When asked for a simple plan in starting a pizza place, Goodfella’s co-founder Marc Cosentino had these suggestions for the would be entrepreneur:
First there are no hard and fast rules in this game other than 1) Make pizza and 2) sell that pizza. Everything else involves those 2 rules and can be broken down accordingly.
Some people do a lot of research and can research themselves into never starting if their not careful and make it too complicated and think they will never be able to do it. Some people like m brother Scot and I just decided to jump in 20 something years ago with no knowledge at all about the business but pure drive unwillingness to lose. Most people are somewhere in between and tend to concentrate on the aspects of the business they personally feel are most important such as design, recipe or marketing. This is where having partners with different skill sets come in handy.
One partner may be good at admin and another at cooking or logistics but the key is to be willing to confront whatever obstacles arise as you start the process.
Once you have decided to jump in you’ll need to figure a couple basics such as your type of establishment. This can be a straight small pizza only shop with a couple of tables and counter service, a brew pub, full service restaurant, fast casual made to order on the spot, free standing store in a prime location, strip mall and so forth depending on budget, availability and ability.
Once you have that worked out you can start on a menu which will be important before you design your place because moving equipment and moving walls and equipment to accommodate production gets expensive fast.
Remember, you can always change your mind as you go but a clear target is a lot easier to hit than a vague ever moving one is. I am referring to things like doing pick up and delivery in a place designed for only formal sitting or adding a brick oven instead of a deck oven for a different type of pizza and dining experience. Your design should also reflect your location and clientele. The amount of seating and delivery will also affect your kitchen, storage and refrigeration needs. while your at it you may need to brush up on different types of leases and real-estate offers such as triple net leases and build to suit. Since these will effect your initial lay out. Another option to consider is cost of buying verses operating costs if you decide to lease your equipment. In a high volume, prime location the monthly equipment cost may be worth not having a very high start up cost and try to get an option to buy the property if you can because your landlord will be like a partner after a while always getting his “cut” regardless of your sales or viability.
I think the easiest way to get some reality on this is to use an actual store I set up and the basic steps involved.
Our budget was way, way under what I would recommend but we were young and didn’t think of several things as we proceeded. Being under-capitalized( not having money to promote, pay staff, rent, utilities, attorneys, vendors…) at the start puts a terrible burden on the beginner so after you do the math and figure all your expenses add at least a 20% cushion or more to your business plan to be safe for unexpected delays, permits, construction, shipping and the like. I have seen multi-million dollar restaurants go under in NYC because of this.
You get your rent, equipment, utilities, staff pay(don’t forget yourself in this) insurance, construction, attorneys, carting, small wares, ingredients, packaging, and any other costs you can think of for the location size you plan on acquiring, then add in a marketing budget for ads, flyers, menus, t-shirts or uniforms, cleaning, heat and A/C(if needed) water bills, plumbers, electricians(great if you have friends) and then look again for more costs such as signage, taxes, permits and you get it in the bank-before you start please. Promises can be brake your heart.
end of part one-stay tune for part two- What is my concept? Join the Revolution!
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