Thursday, December 13, 2012

What You Should Know About Leasing


You may be reviewing whether or not to purchase restaurant furniture and fixtures or to lease them. This is a decision that can mean the difference between a profitable bottom line or one that is less so. Before making the choice between buying or leasing, here are some suggestions to review, so you have a better understanding of the topic

Review the lease contract with care. You shouldn't assume that anything is included in the contract unless you have seen it. Better yet, have your business attorney and your tax accounting review the contract. In most instances, negotiation to get the exact terms you need is beneficial. The lease should be set up in a way that your bookkeeper and your attorney each approve.

There are advantages of choosing leasing over purchasing the equipment and fixtures you need. For example, the cost of monthly payments tends to be less than the cost of purchasing using a payment plan. When you have limited financial resources, your cash flow is improved when you lease rather than pay your nest egg out for purchased fixtures.

When you use leased equipment, you can probably arrange a clause so that you always have the latest model or style in your facility. You will also want to ensure that maintenance for mechanical or electronic equipment is included within the terms of the contract. This feature is an advantage you get when you lease rather than buy. However, you will need to ensure that the contract speaks to the topic.

Leasing the restaurant equipment you need does have a disadvantage or two. You ordinarily don't own the equipment. If should go out of business before the lease term is completed, chances are that you will have to pay a penalty, which could be substantial. Because the equipment is not owned, it may have have tax implications. For example you may lose the tax benefit of depreciation, depending upon how your accounting system is designed.

When you are deciding between purchased and leased equipment, you will want to consider price, both for the original purchase, the monthly payment amounts and the tax-adjusted amount if that apply. It's important to be sure that your lease agreement is clear, easy to read, and doesn't contain any unpleasant surprises. Using leased equipment may allow you to keep the latest model or style in your facility. You will also have the option of including the maintenance in the cost of the lease.

Friday, August 17, 2012

Designing The Ideal Restaurant Opening Checklist



Before you decide to open your dream restaurant, it is vital to design a restaurant opening checklist in order to get the best business up and running. The checklist ensures that you budget is carefully spent on the activities that are most required to effectively boost your restaurant's reputation.

An ideal restaurant opening checklist is the key to the successful start-up of a restaurant. With clear and organized business ideas listed in the checklist, there is less room for error and the possibility you will start a profitable business. First of all, your checklist should include employee training. All your restaurant employees must be fully aware of their respective jobs and responsibilities at all times. Also, before you open your restaurant to the public, you need to choose the food suppliers and develop a firm understanding with them on price. The restaurant opening checklist will ensure that you have all your "i"s dotted in the correct place.

A checklist designed for a new restaurant also includes maintenance services and an advertising plan. Whether your restaurant is loaded with high-tech equipment or offers a simple coffee shop, effective preservation is highly recommended. From cleaning of windows to repairing of equipment, your checklist must include all the necessary maintenance services that your restaurant requires. Advertising, similarly, is extremely significant for any business start-up. A restaurant opening checklist contains the advertising plans that are essential to enrich the status of your restaurant throughout the city.

A restaurant opening checklist is hugely important for starting a new restaurant. The checklist will ensure that you get the best site location for a reasonable price and perform all the business setup tasks that are essential for a successful start-up. With a perfect restaurant checklist at hand, it can become extraordinarily easy to open a restaurant with a low budget.

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Restaurant Inventory


Is not restaurant inventory the most daunting task on the planet?  I dread the end of month where all the liquor, food,small wear,beer and everything else in the restaurant needs to be counted.  There I am coffee in hand, a coffee I should probably not be drinking as it is my seventh or eighth of the day and I am ready to enter the deep freezer pen and clipboard in hand. Ready to freeze my hands and ears to count case after case of frozen product.  Can you image my dismay finding multiple boxes open, empty boxes, and product that should not even be on the freezer.  Ahhh the life of a restaurant manager!

I remember a time when smart phones 1st came onto the market and I owned one hoping to be able to save myself a few golden moments of data entry after counting so many items but I always found that my old trusty clipboard an pen was best.  Always hunting down the months invoices to adjust my pricing on my restaurant inventory forms.

I so wish they had iPads when I started on the restaurant industry.  How easy it could be to access all your restaurant forms on the fly and adjust pricing as each invoice came in.  Never mind the ability to have your excel inventory sheets almost the same size of tradition paper an pen inventory forms.

Heres a great trick to play on a fellow employee next time inventory gets you down.  You know the plastic swords behind the bar they use for olives, onions and soon for cocktails.  Next time your working on bar inventory find an easy target and ask them for help with your inventory and get them to found something easy 1st like the katsup at the server station.  When they come back and give you the inventory total ask them to help again and ask them to count the bar swords of an open box.  Now remember you CANNOT smile at all when asking or you will give yourself away.

Have fun!

Friday, January 20, 2012

The Importance of Using Restaurant Opening Checklist



A lot of people would still want to engage in the food business despite the fact that the economy is not good. Well, this might not seem like a wise choice for some, but in fact, it is. There are a lot of people who have already started their own business. They just made use of restaurant opening checklist and they were good to go. This checklist contained all the essential ideas that they have to remember in order to finish the job well. The checklist is not just a simple checklist, but it contains the necessary details in putting up a restaurant.

Yes, you might just go on your own when it comes to opening a restaurant. However, if you are guided, it will feel so much different. You will have a lot of details that might be overlooked if you just do things your own way. However, if you have the checklist with you, you will be guided. You do not have to worry about what is missed out since you just have to look at the checklist. It is also easy for you to go back on the areas that were not yet solved. If you continue using the checklist until the end, it will be very easy for you to start the business in no time.

Most of all, the use of the checklist only signifies that you are a responsible owner. You know what to do from the very beginning in order to achieve the results as early as possible. Thus, if you can just go and see this checklist now, you will be more confident in putting up your own business. There will be no hassle and delays. Rest assured, when you have followed all the steps successfully, your business will be a blast just like the others who have made use of the checklist.