The Restaurant Business in the U.S.
Thanks to a great talk I had with a veteran restaurant manager, I can reflect on some of the points he made to have a successful restaurant business in the U.S. I was amazed by this person’s knowledge and enthusiasm in the industry. He was clearly into food and he knew how to deal with the financials behind it to make it taste better both for the customers and the owners of a restaurant. According to him:
- The fixed-costs (food, labor, etc.) of a restaurant should not be above 65% of sales
- The rent of the location should be below 6% of sales
- It has to have great food because that is the only reason that makes patrons come back
- It needs at least USD 900K in annual sales to stay afloat