Thanks for the replies guys.

If I do end up w/ the restaurant, my friend will be the main source of info I will turn to since he's been through it and has the hang of it.

IDK, some days I want to just go ahead with it and some days I say to myself will it work out for me in the end. I know that it will be hard work because I know several people in the restaurant business.

I have been at it a couple of months now debating on should I do it or not. I really do hate life changing decisions like this. I wish it was a little easier.

BTW, it'll be a casual full service restaurant.

 

Whereabouts?

 

do it! small businesses are good for our economy!

 

I've done it. It is the hardest work I've ever had to do. Make sure you are ready for a real sacrifice. That being said, you can and will screw loads of girls...especially if you bartend.

 

I think it's more like 80-85%.
Even well established places go under. Recently, there have been a rash of restaurant closures in my town.

It'll be HARD work. Expect no vacation for the first couple of years. My sister-in-law did this. Closed the place after 18months. This was with a lot of free labor (because we helped out pro-bono).

 

What was it buy a meal get a free eye exam?

 

no. free cheap labor working at the pizza place.
how many people can say that had an ophthalmologist delivered their pizza? I even got a couple of bucks for tips.

 

I am some of my family have looked into this. Do you know what the top money makers are?

Hamburger joints are #1. Disregarding the big franchises like McDs the more gourmet burgers are the up and coming thing. GOOD burgers, not fast burgers.

Burgers beat out Pizza which surprised me.

Way up the list are Home cooking restaurants and by that I mean smaller, personal specialty places. They might be expensive gourmet foods or they might be soul food.

Specialty dessert places when located in a location where there is plenty of night time traffic does well too. But dessert or other single food eateries are a very big risk. Too many things can conspire to keep you below profitability

 

I'd recommend going further and getting a weekend/weeknight job hosting and waiting tables. Restaurant work is an acquired taste and for many it is sink or swim. Taking on one of the front of house jobs will give you a good sense of the pace and work needed to make things run smoothly. Whenever I worked at restaurants, and I felt I was working my ass off, the managers still seemed to be working themselves even harder.

With the above said, I highly recommend pursuing this especially with the opportunity your friend seems to be offering you. Best of luck

 

Really? Starting most businesses from the ground-up is usually anything but smooth. Plan for the worst and expect Murphy's law to be the norm.

Not knowing you well enough, these few comments really stand out like a red flag.

You seem risk averse and your perception of change isn't a good one. It's critical that you adapt quickly and take reasoned & calculated risks. You've picked a high failure rate industry but you do have the backing of a seasoned veteran as you say. If your side of the business fails, are you willing to risk your friendship? Are you both mature enough to work well with each other during bad times and to stay focused on the problems and solutions?

There are so many other things to consider but you really have to accept your ability to take on risk and change with a fighting attitude. If you're worried about it now, imagine what it would be like once you've made that committment and things go wrong...

"If it were easy..."