IF YOU WANT TO GET STARTED IN YOUR DREAM CAREER IN 2016, YOU HAVE COME TO THE RIGHT PLACE!

Maybe you've always known what your dream career is — you just haven't discovered how to get started. Or maybe you're not yet sure what your dream career is — you just know it isn't what you're doing now. Wherever you are in the pursuit of your dream career, Koboheights guides can help you get started and succeed

CONTENT
- How to start a fast food restaurant I & II
- How to appraise a restaurant
- Why your customers aren't returning I & II
- 6 ways to promote your restaurant on social media
- How to create an attractive restaurant website
- How to start a food truck business
- Advice for upcoming restaurant owners
- How charity events and community involvement he'll in marketing your restaurant
- Cost of starting a restaurant
- How to increase customers with your website I & II

FOCUS-THE RESTAURANT BUSINESS


How to Start a Fast Food Restaurant

Start a Fast Food Restaurant
No matter how the economy changes, many people still enjoy eating out at fast food restaurants. Opening your own fast food restaurant may be something you have always desired to do, but it can be an ambitious venture. To succeed, you need to keep a few things in mind.


Things You'll Need:

Start-up costs
Business loan
Business plan
Business license
Menu
Employees


Make sure you have enough start-up funds to launch your fast food restaurant or franchise and that you have enough money to sustain it for at least two years. Success isn't always instant and you will need enough income to stay afloat in the event your customer base doesn't grow as quickly as you would like. You also need to be able to pay for building rental fees, equipment, supplies, food, employee salaries, advertising and more. Since the likelihood is that you will need to take out a business loan, you must be capable of making monthly payments to the cost.

Start getting things into place. Find out about zoning laws and health codes. Incorporate and get a business license. Write a good business plan that outlines the specifics of your long-term and short-term goals, your budget and other costs, your marketing strategies and the like.

Consider buying into a franchise of a fast food restaurant chain that has a proven success record. That way, you will be investing your money into a business that has a bigger chance of earning profits. It will be expensive, but it may also make it easier for you to get a loan.

To be continued...

How to Start a Fast Food Restaurant II

If you want to start an independent fast food restaurant of your own, decide what the concept will be, what demographic you want to attract and what you can do to make your establishment unique. Realize that you face stiff competition from more well-known, popular fast food businesses, so you need to come up with something that will make yours stand out from the crowd.

Decide what type of fast food you want to serve at your restaurant. For example, do you want the focus to be Chicken and chips,small chops sharwarma or classic snacks like meat pie and cakes? Develop a menu that is easy to understand and come up with a competitive price for each item. You may want to design a menu with "combo" meals or special deals where consumers can buy a combination of items for less.

Begin interviewing employees. If you don't want to manage the restaurant yourself, make sure you hire someone to do the job who has experience and who has had success in this area. While it would be preferable to hire other employees who have had some type of experience in the industry, it isn't always necessary if they are responsible, hard-working and willing to be trained. Let your employees know that you set high standards that they are expected to follow.

Market your fast food restaurant. You can use websites and forums like nairaland, etc, also have promotional events and more. The fast food industry is highly competitive, so you need to get the word out about your restaurant creatively and aggressively.

Following.

