Trouble Shooting – Restaurant Turnarounds
profitable. Even a packed house and a line at the door may not keep you from staring at red ink month after month.
WHY?
Running a restaurant is unlike any other business. It is a complex undertaking with many, many elements, any one of which, if flawed, can cause continuous financial losses. One popular menu item incorrectly priced, underpriced drinks from the bar, holes in the accounting system permitting the staff to pocket money, high cost of debt service, lackluster marketing, an exorbitant rent – any of these scenarios can lead to shrinking profits and an owner’s loss of income.
In the restaurant business, where profit margins are simply too slim to permit mistakes, a small logistical error can cost you the business. Trying to increase those margins in this very competitive industry without professional guidance will result in the loss of customers.
With over 15 years of restaurant owning experience, F&B Consulting Partners can find and correct the mistakes. We know where to look and what to look for. We know financing, leasing. Simply put: we know how the Restaurant Game is played. F&B Consulting Partners have helped turnaround scores of troubled restaurants.
Here’s What F&B Consulting Partners Can Do for You:
- Troubleshoot – to include a review of every aspect of the business
- Create an operations/cost analysis
- Develop a budget and oversee its implementation
- Develop and implement effective management and organizational systems
- Advise and implement the turnaround
Restaurant Start Up Services
The process of developing a new restaurant can be a daunting task. F&B Consulting Partners will guide you through the process to ensure you have a successful product. We Focus on Your Return on Investment!
We begin by discussing your objectives and the proposed concept with the client. Once the concept has been established we begin by completing a comprehensive feasibility study.
The feasibility study provides pertinent information regarding the probability of success and Return on Investment of a particular concept in a specific or geographical area.
Our Start-Up Services include:
- Site Selection/LOI Lease Negotiations
- Development of the Operational Plan
- Selection of Architect and General Contractor
- Layout & Floor Plan Design
- FF&E Services (Furniture, Fixtures, & Equipment)
- Selection of all Restaurant Vendors
- Menu and Back of the House Development/Culinary
- Front of the House Development /Training
- Development of Restaurant Policies and Procedures
- Human Resources - This includes recruiting, hiring, and training of all restaurant staff.
- Marketing Program Development
- Selection of POS System
- Financial Cost Control Procedures
- Management Support
We can provide a Full Service Start-Up Package, or you may select individual services. Many of our clients prefer a Turn-Key Solution, while others wish to select individual services.
Whatever your particular need, we have the services to make your vision a reality.
- FOR THE SUCCESS OF A NEW RESTAURANT, THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF OPERATING CAPITAL is critical, therefore budgets are put in place for all aspects of building and opening the restaurant. These budgets will have the necessary oversight and supervision to ensure that there is money available for initial operations.
- For a brand new restaurant space, the entire process can take from 6 – 18 months. For a property that had been a restaurant, this can take from 3 months to a year.
Food Trucks
In planning a food truck for the first time, F&B Consulting Partners provides the coaching, advising, and assisting of services needed to assure success of your business venture:
- We begin with a preliminary review and analysis – understanding your concept and who your customers will be. And the review your financial status and opportunities available for financing.
- Once you are comfortable with the feasibility of your food truck project, we work together on the projections of sales. Applying these sales to projected costs, We put together a draft analysis of what it will costs to open and operate the truck.
- From this we will understand what it will cost to open and operate the food truck – and how to acquire the monies – through financing, savings, investors, etc. – necessary to insure success.
- At the same time, We together put together the initial marketing and design strategies of menu, logo, “truck wrap”, social media, group sales, events, etc.
- We then secure the truck and it’s fit out. Included in this process, is the acquiring of the permits and licenses required to operate a food truck in the proposed locations of use – including multiple governing authorities: local health departments, fire departments, municipalities, state(s) – if you are planning to cross state lines to sell food out of your truck, federal truck regulations, etc.
- With construction and approvals in process, We initiate the marketing programs including initial catering and event promotions, street and event locations availabilities.
- After operations begin, having the experience of over 15 years of operating food businesses, F&B Consulting Partners can continue to guide you and operations to assure your success.
THE PROCESS
Before we begin every project, we start by identifying the objective(s) of the client. We then discuss the value meeting these objectives brings to the client. Once we have conceptual agreement on the objectives, value, and methodology to be used, we will provide you with a comprehensive proposal that will:
- Summarize the agreed upon objectives and outcomes.
- Determine what methods we will use to reached the agreed upon objectives.
- Provide you with three or more investment options to attain the desired results.
We approach every project with the clients fininacial success as the primary goal. It's all about your Return on Investment.
All projects are managed by F&B Consulting Partners.
Restaurant Start-Up Services are custom designed to meet the specific needs of each client. Clients may select our Full Service Package, or they may select individual services.
We provide a free initial consultation so we can discuss your goals and objective and to determine the best way to work together.
Commercial Sales and Leasing
All restaurants are rooted in “brick and mortar.” Even food trucks, by health code, need to have a “commissary kitchen.”
