How do you start a fast food resturaunt place?

Question

A fast food place more like Moe's Burritos, not McDonalds.

How do you go about picking a name, a logo, the look of the place, locations to put a few in key places at first, how much money does it take, and what are the chances of hitting it big?

I know it would work, because it would be a special kind of fast food place, but I can't say what kind...

Answer 1

Fast food is a tough industry. Burgers, chicken, a lot of it has been done, and people know their options here are your main challenges:

Why would people choose me over something they already know?

Why am I different than Panera, etc.?

Think about this and be truthful - you have to convince investors / banks. Once you've done your homework and it still looks good you have to find the location.

This is a HUGE part of being successful. People who do this for a living at McD's are paying very well - location location location. You need to take into account a few things like:

- foot traffic, how many people a day are there?

- demographics, who goes here? how much do they spend on fastfood? what are their tastes?

- rent, is it low enough to allow you to make a profit?

- parking, can people easily pull over to get food?

Knowing all this will allow you to show investors that it will work. Now you've done that you need money. Anywhere from $50k to $1M depending on  what you want to do. McD's I think is $750K to start a franchise. You need to look at:

-what equipment you need

-costs of building remodeling

-how many people will work there?

-what will you pay them?

-utilities costs

- and A LOT more

Once you know the that number you need to make a business plan with the previous info and this new financial info. Show this to lenders (banks, rich friends / family, etc.) and see if they buy it.

Hitting it big - this will be very hard. Only 1 in 20 restaurants survives past 2 years. You better have you i's dotted and t's crossed. To increase your chances, start one and get your first store right. Then you'll need to make another business plan to show your franchise plan and then get people to buy into that.

Goodluck & Godspeed!