How to Start a Bricks-and-Mortar Food Business

As an aspiring restauranteur, you probably have a dream and a vision for what your potential business will look like. If you're looking to open a restaurant in the near future, it's important to understand all the minute details involved in the process. 

While it can seem like an overwhelming amount of factors to handle and decisions to make, you're not on your own. There are tons of resources available to you as a small business owner that will help you build and market your business from the early stages. 

With the right tools and teams of experts on your side, your business can easily stand out amongst your competitors. The following are some great tips and resources to familiarize yourself with while you're beginning to establish your own brick-and-mortar restaurant.

Get quality kitchen equipment.

Arguably the most important aspect of building a successful restaurant business is having a superior quality kitchen. Commercial kitchen equipment can be pricey, but it's a necessary expense if you want to truly invest in your business. High-quality appliances like freezers, ovens, casters, and prep tables make it easy for your staff to create beautiful and delicious dishes in a timely manner. The Restaurant Warehouse is a trusted vendor of commercial kitchen supplies and equipment. Their selection of Atosa refrigerators and freezers are the best available on the market today, and they can be found in some of the best restaurants across the United States.

Every commercial kitchen needs refrigeration and freezers, which is why the quality of these appliances is so important. The stainless steel refrigerators and Atosa freezers include advanced features like digital temperature control, electric defrost, and automatic evaporation which all help to maintain the quality of your ingredients. They also have commercial refrigerators with adjustable shelves and durable interior light fixtures, meaning they're customizable and built to last. This is the difference that high-quality equipment makes; investing in these freezers and refrigerators will serve your business for years to come.

Make your exterior perfect.

Once you've determined what equipment is the best fit for your commercial kitchen, it's important to shift your focus to the exterior of your restaurant. It's undeniable that curb appeal plays a huge role in the potential success of your business. Beyond just curb appeal, the quality of the materials and work done on the outside of your building can affect its lifespan. If the contractors you hire don't do quality work the first time around, it can lead to seemingly endless issues in the future. For example, if your original roof is of poor quality, it can lead to constant roof repairs and even the need for a new roof down the line.

If you're a property owner located in the Alexandria, VA area, you'll want to check out the roofing services of the MLM Home Improvement team. Whether you have roof damage or your building needs a roof inspection, MLMHI's expert Alexandria roofing contractors provide quality workmanship and have years of experience. 

Regular roofing services are integral to the soundness of your building. The roofing contractors at MLM can determine if your restaurant needs roof repairs or an entire replacement roof. When it comes to one of the most important aspects of your building's structure, quality work is key. The workmanship of MLM's roofing contractors helps property owners protect themselves from things like storm damage and higher rates with their insurance companies.

Utilize marketing platforms.

The next logical step in this process is to build up your restaurant's reputation as well as brand visibility. That can be a hefty task to take on alone, so it's important to remember that you don't have to. There are a plethora of marketing firms available to you as a small business owner, and their purpose is to help you find the best way to grow your brand. 

One of the best ways to promote brand awareness for your restaurant is to employ marketing software. Welcome Software is a trusted software company that provides a powerful content marketing platform (CMP) for business owners. Their content production solutions allow for better content, easier content creation, and streamlined project management. If you have designated team members for social media management, the best option for these content teams is to empower them with a dynamic content marketing platform (CMP).

Your content assets include everything from your social media to blog posts on your business's website. These pieces of content function as your direct link to current and potential customers. The best way to ensure people see your business online is to produce high-quality content that increases your SERP visibility. Welcome Software's valuable content marketing software allows you to implement a new standard for your content managers and the type of content they are producing.

Content marketing, while it can be highly advantageous to your restaurant, is a very technical process. This is why it's important to have content marketing experts on your side. They can help you create the perfect content strategy for your business needs. Welcome Software's CMP can also help your social media and marketing team with keyword research, SEO strategies, and intuitive content calendars. With the analytics and insights that your marketing team can garner from this content marketing platform, you can be sure your content marketing efforts will be much more fruitful moving forward.

Dress the part of a business owner.

Lastly, it's time to focus on you — the business owner. One way to feel prepared for running your own restaurant is to dress the part. 

White House Black Market has the exact merchandise you need to build your professional closet as you emerge as a restauranteur. Their selection of womens jumpsuits are perfect for hands-on restaurant owners who want to play an active part in running the business while still dressing professionally. Their catalog of jumpsuits, rompers, and accessories are available to you at a great value. Meaning, you don't have to break the bank to dress like a boss.

The summer collection of jumpsuits and rompers has a beautiful selection of short sleeve options made from breathable fabric. The short sleeve, summer options are perfect for when you need to help your team clean up and quickly get back to being the face of the business. Your wardrobe should propel you forward as a business woman, not hold you back. If you prefer a jumpsuit with long sleeves, they have wonderful choices for those as well. Whichever option of women's jumpsuits feels right to you, WHBM is your source for professional fashion.