How To Appraise A restaurant
How do you make money from a restaurant? You
can make money from opening 3 road side
restaurants,selling them when they have bumped up
in value and target inputing your flavour into an
existing franchise, its not rocket science there are
many illiterates and low scale SMEs that have
benefitted from such exercises, mama cass and
calabar kitchen are a few examples off the top of my
head. however, a restaurant may be appraised by a
prospective buyer. There are several reasons for
appraising a restaurant, along with many nuances to
the appraisal itself. Let's review how a prospective
buyer can appraise a restaurant for purchase. There
are three general ways that restaurants' sale prices
are established: based on profits, assets, or "key
costs," referring to its location and value. The buyer
should be aware of whether the restaurant is making
a profit and what furniture, fixtures and equipment
(FF&E) are included in the sale. If a restaurant is
profitable, a buyer can take a financial approach to
the appraisal. If the restaurant is not turning a profit,
it still has value in its equipment. In some cases, a
restaurant is sold for key costs: its location, property
etc Keys to appraising your restaurant FOR
PROFITABLE RESTAURANTS Dust up on your
book keeping Thoroughly review all books and
records. Review all the financial data available. This
includes a minimum of the past three years' returns
(after tax and levies especially in lagos), profit and
loss statements, and any additional records of cash
sales ,cost of goods sold (COG) is usually around 20
to 40 percent of revenues depending on the type of
restaurant. Gather the Pakos Obtain a list of
all furniture and equipment that will be included in
the sale price. Although the value depends on the
annual profits, the restaurant however loses value
when customers stand to eat or seat on the window
or wash their hands with the same water you just
used to soak a pot of rice, no way not even if you are
iya basira Settle the arrears Knowing
about real estate in nigeria especially lagos, you
have to review the entire lease thoroughly before
signing it. Understand the annual rate and any
common area maintenance (CAM) fees, along with
any other charges and fees. Also, review the term
and option to extend. Check out your annual
profits Use a multiplier of the annual profits to
determine the restaurant's value. In a good
economy, the rule of thumb for profitable restaurant
value is two to three times the restaurant's annual
profits (or discretionary earnings) plus inventory. In
a bad economy, it is more likely a 1.5 to 2 multiple of
discretionary earnings plus inventory don't worry
its more of a hands on approach exercise it won't be
a problem to learn when the time comes. FOR
UNPROFITABLE RESTAURANTS Examine the
hood, floor drains, three-part sink and permitted
refrigerator units to make sure they are functioning.
The restaurant industry is probably one of the few
industries where you can sell a business that isn't
making a profit, as the biggest barrier to entry is the
initial build-out cost. A restaurant will sell for its
permitted and functioning equipment or sometimes
for its location and entitlement to operate at that
location. Restaurant staff is an asset too. Don't
overlook the employees; they are often an important
asset to consider too. Get a good understanding of
their salary and benefit structure. Make a thorough
review of the lease or the real estate purchase
agreement. Make sure all licenses are in order,
before you sign any binding agreements.

QUESTION:
Hi I've always wanted to be a restaurantprenuer, I've managed to start a moderate food business with the aim of opening more, it has an intelligent structure and good service, however I don't have the benefit of retaining customers and I've checked every corner and made necessary corrections
What am I doing wrong?

Why Your Customers Aren’t
Returning To Your Restaurant
There are some common reasons diners don’t return to restaurants.
Returning diners are vital to the success of your restaurant. If your customers aren’t returning to your restaurant, it’s time to take a look at why and
find solutions.
Why is it so important that customers return
regularly to dine at your restaurant? According to
one source, return customers provide at least 1/3
of your revenue even though they make up a small
portion of your customer base.
While it’s sometimes difficult to decipher why
people don’t return to a restaurant, there are some
common reasons for a lack of return diners. To
increase visit frequency, it’s helpful to understand
why customers aren’t returning.
Let’s talk about why your customers aren’t
returning to your restaurant and offer some
solutions for turning this around.
Problem #1: Lack of Consistency
First impressions are always important, but they
are no guarantee of your future, continued success.
In fact, consider the restaurant that makes a terrific
first impression. That impression sets expectations
for future visits. If you don’t meet those
expectations consistently down the road, the first
great impression is a fleeting memory in your
customer’s mind.
You’ve now lost diners who would’ve come back
again and again. You’ve also lost their word-of-
mouth positive referrals.
Solution:
Pay special attention to your employees’ customer
service. Are they friendly one day and grumpy the
next? Do they consistently treat all of their tables
the same?
Inspect your food quality on a daily basis. If your
customers enjoyed a perfect jollof rice on Friday, only
to come back the following Friday for jollof rice with too much curry and pepper with no spice( jollof fans you get the idea), you probably
won’t see them again. Take care that your plates
consistently look and taste the same no matter who
prepares them.

