When there is a desire to open a restaurant, fantasy always comes into play. One has only to imagine how groups of people are sitting at cozy tables, everyone is eating, drinking, laughing, and quiet, pleasant music plays in the background. Of course, you can fantasize and imagine a youth cafe where guys and girls gather, they are dressed brightly, everyone drinks the same bright cocktails around, and the fiery motifs of the music make you dance.
Taken together, all of these representations are a restaurant concept. At first glance, it might seem that coming up with what the restaurant will look like and what dishes you can order in it is extremely simple. However, in order for the place to be popular, one should take into account many nuances. This article will help you understand how to prepare a description of the restaurant concept and what you need to consider when developing it. It will also be possible to familiarize yourself with examples of ready-made concepts that can serve as inspiration for the opening of a restaurant.
What it is?
To begin with, a little understanding of the terminology. And so, the concept of the restaurant is a certain plan that reveals the idea of creating a catering point. The development of the concept includes the process of answering a number of questions, allowing you to create on paper an idea of how the institution will look
In contrast to the business plan, the development of the restaurant's concept is aimed at focusing on important organizational accents, such as design, menu, staff, service, as well as the possibility of including additional services.
Experienced marketers recommend starting to create your business with the development of a concept. Next, you should start writing a business plan that will describe the whole idea in a more formal language and indicate the cost of each action. In general, these two documents will become a support when creating a restaurant or cafe.
It is important to note that you should not try to combine the concept and the business plan. Indeed, in fact, these documents have different purposes. So, a business plan will be of interest to investors or to a person who is involved in the economic part of issues. But the description of the restaurant concept will be useful to the future administrator or manager, as well as to the people who will be involved in the creation of the restaurant. When reading the description of the idea, it will be easier to understand how to arrange a visit, what dishes will be on the menu, how the waiters will look and everything that will make the restaurant special.
And so, after the goals and objectives have been identified, you should begin to consider how to design a restaurant concept. An example of the document structure, given a little below, will tell you where to start development.
The main stage of concept development is market research
To create a restaurant concept, marketing research allows you to choose the most profitable business development path. After all, profit is the main thing. Sometimes a real understanding of things can fundamentally change the concept of a restaurant. An example is the following situation. A man, by virtue of his interests, outlook on life and an irresistible desire, decides to open a restaurant with modern author's cuisine in a small town. There are two industrial plants in the city, and, for example, a large farm. Most of the inhabitants work precisely at these enterprises. From the realities it is clear that the people of this city spend most of their time at work, which may require hard physical labor from them, that is, the bulk of the city are people with an average income. Based on the situation, it can be suggested that the place where molecular cuisine dishes or a salad with a difficult to pronounce name will be served is unlikely to be popular in this city. But the concept of a family restaurant, perhaps in this case will be more advantageous in terms of profit.
What should be taken into account when researching the market and opportunities when opening a restaurant? Of course, first of all - the location of the institution. If the choice of places to open a cafe or restaurant is not great, you should begin to develop a concept, starting from this point.
Next, you need to understand who will be the target audience, or simply put, regular visitors to the restaurant. It is important to study the tastes, preferences, interests, and most importantly - the capabilities of guests who will visit the institution. When researching the target audience, it is important to identify the main and secondary groups of visitors.
Having identified these points, you need to evaluate competitiveness. Here it is necessary to answer such questions: how many similar establishments are in the city and how far they are located, how they are attractive to guests, and also what disadvantages they have. Having examined these issues in detail, it will be clear what to invest in your own, new concept of the restaurant.
Structure of the concept - where to start and how to design?
In order to recreate on paper the picture that is in the head, you should start with the structure. It should include the following items:
- The general idea of the institution.
- The location of the restaurant.
- The main groups of guests.
- The choice of cuisine (menu).
- Design and general environment of the institution.
- Guests service.
- Personnel (staff, selection and selection criteria).
- Equipment and furniture.
- Additional services.
- Customer acquisition.
The order of these items is of great importance. If it is assumed that the restaurant is opened in order to earn good money on it, then you need to remember - the concept should correspond to the request of those customers who will visit it. Therefore, do not neglect the second and third paragraph of the structure described above.
General idea
This section is the beginning of the description, which will serve as an introduction to the idea itself. Here it is necessary to summarize such key points as dishes, cuisine features, the amount of the average bill, the main and secondary groups of visitors.
The general idea will give impetus to the further development of the concept. The length of this paragraph should not exceed one page.
Menu selection
When developing a concept, you can do this:
- develop a detailed menu;
- outline the main contours of the future menu (describe the main positions and determine the direction).
It is best to use the second option, and entrust the completion of all the nuances to the future chef. This section of the concept should also highlight such issues as the possibilities of introducing dishes of the day, seasonal and lean menus, and specialties. You can foresee the possibility of providing discounts associated with the order of certain items. From the first drafts, it is recommended to make an approximate miscalculation of the average check.
