Thinking of opening a restaurant, bar or hospitality trade based business? Then you probably love food, enjoy creating innovative recipes for food and quirky cocktails, and really enjoy interacting with a different range of people on a daily basis. If you do not enjoy any of the above, then perhaps the hospitality industry is not for you, and you may be more suited to starting a business which is based upon your roots (whether that be creativity, social work or manual labour). A restaurant can be a lot of hard work and is not a plain sailing business to be in. Yes, people love to eat out but what happens if it is extremely bad weather or when it is just after a time period – like the festive period – when money is tight for everyone? The chances are that your restaurant will not be as busy as it usually is and you can end up losing a sufficient amount of money.

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So, you will need to be prepared for times where the money may not be as comfortable as you would like. But, then again, there will be times when your restaurant will be booming – the hospitality trade fluctuates in popularity and profit regularly.

In order for your business to work – whether it be a restaurant or a bar – it is vital that you do sufficient and necessary research. Go to your favourite restaurant or bar and look at aspects which you appreciate and which make it work. Is it the customer service? Is it the quality of food? Is it the atmosphere? Take all aspects of a business in and attempt to imitate – but not directly copy – those aspects.

However, a business in the hospitality trade is not just about delivering top quality service and fantastic food and drinks. You will need to think about how many employees you want to hire – and what type of people you want working for you, you will need to think about how to adhere to the correct legislation, health and safety policies, and how you are going to market and promote your business. It is essential that your business has an online presence and that you know how to go about getting IT support and email protection – and companies like Delta Comtech may offer you the solutions you are looking for.

It is important that you give all staff necessary training when your business launches. Staff who have not worked in the hospitality trade before may not be best suited as front of house members just yet, and you could place them as kitchen porters, on phone answering duty or even allow them to watch the more experienced members of the team work and they will be able to learn first hand on how to provide good quality service while maintaining a solid, good work ethic.

Allow yourself time to think of location and how you are going to appeal to potential customers. Do not rush into a spontaneous decision which you may not be able to fix.