Problem #2: Poor Pricing
Strategy
Price can be a deterrent for many people. Some of
your diners may think your prices are affordable
only for the special occasions(no be everyday be christmas) but not for the
everyday, regular meal. Also, if your prices are
much higher than your direct competitors, you’ll
miss out on the frequent dining crowd.
Solution:
If you want to see your customers more often, offer
meals at different, accessible price points.
Aim for the “everyday low price.” You can include
some higher priced menu items with lower pricing
on popular meals. Consider offering smaller menu
items at lower prices – people can then combine
them to create meals that fit the naija man's pocket

Problem #3: Meal Occasion
Mentality
Customers may not return to your restaurant if
they view you for only one type of meal occasion.
Perhaps they only think of you for the ago-oyin
or semovita and egusi joint. Or, as mentioned above,
maybe you are only their christmas
restaurant.
Solution:
Use subtle imaging to change the way people
perceive your restaurant. Think about the
Labourer/bricklayer down the road
Stick a flyer in the bag and suggest the customer
bring the family for dinner.
You could also use the come-back incentive idea.
Consider the restaurant that’s open for breakfast
and lunch, but most people visit in the morning for
Rice and beans to go. Offer them a discount for a
lunchtime meal. This exposes your customer to
your restaurant at other hours of the day and
encourages the return visit.
To be continued

Problem #4: The Dirty Toilet
Although nigerian building structures mostly don't have toilets however imagine a restaurant with a great food,
but filthy restrooms. Your mind begins to wander,
and as you ponder the dirty toilet you envision
the dirty kitchen. Your decision is made – no matter
how tasty the food, you will not return due to the
lack of cleanliness.
If your toilet are ill-equipped – think no toilet(which nigerians are fond of)

customers probably won’t be back. Add on sticky
floors, dirty toilets and filthy stalls, and you’ve not
only lost customers but earned a bad rep
Solution:
This one’s easy. Clean the bathrooms daily and
assign a staff member to monitor them throughout
mealtime.

Problem #5: Poor Customer
Service
Not doubting your effort on customer service but just to be clear, if your servers are stressed, too busy, under-
appreciated and poorly trained, it will reflect badly
on your restaurant resulting in a lack of return
customer visits. Customers don’t return to
restaurants where they weren’t taken care of in a
timely manner and treated with respect.
Slow service, cold food, inattentive workers with
attitude can turn a popular
restaurant with good food into an empty
restaurant.
Solution:
Train staff to go the extra mile. Teach
them how to serve customers and emphasize
customer service. Encourage your servers to treat
each diner like a VIP in your restaurant. A
welcoming smile goes a long way towards repeat
business.
Make sure your staff knows your menu and is well-
versed in a customer’s options to change menu
items. While all menu deviations aren’t possible, do
your best to accommodate special requests.
Encourage staff to greet repeat diners personally
each time they come in. Instruct them to thank the
customer for coming back again. Good customer
service helps create an emotional bond to your
restaurant. If your customers feel appreciated, and
they are treated like guests in your “home,” they’ll
certainly come back again and tell all their friends
about your great service.
Problem #6: Lengthy Menu
Yes variety is the spice of life but come on we are in nigeria hustling, bustling Your and probably to impatient to go through your extra-large menu. If
you’re trying to offer everything your customers
might like, you aren’t giving them more choices and
more reasons to come back. You just might be
confusing them. They’ll be unsure what your
specialties (like mr biggs have their meat pies while KFC has their chicken combo etc) are and what you do well, so they won’t
have a reason to return.
Another problem with extra-large menus is
ordering time. These days, time is at a premium for
most diners. Large menus take longer to order
from. Subconsciously, your diners are keeping
track of how long it takes for them to get their food.
For every minute they perceive the service takes
too long, the likelihood they’ll return goes down.
Solution:
I repeat again nothing against variety just create a better menu. Don’t try to be all things to all
people. Your customers need to know what your
restaurant is about, so keep your menu focused.
Emphasize your “greatest hits.” These are the menu
items customers order a lot and return for often.