The real estate of a food service operation accounts for one of the three essential controllable business costs (right behind product and labor) to be controlled in order to succeed.
As an integral part of business consulting services, F&B Consulting Partners assists with this vital piece: the purchase and/or leasing of a restaurant property. We assist in locating the appropriate property, evaluating it, and then negotiating terms that will allow your business to succeed.
F&B Consulting Partners is a licensed real estate agent.
Services include:
- Finding suitable commercial property – location, size, and price.
- Creating an affordability analysis based on concept, size, operational expenses, zoning, financing, etc.
- Coordinating the business owner’s plan for the property owner, as well as investors and banks.
- Financing
- Working with my client’s other professionals: architects, interior designers, kitchen designers, lawyers, accountants, expenditures, website designers, plumbers, electricians, carpenters, etc.
- Negotiating the right deals, purchases, and leases
Feasibility Study
The first step in Starting Up a new restaurant or purchasing a franchise should be to conduct a Feasibility Study. More than just a site location study, this involves the gathering and analysis of information necessary to make an informed decision about the potential success of a specific concept in a specific or geographical location. Also, feasibility studies or business plans may be required by a landlord when you are in the process of aquiring a site. They may also require a comprehensive study that includes renderrings, conceptual layout, and logo design which we provide to our clients.
Think of a feasibility study as insurance. It is insurance against failure. Any new business venture can be risky, and restaurants are no exception.
A Feasibility Study is a smart "minimal investment" before you begin the process of developing your restaurant or purchasing that franchise. A Feasibility Study Maximizes Your Chances For Success and Increases Your Return on Investment.
What is included?
- We Research the Market Area – This research is conducted to investigate the market area surrounding the restaurant site. The goal is to establish a feel for the area and gather data that will help determine the future success of the restaurant concept. We will include a complete demographic study of the selected geographic area(s).
- We Survey Potential Competitors – The purpose is to identify and investigate all restaurants in the market area that may affect the restaurant (s) operation. The information gathered will be used to analyze the site from the perspective of potential competition.
- We Analyze the Selected Site – We will determine, based on the market characteristics and competitive restaurant survey, whether the market area for a particular site could potentially support a new restaurant, and if the proposed concepts would flourish at the location.
- We Develop a Preliminary Restaurant Concept – A written description of the concept and menu with preliminary price points will help us visualize the restaurant in relation to market conditions and direct/indirect competitors. This will also aid us in determining how the restaurant may be positioned. A conceptual menu will also be included. The concept development portion of this study is a methodical process. The concept must meet the needs of the client and must be positioned for financial success as stated in the financial section.
- We then construct a Preliminary Pro Forma Financial Statement based on projected restaurant sales and fixed/variable costs. This will also include estimated capital requirements for development, projected uses of cash, sales and labor projections, cash flow projection, break-even analysis, and five-year sales/profit projections.
- We will estimate construction costs and development costs related to full restaurant operations.
The process of completing the study takes two (2) weeks. Once completed, we will review the study with the client and determine the best way to proceed. The Feasibility Study will provide a working budget which will provide a road map for success.
As with all of our services, we guarantee you will be satisified with the results.
A feasibility Study is an important first step in the development of any new restaurant, be it a new concept or franchise.
PERSONAL COACHING PROGRAM
The Personal Coaching Program is our service that provides you with unlimited access to us by e-mail, phone, etc. I help owners/operators with any issue that is affecting the performance / profitability of their restaurant. The focus is on Improving Your Food Service Profitability and Return on Investment.
We begin by discussing issues that are affecting your Food Business ability to reach your financial goals. We then create a strategy that will improve your profits and maximize your Return on Investment. This is a very fluid process and we make adjustments as needed.
This program gives you access to us 7-days per week.
Food Safety Training Programs
Even though the United States has one of the safest food supplies in the world, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention estimates each year approximately 1 in 6 Americans get sick, its about 48 million people, 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 die from foodborne diseases each year.
As stated on CDC website, we live in a world full of microbes, everything from bacteria to viruses. there are numerous opportunities for food to become contaminated during production, delivery, preparation, storage, cooking and service. We are here to guide you by providing tools, knowledge such us a ServSafe Class and exam with us and work with you in building a food safety audits for your operation to ensure the food you serve to your guests is safe and your brand is protected. you can learn more about food safety at our sister company company's website www.FBsafetySolutions.com
Food Safety Audits
You've built a great brand around a tasty food and great customer service — but if you put food safety on the back burner, you're risking everything that you've built. Food safety is at the core of customer experience.
Today, more than ever before, food safety violations are top of mind with your customers. Consumers don't hesitate to share their experiences — a single negative food safety incident can pose serious risks to your bottom line and your brand.
F&B Consulting Partners has developed the industry's most consultative food safety assessment experience, going beyond a checklist audit to give you a comprehensive overview of your location's performance in every area that matters.