What’s the Real Cost of Opening a Restaurant?

If you’re thinking of opening up your own restaurant, there’s a lot of factors you need to consider. The cost of setting up is just one of the things you need to look into and the amount you need may just surprise you.

So, what is the real cost of setting up a restaurant? Here, you’ll discover the main costs involved that you need to factor in.

Premise costs

The biggest cost you’re going to face is the restaurant premises. Whether you’re choosing to buy or lease out the space, it’s going to be the most expensive part of setting up your restaurant. Generally speaking, leasehold premises are cheaper than freehold, though you’ll still be looking to pay anything from £40,000 to 200,000.

You’ll obviously want your restaurant to be ideally located too, which could cost significantly more if you’re basing yourself in a prime location.

Utility costs

One thing that’s easy to forget about when you’re estimating the cost of setting up a restaurant business, is utility costs. You may find the electrics and plumbing in the premises you’ve chosen need to be altered to accommodate for your restaurant’s layout. So, not only will you have the electricity and gas running costs to consider, but you’ll also need to potentially factor in installation costs too.

It’s worth shopping around before deciding which utility supplier to go with. Different companies offer differing prices, so shopping around will ensure you get the best deal.

Supplier costs

Restaurant owners need quite a lot of supplies in order to keep the business flowing. Therefore, you’re going to want to compare different suppliers to ensure you find the cheapest deals. However, it is important to consider more than just cost when choosing a supplier.

You also need to ensure they are reliable and provide high-quality supplies such as Nisbets. If you compromise quality for cost, you’re definitely not going to become successful. There’s so much competition out there in the restaurant business so in order to survive, you need to make sure you’re providing an exceptional quality service.

Marketing

Another start-up cost that’s really easy to forget about is marketing. Once you’ve got the restaurant set up, you need to get the word out there so people know you exist. Offline marketing is great for driving in local customers, but you’ll also need to focus your efforts on digital marketing.

While many digital marketing techniques are free, such as social media business pages, you will need to spend some money on your marketing campaign. For example, at the very least you’re going to need a website. Then, you’ll want to look at targeted paid ads on Google and social media.

These are just some of the costs involved in setting up a restaurant. As you can see, it’s certainly not the cheapest type of business to start. However, the profit potential if you get it right is huge. You really do need to consider the full costs before setting up your new restaurant if you want it to be a success.