Problem #7: Unappetizing Food
The final reason your customers aren’t returning to
your restaurant could just be they don’t like your
menu. Perhaps they’ve even given you a couple of
chances and tried several different items. Perhaps
the food was cold or ill-plated so that items mixed
poorly together.
Solution:
Feedback short and simple,ask customers how they feel about your food. This
will help you discover what’s good and what needs
changing. See if they have suggestions for
improvement. If your food is the problem, work
hard to change it as it won’t only affect your bottom
line but your future

QUESTION:

I've heard the best way to promote a business is through the ever growing trend of social media however my question is how do I use this social media to my advantage?

Restaurant Marketing
6 Ways To Promote Your
Restaurant On Social Media
Promote Restaurant Social
Media
Social media is the key to reaching large numbers
of people at a minimal cost.
Social media greatly increases awareness about
your restaurant. Adding social media to your
marketing mix can generate more engagement with
your restaurant and get more customers in your
door.
In this post, we’re going to show you six ways
to promote your restaurant on social media. We
encourage you to create a social media planning
calendar so it becomes an integrated daily task.
If you are already taking advantage of social media
platforms, it’s time to step up your interactions. If
you haven’t taken the social media leap, we’ll give
you some examples.
52% of online adults now use two or more
social media sites, showing a significant increase in
the last two years. This statistic shows that social
media is key to reaching large numbers of people
at once, and generally at a low cost to your bottom
line.
It’s important to understand the relevant social
media platforms for promoting your restaurants.
Let’s talk about the platforms and ways to promote
your restaurant using them.
1. Create a Facebook Fan Page
You absolutely need a Facebook page for your
restaurant. A recent study found that Facebook
continues to be the most popular social media
platform.
Create your Facebook business page carefully. You
have 851×351 pixels to market your restaurant for
free in your timeline image. Carry your brand
identity through all of your social media so you are
easily recognizable to users.
When posting on Facebook, include either a video
or image with your text. Images and video grab
their attention. Become familiar with the different
options for posting. Feel free to create your posts
for the week using the schedule tool.
Most important for your restaurant on Facebook is
consistency. Listen to what your users want. Be
careful with too much self-promotion. Give your
fans useful information, share tips and offer
discounts and special promotions.

2. Tweet, Tweet, Tweet
Twitter, the second most popular platform, is
basically a micro-blogging site. You are limited to
140-character tweets.
Twitter is great for short messages such as daily
meal deals, promotions, last minute menu
additions and changes, fun facts and photos, and
more. Include links to your website’s menu items.
If you craft messages that your Twitter followers
like, they can re-tweet them enabling you to reach
an even broader audience. Add hashtags to your
posts; this is good to remember for other social
media platforms, too. Here’s an example of a
hashtag: #lovesemolina.
3.Blog About It
It can be daunting to step into the world of blogging, but it has many great benefits for your
restaurant.
Search engines like fresh website content, and your
blog provides the perfect avenue for this. Blog
about anything that has to do with your restaurant.
Share facts, recipes, photos, staff favorites and
more. Link your posts to all of your social media
networks.
When blogging, find your niche and your voice.
What makes you unique? Tailor your
blog posts. Depending on your
audience, write your content for them. Listen to
your social media users. Learn what they want, and
then give it to them on your blog.
Consistency is key. Once you’ve established a
routine, your blog visitors will come to expect it, so
don’t disappoint them.
4.Showcase Videos on YouTube
Create a YouTube channel for your business. Make
sure you use the same branding for your header
photo so it matches your website and other social
media.
What videos should you share? Here are a few
ideas:
Recipes – create your own “cooking show.”
Interview with guests – the customer video
testimonial is widely popular
Cooking tips
Chef highlights
Once you’ve posted your videos on YouTube, they’ll
be visible on your Google+ Page. You’ll need to post
them on all of your other social media platforms.
Post them anywhere you can including your blog.
This visual interaction is sure to increase your
visibility.
5. Share and Promote on
Instagram
Instagram is the perfect place to share your menu
and restaurant photos. It seamlessly integrates
with Facebook so your images show on both
platforms.
High quality photos are a must. Take your menu
photos one step further – encourage your
customers to upload their favorite items. This helps
build your menu of images while increasing
engagement.
Always use hashtags on Instagram. They are
relevant and prevalent. Use trending hashtags. For
example, use #amaladay. Be sure to include photos of different dishes. Use niche hashtags.
Try photo contests on Instagram. They can
generate customer loyalty, as users take and
submit photos and come back often to see if they’ve
won.
6. Nairaland
Arguably one of africa's largest social forum and definitely a good idea to reach africans if especially if they are your target demographic, to set up shop log on to www.nairaland.com and follow the sign up instructions.
You have the option of promoting your restaurant by opening threads or by using paid adverts option.

