Category Archives: Restaurant

Are You Using the Right Placemat in Your Restaurant?

While it looks like a pretty simple task to procure Placemats for your restaurant, the variety on offer invariably causes confusion. The size of your establishment and the number of diners you serve per shift plays a vital role in choosing the right one. For example, your restaurant may be located downtown serving the office goers during lunch time and casual diners in the evening. This calls for a fast to lay disposable placemats during crowded lunch hour and reusable ones for the leisurely serving in evenings. The reason for is that the reusable one need cleaning between servings and having a huge number of them costs avoidable investment. And the evening diner may expect a more decorative ambience than a matter of fact food served in a hurry.

Cost of the placemats in itself is a very important factor. It may look trivial to bother about a few cents spent per diner but it adds up to a tidy sum of money at the end of the month. And for a business like restaurant, whose profits are invariably constrained by space and time, every penny counts. The long lasting reusable ones may appear costly compared to the disposable ones which are sold in thousands. But their overall cost may work out much lower over a longer period time.

Within the reusable range, the variety available is mind boggling. Manufacturers keep coming up innovative combinations of design and materials. Attention should be paid to base material, embellishments, designs, shapes and sizes. Of great importance are the cleaning method involved and the storage system required when not in use. Since they are used in the food industry, hygiene and appearance acquire top priority. For example, a stained Placemat is unacceptable even if it has been thoroughly cleaned and disinfected. Similarly, a Placemat beautiful in looks but home for bacteria is a health hazard. Mats made of material which do not naturally absorb and retain the aromas and odors of the food should be preferred. Untreated table mats made of cotton or viscose are particularly vulnerable to this shortcoming. A placemat having a non-porous synthetic surface, which is also easy to clean, usually meets this criteria.

Finally, effort should be made to have Placemats whose looks are unique and if possible exclusive to your restaurant. A possible way is to buy you Placemats from another region or city. Most of your neighborhood restaurants would have picked up their requirement from the local home décor sores! Also explore the possibility of having them customized with your logo, color scheme etc. All this may cost you a little more, but then if you are offering a unique experience to your customers then it is well worth the effort.

Investing in Restaurants – Pros and Cons of Franchise Investments

When it comes to investing in restaurants, there are many different ways that you can get involved. Investing in a smaller, family-owned restaurant might prove to have a bigger payoff in the end if you are willing to take the risk. However, investing in a franchise is often considered by people because it is a much safer investment in terms of restaurants. Franchises offer more security because there is a smaller cash capital required for startup, training is provided to owners and employees by the franchising company, and franchises have a reputation that already exists, instead of having to build one like local restaurants do.

The Pros

Franchises are an easy model because there already IS a model in place. Whether you buy into a franchise directly or invest in one that someone else is attempting to open, you can guarantee a better chance at success.

Franchises help train people and allow owners to do things without any guessing, questions, or confusion. This makes a business at least 50-60% more likely to be successful than a business without this support.

Investing in restaurants is usually a risky venture, but franchises offer less risk and better rewards generally speaking. No two investments are the same, but the chances of losing it all are much lower with a franchise investment than a locally-owned investment.

The Cons

Franchises are limited. They have rules, regulations, and ways that things need to be done. Whether you are going to be the owner or just an investor, it can become bothersome to have to run things the way that someone else sees fit.

When you invest in a franchise, you will likely not have as much involvement unless you invest as the owner. Even then, you will have less say in things that happen and how things operate. If you are willing to sacrifice your opinion and creative freedom for a better investment, this isn’t an issue.

Restaurant franchises are different from one owner to the next. Although there is a better chance of long-term success, you can’t depend on every single franchise to stick.

Now that you understand a little more about investing in restaurants, you can weigh the options and see what is right for you. Some people sort out this information and can easily make a decision about investing in restaurants for themselves. Other people might need more time, and might even decide that restaurant stocks are the better option for their investment. For more information on investing in investment opportunities usually or normally not found in the marketplace, click here!