Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Hi Everyone:

My bf and I just moved to GA from New Jersey.  We are thinking about opening up a small restaurant (mainly take out) and we need some guidance about the first step.  We`ve been told that the first thing we need to take care of is the legal side, for instance, creating a corporation so our personal assets are not at risk...Is this true?  Also, How much money would we need to open a small take out restaurant in the state of GA?  We also heard there are government grants?

Whoa - slow down

Just curious ... where in GA are you living? What brought you here? What have you been doing for a living prior to moving here? (I live in ATL)

Incorporating is a good thing. Yes, some grants are out there. But before we go there, tell us a little bit more about you and your vision and reasons, etc.

Just curious.

R@

-------------------------

Richard Arnold · Key Concept Writers · Business Communication: The "Key" To Success· Law of Attraction Blog · Life Ain`t Brain Surgery Blog

When we visited Wisconsin, we looked through the papers just to see what was goin` on in the town where we stayed. We`re thinking we`d like to move there. Along the way, we ran across "Businesses for sale."

There was a small Vienna Hot Dogs stand--a franchise---for sale, in a great location, for about $45K. I was thinking that there`d be franchise rules to follow, but that I could probably introduce some different menu items. It was a thought. Have you thought about buying out an existing take-out place? There may be one for sale.

Without taking away from the questions asked above, as you will need to respond to them to get a more personalized response, you may find the information on this question "I want to start a restaurant chain! " helpful. Although it is not exactly what you asked, it has lots of pertinent information. You don`t say what type of take out it will be, but this may also be of interest "Kitchen for restaurants " if you intend to buy kitchen equipment. 

Government grants only work if you are taking out the grant for government reasons, or an area needs development. You will definitely need to do some research on how you want your concept to go.

1st work in a carry-out place for a bit to see if you truly like doing that type of work.  You may be working your place for a while until it becomes profitable unless you are good to go with funding.  Try for a mom-and-pop-type place in order to get some good hands on experience.  If you can find someone who will hire you with the understanding you want to open a carry-out place and are testing the waters that would certainly be to your benefit.  If you can`t find a willing fast food entrepreneur in your area, I`d suggest looking into vocation vacations.com

Then, make these decisions.

Are you interested in purchasing a franchise or will you create your own concept?

Will you rent a building already set up for a restaurant, buy property and build your own or rent a place and build-out?

What will your exit strategy be?

Once these decisions are made, put your entire concept on paper.

You do not have to become a business until you have expenses. 

 

And....since I`m only here for the food....most importantly, what`s on the menu? ;-)

Thanks so much for all your responses and ideas.  First of, I will tell you a bit about myself.  In New Jersey I used to work full-time as an A/P rep for a privately owned small company and at night I went to school on a part-time basis as I am studying Cosmetology.  My bf had to jobs, a part-time and a full-time; each of us owned a house and sold them; with the money we were able to put a large down payment for the house we own today in Douglasville County, GA.  We will be putting aside some money for our future business.   The main reason why we came to GA is because the cost of living is less expensive than in NJ and know that if we open up a business, we will do very well here; my bf and I are Latin and we know for a fact that Latin food restaurants are very popular in this country.  We noticed that in the area where we live, most of the Latin restaurants are Mexican but I am Dominican and my bf is from Panama, thefore, we have a different style of cooking and I think it would work to our benefit in this area, what do you guys think about it???

We`ve been here for a little less than a month so the thought of buying a place for business hadn`t crossed our minds.  

We were told about government grants but never told that they were only available for government reasons, we definitely want a business to benefit us directly. 

We have been thinking about cooking from home and handing out flyers to test the market in the area and see how many responses we get; the food I cook is very flavorful and think that the test will be a success before we go ahead and start looking for a place to rent or buy but these are just ideas for now.

Please keep replying, I know I can learn a lot from all of you...

I think the first step is to find out what you`ll have to do a) to comply with FDA (food and drug administration), and b) zoning laws. It`s possible you may be able to at least start from the home, but those zoning things will let you know.

Another option would be to start a catering business? From the little I`ve seen about them, they`re at least something you can scale up from very small, like from your home, into a gradually larger system. You might start as catering, then move into your own take-out place.

Here`s an inspirational history page from Dick Portillo, one of the country`s more successful entrepreneurs. I lived in Villa Park, IL, when Portillo`s was still the tiny little hot dog stand pictured in the story. Then I watched it become what it is today, over the intervening 30 years. I still love the food, and go there when I can afford the break.