Following this.....good work, Op.

QUESTION:
hello, i run a small food delivery business and i intend to expand to a sit still restaurant and while i'm gathering all the necessary startup materials what should be my paramount concern?

Hi congratulations on your business expansion, apart from location,personnels and equipment where you should lay concern is on your publicity "word of mouth" and no other way to create awareness than through a website

How To Create An Attractive
Restaurant Website

Page loading time is an important factor when it
comes to search engine rankings.
Driving traffic to your website is important. Keeping
your visitors on your website is vital to your
success. How do you keep visitors on your website?
You create an attractive site that meets your
visitor’s needs, answers their questions and gives
them an easily identifiable call to action.
Your goal is to guide website visitors, turning them
into email subscribers and paying diners. Your
website is often the first thing potential diners see
before they ever step foot in your door. If your site
isn’t attractive, it stands to reason your restaurant
isn’t either. A well-functioning, attractive website
leads customers to your equally attractive
restaurant.
In this post, we’ll talk about web design tips to
create an attractive restaurant website and
motivate visitors to stay awhile and eventually take
your desired action.

Fast Loading Site

Fast loading websites are more attractive to
visitors. (tweet this) Slow loading sites are annoying
to most people, especially if they are visiting your
site from their smartphone. Loading time is one of
the biggest factors to page abandonment.
people abandon a
website that takes more than three seconds to load.
You may encounter another problem with a  slow
loading site if you use Google AdWords to promote
your site. If it takes too long for your website to
load when someone clicks on your ad, they’re more
likely to give up and leave your website. Google
doesn’t look kindly on this unwelcome behavior and
assumes your landing page experience is poor.
This can negatively affect your Ad Rank.
Here are a few tips for cutting your load times:
Reduce the size of your images. Free services
like tinypng.com and tinyjpg.com can help.
Evaluate your plugins. The more plugins your
website has, the more work it has to do to load.
Remove out-of-date, poor quality plugins and
the ones you are no longer using.
Review your hosting provider and package. It
might be time to upgrade your service.
Minify JavaScript and CSS. Remove unnecessary
line breaks and extra space, and you’ll speed up
parsing, downloading and executing.
Easy to Navigate Site
To be attractive to visitors, your site must be easy
to get around. Your visitors must be able to find
what they are looking for quickly. No one wants to
hunt around and click on 10 links to find your
online menu.
Think of your navigation as the steering wheel to
your site. Your main navigation should be the same
on every page. If you are offering side bar
navigation too, keep it similar on every page so
visitors know what to expect from page to page.
Your website navigation needs to be simple.
Remember that people are accessing your site on
desktops, laptops, tablets and smartphones. Steer
away from corny names for your links. Like many people are fond of on nairaland, If you want
someone to find your online menu, call it a menu.
If you want them to find your blog, call it a blog.
The same goes for your contact form and ordering
buttons.
Remember, too, that not everyone enters your site
on the home page, especially if they found you
through search engines. Every page should have a
title so they know where they are and include the
same menu bar so they can easily find your contact
form, specials and online menu.
Responsive Site
Make sure your website is responsive. This means
it looks equally good on smartphones, tablets,
desktops and laptops. This is perhaps one of the
most important things you can do to create an
attractive website. Responsive sites mean you are
current. They mean you care about your website
visitor’s experience and making it as easy and
seamless as possible.

