How to start your own food business

Depending on your budget and location, there are a variety of opportunities to exploit in Africa’s growing restaurant market. Before you start, there are a number of things you should consider as you take the huge step of converting this great idea into a brilliant business. Food is one of the most basic human needs. Everyone, including the rich and poor, must eat to survive. As more people (especially those living in towns) cannot find the time, convenience or skill to cook for themselves, eating at fast food and casual dining restaurants is on a rapid rise.

Choose a unique concept
This is the very first step in giving life to your restaurant idea. There are different types of restaurants and food services.

Would you like a fast food (quick service) type of restaurant? You could start this type of food service with small capital. It could be a small corner booth down the road or you could operate it around your home.
On the other hand, you could buy into one of the popular fast food franchises, which is likely to require a huge capital investment.

At the other end of the scale are the fine dining and ethnic restaurants. If you would like to start an ethnic restaurant, you will have to spend a good amount of money to get a professional chef who specialises in Chinese, Italian, Thai or whatever type of ethnic food you choose.

A good way to decide on the type of restaurant to start is to examine your location and the kind of people you will be targeting. Are they high-income or low-income earners? Will they be able to afford an ethnic or fine dining restaurant?
Are they working people, students, labourers or older people?

Understanding your market will help you determine the type of restaurant you should start.

Select a good and proper location
Location is the single most important factor that can make or break your restaurant dream.
Is your site located close to and around the type of people your restaurant concept is targeting?

If you are interested in a fine dining restaurant, your site should be located in an upscale commercial or residential part of town where the kind of people who will patronize you live or work.

Again, you must be sure that the area is crime free and the rent you pay for the location will allow you to turn a profit from your food business.

Prepare a business plan
You need to confirm if you need any permits or licences to operate a food business in the location you have chosen. These requirements differ from town to town. In addition to this, your business plan needs to be in place and does not have to be complex or too elaborate.

Even if you do not intend to source any capital from banks or investors, it is important that you organise your thoughts on paper. This allows you to see the big picture and easily identify all the obstacles and other things you may not have considered.

In your plan, you will have to consider the layout of the restaurant, the seating capacity and arrangement. You need to design a menu and decide on the best places and suppliers for your ingredients/food stuff.

You must also think about the competition. How many are they? How will your restaurant survive with the competition? Will you have better-tasting food, great customer service, a friendly and clean atmosphere or higher quality food at a bargain price? If you don’t have a plan to set yourself apart from the competition, you may have a big problem.