic on the wrong side, plan now for success with this new book & CD-ROM package. A business plan precisely defines your business, identifies your goals, and serves as your firm's resume. The basic components include a current and pro forma balance sheet, an income statement, and a cash flow analysis. It helps you allocate resources properly, handle unforeseen complications, and make good business decisions. Because it provides specific and organized information about your company and how you will repay borrowed money, a good business plan is a crucial part of any loan application. Additionally, it informs personnel, suppliers, and others about your operations and goals. Despite the critical importance of a business plan, many entrepreneurs drag their feet when it comes to preparing a written document. They argue that their marketplace changes too fast for a business plan to be useful or that they just don't have enough time. But just as a builder won't begin construction without a blueprint, eager business owners shouldn't rush into new ventures without a business plan. The CD-ROM will cover the following subjects: Elements of a Business Plan, cover sheet , statement of purpose, the business, description of the restaurant, marketing, competition, operating procedures, personnel, business insurance, financial data, loan applications, capital equipment and supply list, balance sheet, breakeven analysis, pro-forma income projections (profit & loss statements), three-year summary, detail by month, first year, detail by quarters, second and third years, assumptions upon which projections were based, pro-forma cash flow, supporting documents for franchised businesses, a copy of franchise contract and all, supporting documents provided by the franchisor, copy of proposed lease or purchase agreement for building space, copy of licenses and other legal documents, copy of resumes of all principals, copies of letters of intent from suppliers, etc. A new study from The Ohio State University has found the restaurant industry failure rate between 1996 and 1999 to be between 57-61 percent over three years. Don't be a statistic on the wrong side, plan now for success with this new book and CD-ROM package.

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Professional Baking (Trade) Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a book that is designed to be a text book for baking. While recipes are measured in both English and Metric, they are primarily measured by weight, not volume. Also many of the proportions are not for the home, but for industrial use. The book covers many areas of baking by going delving into ingredients, and their special characteristics. There is an almost 40 page primer on baking specifics such as yeast, temperatures you want you kitchen to be for rising of breads and much more. If you are looking for information about is about baking in general this book would more than serve you well as it covers so much, but its primary use would be best suited for a professional kitchen.

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The Restaurant: From Concept to Operation Review

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(More customer reviews)For someone who has been searching for a thorough guide book on the restaurant management like me, this book is a gem! It's packed with invaluable advice, practical tips and thorough guidelines on virtually all essential aspects of the restaurant business. It is well organized and written in such a clear, simple language. In short, an extraordinary guide in many ways!

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Restaurant owners will continue to turn to The Restaurant because it helps them gain the skills needed to master every challenge and succeed in this highly competitive and rewarding industry. Each chapter has been revised, updated, and enhanced with numerous industry examples, sidebars, charts, tables, photographs, and menus. Greater emphasis is placed on restaurant business plans, restaurant management, and restaurant operations. The themes of sustainability and sustainable restaurant management have been added throughout. New sections have also been included on purchasing meat, cocktails, and the early history of eating out. All of this information will help restaurant owners make the decisions necessary to build a thriving business.

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How to Open a Financially Successful Bakery : With a Companion CD-ROM Review

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(More customer reviews)"How to Create a Financially Successful Bakery" bakery by Sharon L. Fuller and Douglas R. Brown is an excellent choice for anyone thinking about opening up their very own bakery. It presents a number of things to consider. From weighing the pros and cons of different bakery locations to selecting a menu and from possibly serving meals, coffee, and ice cream to deciding to buy or lease baking equipment, the authors of this book gave me a plenty to think about before I dive into the food industry. It is a great basic resource for anyone looking to own their own food industry business.
In addition to bringing up several points to consider, the authors also direct readers to a number of helpful resources and they guide readers to seek out individualized information from local sources, such as the local health department, fire department, and more.
I found the chapters on hiring the staff and getting set up with suppliers to be the most helpful. Sometimes when you are new to an industry it can be hard to know where to start. Thanks to "How to Create a Financially Successful Bakery" I now know what needs to get done.
The accompanying CD-ROM is also a great resource. On it are a number of sample business plans and related Microsoft Word documents that anyone can alter and use for their own start up business.
While the book does offer great insight into the industry, it is by no means an in-depth, step-by-step guide to owning your own bakery.


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The small bakeries that are popping up every where in this country can be started with a low investment compared to other food business, and can be highly profitable! This is the A-to-Z guide to making it in your own small bakery! Learn the expert tips, tricks, and a vast gold mine of crucial how-to information you just can't find anywhere else. This is a perfect book for entrepreneurs, schools, colleges and technical training centers. This detailed text contains all the information you will ever need to needed to start, operate, and manage a highly profitable bakery. While providing detailed instruction and examples, the author leads you through finding a location that will bring success, learn how to draw up a winning business plan (The Companion CD-ROM has the actual business plan you can use in MS Word TM), how to buy and sell a bakery, basic cost control systems, profitable product planning, sample floor plans & diagrams, successful kitchen management, equipment layout and planning, food safety & HACCP, successful food & beverage management, legal concerns, sales and marketing techniques, pricing formulas, learn how to set up computer systems to save time and money, learn how to hire & keep a qualified professional staff, brand new IRS tip reporting requirements, managing and training employees, generate high profile public relations and publicity, learn low cost internal marketing ideas, low and no cost ways to satisfy customers and build sales, learn how to keep bringing customers back, accounting & bookkeeping procedures, auditing, successful budgeting and profit planning development, as well as thousands of great tips and useful guidelines. Never before has so much practical information about the bakery business been offered in one book. This is an ideal guide new for comers to the business as well as experienced operators. In addition to basic operational practices this book will demonstrate show how to: increase impulse sales and improve presentation, utilize merchandising fixtures and techniques, cross merchandising, point of purchase materials, how to develop a product sampling program.