Legible Text
We mentioned earlier that website visitors are
getting a small “taste” of what your restaurant is
like when they visit your site. So, proofread your
text several times. Engage multiple people in the
process. Nothing ruins a beautiful website like a
typographical error.
As you proofread, think, “Is there a way I could say
this in less words.” Your visitors probably won’t
read all of your text, so make it simple and to the
point. Use header tags so there is a recognizable
hierarchy in importance.
Fonts are fun. That being said, keep your body text
easy to read. Most people agree a sans-serif font is
best for online text. Try to keep it on a light colored
background as that is easier for most people’s eyes.
White Space
While we encourage the use of beautiful photos on
your website, give them some room to breathe.
Edge to edge images and flashing images are off-
putting to most of your site’s visitors. Leave enough
white space to avoid your visitor’s frustration and
increase the likelihood they’ll stick around.
White space is great for drawing attention to your
call to action button and key points.
Prominent Call to Action
What is your message, and is it clear? This should
be your site’s key focus. Some calls to action to
consider include:
A button directing them to your online menu
A button directing them to your online ordering
system
A sign up form for your newsletter
A special offer or discount
Repeat these calls to action throughout your site.
Keep them simple and uniform. For example, don’t
use a red button for your online menu on one page
and a yellow one on another page.
Speaking of color…it matters. Test different colored
call to action buttons to see which colors get the
biggest clicks. According to behavioral science, you
should choose your colors carefully as some colors
evoke negative feelings in different populations.
Beautiful Images
Use gorgeous photography, and your website will
be attractive to visitors. Hire a professional
photographer to take photos of your menu items
and make sure photos are optimized.
Pleasing Colors
Consider your audience when choosing your
website colors. A restaurant website geared toward
20 something’s should look visually different form a
restaurant website geared toward retirees.
Color defines your restaurant website and again
gives visitors a glimpse into your restaurant. Use
your restaurant’s color scheme online. Carry your
brand’s colors through from your restaurant
interior to your online presence. Make your content
easy to read. Again, consider black text on a white
background. Hard to read colors lead to
unattractive websites and a lack of website visitors.
Pick colors that appeal to a wide age range of
website visitors.
Current Updates
This is an often overlooked part of the attractive
website. When you update regularly, you remain
relevant to your website’s visitors. If you ran a
holiday special, make sure it comes down the day
after the holiday. Update your specials the day after
they expire.
Use your blog to post relevant up-to-date content. If
your blog’s last post was in 2013, it’s time to work
on a new post and keep them updated on a regular
basis.

Consistent Site

We touched on this a bit earlier. To be attractive,
your site should be consistent in layout, design and
page content. (tweet this) This helps your visitors
find what they are looking for. Make sure each page
has the same main navigation and footer. Creating
pages with different designs confuses visitors,
making them lose interest, and thus leave your site.

Simplicity

Lastly, let’s discuss simplicity. Several years ago
flash was exciting, and web designers were
employing it everywhere. In today’s mobile
landscape, flash is often annoying, and it doesn’t
load on all devices. Flash can be a distraction.
Either avoid overuse of flash or discontinue its use
altogether.
In its place, video has the ability to increase the
attractiveness of your website. Just make sure it
doesn’t start playing automatically. You want to give
your visitors the choice to watch.
Looking for an attractive, mobile-friendly,
responsive website? Look no further!
Restaurant Engine can help!

