Opening a restaurant in jamaica.?

Question

Has anyone successfully or unsuccessfully tried to open a restaurant or small business of any sort in jamaica? I am thinking of moving there in a years time and would like to know if anyone could give me some tips?

Also, what sort of capital will be needed? I've heard that as long as you have capital, you can have a business, and you don't need as much as say, the UK. Would something like ja$ 2,000,000 be a decent starting point?

Thanks.

Answer 1

As long as you have over a million JA Dollars in Jamaica your good. I have a restaurant in Jamaica. A liquor bar, game shop and a grocery store. Not personally owned by me but by my family. They have people working there for them.

Your gonna need a partner to help you out with opening a restaurant and it should be someone living in Jamaica and already is successful with a restaurant or any business they have in Jamaica.

I think you should start visiting Jamaica now before you move there. Meet some people and make some good friends so when you move there you will have people helping you out that knows how to start a business.

The most important thing is make sure to license the restaurant.

Answer 2

Good luck and have fun this seems like an interesting venture.

Answer 3

$2m is good starting figure, depending on the size of the restaurant and who you will be catering to.

Furniture and refurbishing costs can vary significantly depending on what you want to do. If 2m is all you've got, i would recommend writing a business plan that assumes you only have $800,000. Include documentation (menus, etc) & marketing costs in that as well.

WORKING CAPITAL

The  most common mistake that people make when starting a business is that they underestimate the importance of 'working capital', while over-estimating thier ability to generate initial sales.  The end result is usually that you run out of cash really fast. If you can't pay staff or can barely afford to pay them, and cant afford to do proper marketing or other strategic development, your business will struggle for much longer than neccessary....assuming that it doesn't collapse all together.

If you think you will need 6 months of salaries and rent money to start making a profit, have at least 12 months worth. Add another marketing (x2) for 'unexpected marketing or development expenses'. Another $200k should be put down for unexpected 'drama'.  This is why you need to put away $1.2m (out of your $2m budget).

All the figures above assume that you still spend conservatively. Don't think that having all this 'fat' means you can have a entreprenuerial spending spree. Success will take luck and discipline.

RESEARCH

In Jamaica,  you could see two restaurants within walking distance.... one charges $300 for a meal and the other charges $1200 for a 'simple' meal. Both might survive, based on who they are targeting and how well they fit that target audience.

You really need to personally research your location, competition and audience. Bear in mind that competition can change if they feel sufficently threatened. Anticipate it and budget for it. You need to find the right pricing balance between what will give you maximum number of customers and what will give you the maximum profit. Remember that you could step into the above scenario and charge $600 for a mid-range product, giving out $350 discount promotions cards to steal customers from the cheaper competitor. That might be safer than expecting to start out charging $300 and have to keep increasing your price to stay afloat. It might also be cheaper than waiting 6 months (6 staff paychecks) to see if customers would naturally walk in.

HIRE GOOD PEOPLE

The best advice is to be very involved with your business and foster a culture of performance and responisbility. Hire qualified people and allow them to do thier job. Let them explain to you how your money is being spent (as much as is practical). You should be aware of when you have to cut corners or when you CANNOT cut corners, and you should understand the reasons behind decisions (its really YOUR decision). If the people you hire cant explain stuff to you or repeatedly fail to make sense...fire them. The risk of being ripped off (and being left with the bill) is too high.