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How to Open a Financially Successful Pizza & Sub Restaurant Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a great book whether you really want to open a pizzeria or just want to know what goes on behind the counter. I fall into the second category - I'm always interested in how other businesses are run.
The first few chapters will help you understand if owning a pizza restaurant, or indeed any kind of business, makes sense for you. It clearly lays out the skills and talents you need and the first steps to make your business successful.
Read it from cover to cover. Every little detail is in here. What kind of oven should you buy? How should your menu look? Will you offer delivery? How will you evaluate employees? There are even about 70 recipes to get you started.
Most people who go into the pizza business probably won't read this book. Reading it will give you a leg up on the competition. They may have good recipes and a strong work ethic, but they'll struggle with bookkeeping, marketing, and so on. Meanwhile you have the answers from this book, or you know where you get them (from resources listed in the book). It includes a companion CD-ROM that includes all the forms, worksheets, and recipes.

I highly recommend it.


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The explosive growth of the pizza and sub shops across the country has been phenomenal. Take a look at these stats: Americans eat approximately 100 acres of pizza each day, or about 350 slices per second. Pizza is a $32+ billion per year industry. Pizza restaurant growth continues to outpace overall restaurant growth. Pizzerias represent 17 percent of all restaurants. Pizza accounts for more that 10 percent of all food service sales. Here is the manual you need to cash in on this highly profitable segment of the food service industry. This new book is a comprehensive and detailed study of the business side of the restaurant. This superb manual should be studied by anyone investigating the opportunities of opening a pizza or sub restaurant. It will arm you with everything you need including sample business forms, leases, and contracts; worksheets and checklists for planning, opening, and running day-to-day operations; sample menus; inventory lists; plans and layouts; and dozens of other valuable, time-saving tools of the trade that no restaurant entrepreneur should be without. While providing detailed instruction and examples, the author leads you through finding a location that will bring success, learn how to draw up a winning business plan (The companion CD-ROM has the actual pizza restaurant business plan that you can use in MS Word), basic cost-control systems, profitable menu planning, successful kitchen management, equipment layout and planning, food safety and HACCP, successful beverage management, legal concerns, sales and marketing techniques, pricing formulas, learn how to set up computer systems to save time and money, learn how to hire and keep a qualified professional staff, new IRS tip-reporting requirements, managing and training employees, generate high-profile public relations and publicity, learn low-cost internal marketing ideas, low and no-cost ways to satisfy customers and build sales, and learn how to keep bringing customers back.

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Restaurant Success by the Numbers: A Money-Guy's Guide to Opening the Next Hot Spot Review

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(More customer reviews)Restaurateurs depend on the fact that we all have to eat, and we choose the restaurants that provide us what we want at prices we find attractive. Simple, huh? Far from it. This handy book provides the technical and financial materials that you will need if you are actively planning, dreaming about, or wondered about opening an eatery. I urge you to read this book before you commit yourself or your money to anything specific.
Roger Fields is a CPA who has also opened successful restaurants, sold them, and closed a couple that didn't live up to expectations. His being a numbers guy is very helpful, because most restaurant people come at it from the food and aesthetic side of things. However, this is much more than a numbers book. I don't want to scare you off. The point is, you do need to think about the numbers because the better you get at them, the easier it will be to understand what you need to tweak and measure to give your major investment the best opportunity for success.
The book's 15 chapters are divided into three parts. The first part is "Dreaming for Success" and gives you the basics on evaluating your idea for the restaurant and how to see if you dream has a chance in the real world before you fork over your life's savings. The second part takes up 6 chapters and about half of the book. It is on "Developing the Details" and takes you through the down to earth factors such as menu construction, the practical side of ambiance, what you are going to provide on the table, the bar, and staffing.
The third part is "Down to Business" and provides four chapters on getting the money to open your eatery (from scratch, buying a closed operation, or buying one that is already working), what you need to understand about getting the business open, how to let people know about it in a way that they want to check you out, and what you need to know about opening day and the months and years afterwards.
This book is also interesting for folks like me who never plan on opening a restaurant but want to know what really goes on in those places we enjoy eating at and what it takes to make them work. The book is very practically written with clear language and almost no numbers. However, it is about business and if you are going to be in business, this is material you really have to know. This is a great handbook for you and will help you support your dreams and ambitions with a practical structure.


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Ninety percent of restaurants fail, and those that succeed stumbled on the X factor, right? Wrong! Accountant-turned-restaurateur Roger Fields shows how a restaurant can survive its first year--based on far more than luck--and produce good profit for many to come. Sprinkled with restaurant start-up stories from all over the country, this how-to includes lessons on location research, pricing, hiring, and more. Opening a restaurant isn't easy, but this realistic dreamer's guide helps ensure success at the finish line.

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