Question:
Hello i read your articles and i will like to own a restaurant but unfortunately i'm financially constrained where do i go next
Tunde.o

Hi tunde if you are short on cash then perhaps you get your self a food truck this is a retaurant actually attached to a truck, i believe you shall fair well in this business

How to Start a Food Truck Business



In more developed countries
It’s hard to drive around these days without seeing a food truck business.

Food trucks have been around for ages. It’s a great way for budding restaurants when you are low on cash on a location while going right to the customers. It beats paying high prices for a physical location and doing all you can to get customers to walk through the door.

If you’re looking at starting your own food truck business you’ve come to the right place.

I to go over the basics and include some bonus tips for marketing your food truck with a website.



How to Start a Food Truck Business
Starting a Food Truck Business

Food Truck Business 101

The Basics

Food trucks are a different kind of mobile business. Food trucks get on the road and go to the customer. There is no waiting around. It’s an inspiring form of business.

Running a food truck business is different from a regular restaurant in two big ways. First, you’re mobile. You don’t have a physical location with an address. Second, you go to the customers. You don’t wait for them to come in your front door.

But food trucks are the same as restaurants in many other ways. Service still needs to be top notch. The truck needs a little niche so people have a reason to purchase. It’s also important to be consistent. People go to restaurants because they know what to expect whether that’s consistent service or consistent meals.

These basics remain important for any food truck business.

Now let’s get into some details about how to start a food truck business.

Truck and Equipment

Bootstrapping can be better than going into debt.

Food trucks come in all shapes and sizes. You’ve seen the delivery-type trucks on TV, but trucks come in all sizes. Some are as big as a bus or semi while others are trailers pulled behind trucks or even cars.

The cost varies with the type and size of truck. A basic used food truck with bare bones equipment and lots of miles could run you as little as N100,000 while a full equipped truck could run you several hundred thousand Naira

If you’re looking to bootstrap the business it’s best to look for a used truck. You could find one from another food truck business that is maybe moving up to the next level and getting a new truck. They probably started out just like you with a regular truck and after some success moved up to something newer and bigger.


Equipment works much the same as the actual food truck. You’ll need the equipment you need to make your food speciality and from there you have to figure out if it’s possible to put in a truck or trailer.

Most trucks run on gas just like your average outdoor grill. Your average food truck can use around 1,000 gallsons of propane a year, but it all depends on the amount of business you’re doing.

Expect to pay thousands for equipment for the truck if the truck you’re buying doesn’t already come equipped.

Licenses, Permits and Legal Requirements

First, like any Nigerian vehicle, you need insurance and it can be expensive. You’re not running a typical Toyota Corolla so be prepared to insure the truck for all the equipment costs and potential loss of revenue if something were to happen. It doesn’t have to be much more than a regular vehicle, but the more you leave off the more risk you take on.


Finally, there might be local requirements for inspection and where you can park the truck. You’ll want to look for public parking areas because private parking can be tricky unless you’re buddies with the owner.

General Business Suggestions

You can go in full guns with a business, but bootstrapping might be the better option. Tweet This

You can go in full guns with a food truck, but bootstrapping might be the better option. So many businesses that fail don’t even worry about finding a customer before investing tons of cash.

Find your customers first before getting a truck or equipment. Ask a local business if you can bring some of your food to their break room for lunch. See if anybody will give you cash for your food.

Get your first few customers and build from there. There is nothing wrong with bringing food to businesses for a few months in the backseat of your minivan before finally stepping up to a truck.


As your food truck business grows you’ll want to start attracting more customers. After all, you’re only one truck and you can’t be in more than one place at once so eventually you’ll want to get more people to come and visit you instead of you going to them.

A website is a great way to get people to visit your truck.