Interior design
Once it has been determined what the cuisine and the dishes will be like, one should proceed with the development of a restaurant design concept. It is worth remembering that this section, in essence, in the future will be a technical task for the designer and workers who will implement the idea of the interior.
An important point - from the point of view of perception of information, it is the visual channel that is best developed in a person. Therefore, the design should attract, stimulate the appetite and, of course, be remembered by the guests.
There are many ready-made restaurant concepts with a good design, but all of them are built on the main rule - the design of the premises should correspond to the level of prices and service.
Service
Based on the pricing policy, the level of service for guests is determined. In other words, the more expensive the average check, the higher the level of service should be. In this section, you should consider how waiters, administrators, and other staff will look. It is important to determine what manner of waiters should have, how they will offer dishes.
Staff
This section describes the number of staff needed, level of education, and experience. You can enable selection, testing, and selection methods.
It is important to pay attention to the issue of age. And also provide for substitution options.
Furniture and equipment
Here you need to make an approximate list of equipment and furniture that will be used by staff in the work, and where guests will be accommodated. All equipment should be considered, starting from the kitchen, ending with lighting, musical equipment and the one that will be in the toilet and corridors.
Additional services
Additional services should be understood as what the restaurant will earn on, besides the main activity. It can be food delivery, organization of private parties, camping and much more.
It is worth remembering that not all additional services are appropriate in some cases. For example, for a good restaurant, where the average bill is from 5000-7000 rubles, it is less advisable to organize home delivery of food. But providing the opportunity to order a banquet hall for seminars, business negotiations or celebrations would be a more suitable option.
Customer acquisition
Based on what direction was chosen to implement the idea of opening a restaurant, you should determine the best way to attract guests. This can be advertising on social networks, attractive outdoor advertising, attracting promoters and much more.
A brief example of a restaurant concept
This concept is a sketch that will help you build on the idea and put it on paper. This ready-made example of a restaurant concept is designed for landing of 50-70 visitors, whose prosperity is above average. For example, we will take the restaurant, whose name is "Bourbon".
Section 1 - General idea. It consists in providing catering services for residents and visitors of the city. When visiting the restaurant, the guest should enjoy French cuisine and spend time in a cozy environment, which will be complemented by French musical motifs. The average bill for food and drinks in the institution should be in the range from 1500 to 2000 rubles.
The visitors of the Bourbon restaurant are people who value quality and ease in food and drinks, they prefer to relax in small companies. Their circle of interests is filled with calm hobbies, in the form of reading books and going to theaters.
Section 2 - Placement. The restaurant will be located at the intersection of the two main streets of the city. Near the establishment is the city administration, two shopping centers and a private clinic. In addition, the city center is always full of residents, it becomes especially lively on weekends and evenings.
Section 3 - Menu. The main concept of the menu is traditional French cuisine. The main positions will be soups, salads, hot meat dishes and pastries. The average bill with a full dinner will be 1700-2100 rubles.
The menu should provide the opportunity to order dishes of the day. To increase the interest of visitors, it is necessary to introduce unique items every month, which can be ordered only during the validity period of the offer. And also during the year summer, autumn, winter and spring menus will be developed. The rationality of seasonal menus should be supported by the value of seasonal products.
Section 4 - Design. The interior of the restaurant should be presented in a pleasant, warm brown-beige color scheme. Walls should be decorated with paintings. The bar area and the waiters should be near the entrance to the kitchen. Guest tables are placed around the perimeter of the hall, and in its center will be placed a zone with flowers. Flower stands and indoor trees will be in dark, brown tones.
Section 5 - Maintenance. When meeting guests, the waiter must lead people to the table, within 1 minute to talk about the latest, seasonal dishes and positions of the day. Further, while guests choose dishes from the menu, he should leave them for 3 minutes, and then accept the order. Be sure the waiter offers a drink suitable for the dish, and also recommends dessert. When visiting the restaurant, the guest should see his waiter, and if possible, do not order dishes through the bartender.
The manner of communication of the staff is polite, friendly, unobtrusive. The clothes are neat, clean. The uniform should consist of black trousers, a white shirt and a long brown apron.
Section 6 - Staff. The restaurant staff will consist of two administrators, one chef, sous-chef, four cooks, a bartender, six waiters, two cleaners, two kitchen workers and two wardrobe workers. For cooks and waiters, a specialized education or the presence of supporting documents on the completion of courses in the area of activity is required. The age of employees is from 25 years.
Section 7 - Additional Services. As additional services, it is planned to organize outdoor banquets for individual orders.
Focusing on the structure and example of the restaurant’s concept, you can realize all the ideas that visit your head. It is worth noting that any concept can be adjusted or supplemented over time.
Conclusion
Having considered the question of how to develop a restaurant concept, and why it is needed, everyone can do it right. Since this moment depends on how understandable the overall strategy of the institution will be.
In the process of creating the concept, you can think through to the smallest detail how the institution will look and what guests will visit it. And after that, implement the plan according to the plan.