As your business grows you’ll want to build on the word of mouth that’s likely building your business. When people like your food and service they’ll tell their friends. Create an area where people can leave comments on your site. Make it easy for people to email or message friends.

List your typical locations on the website so people can find you.

Have a responsive website. People looking for lunch or quick meal ideas are likely using their smartphones. Having a website that is mobile-friendly will give them a great experience on the site, which reflects well on your food truck business.

Integrate social media into your website. Include photos from Facebook and Instagram on the site. Stream tweets from your Twitter account on the website so people can see that others are buying your food.

Capture email addresses on your site with a signup form. This list is an asset you can use to bring in business on a regular basis.

Conclusion
Food trucks aren’t a new business idea, but there is still tons of opportunity. If you have a unique product to offer and you know there is demand you have a great chance of succeeding.

QUESTION:

Hi, i've got this idea to run a sort derserts and snacks only restaurant, is there any advice to give to get more customers through the dood apart from location etc

Well there is location, there is customer service, vision and alot of things to pay attention to in order to boost your business and sales, however i assume you know all these so i'm going to just tell you about your product i.e. How to blow everyones mind away with good snacks
, it's not easy i agree and It will take alot of commitment and effort to
build snacks sales. Of course, every
part of this business takes commitment and
effort. Here are a few tips to turn effort into
results.
Go the Extra Mile

Ever notice most casual fast food joints in Nigeria have the same cast of snacks? Sure, they may have a different twist on the same standards – maybe they serve the meatpie with carrots and minced meat or spice the donuts with cream icing – but the usual suspects are all there.
To really sell snacks, it takes something spectacular to get the guest’s
attention. Most adult/very hungry guests have a predisposition
about snacks prior to coming in
the door. If they’re hungry, they may get an
appetizer; if they have a sweet tooth, they may get dessert.
Restaurants who sell snacks win these guests over with eye-catching items that
taste great and pop off the page. They may be
appetizers that sizzle or have unique ingredients.
They may be desserts that are flambéd tableside
or prepared to order. The appetizers simply have
to be creative and delicious. The desserts must be
decadent and mouth-watering, and neither of
them can be typical or too traditional.
I'm talking about the creativity that brought the trend setter called "small chops"

Train Your Servers
As much as it may pain us to say sometimes, the
servers really drive the guest experience in most
restaurants. While server training is always
essential, having a staff full of servers who know
how to sell snacks takes real
training and dedication. There should be constant reminders of this emphasis in the kitchen and on
the floor, and servers should be required to name
a specific example of each at the right time.
Training servers on suggestive selling should start
during a new hire’s training period and be
ongoing. A few helpful strategies include:
• Sales contests
• Posting total sales in the kitchen
• Re-training sessions
• Observing servers on the floor
• Letting servers try the product periodically
Managers only get a few priorities to emphasize
for servers. It’s worthwhile to make appetizer and
dessert sales one of them. This is especially true
for servers who generally struggle with sales, and
in environments where the entrees sell
themselves.

Don’t buy Pre-packaged
items

There are multiple reasons for avoiding pre-
packaged snacks or snack ingredients. They don’t
taste as good as homemade items e.g: have you seen packaged meat and vegetables at the supermarket? Certainly doesn't smell like home and they
always cost more if they are any good. Guests are
savvier than they used to be, and they know
when something is homemade. Pre-packaged
items send a bad signal to guests, especially
when their appetizers at the start of a meal.

Know Your Guests

There are a finite number of opportunities to sell
guests on anything, which means it’s important
for servers to target their guests at the right time.
Generally speaking, guests joining the restaurant
for business or corporate events are more likely to
buy your products. The same can be said for diners
who arrive later in the evening.
Guests enjoying a special occasion or a night out
are more likely to order dessert. Combining the
right occasion with servers who know how to
merchandise the products and mouth-watering
options can quickly build sales.

Give them Away

Giving away products for birthdays and
anniversaries should be a standard procedure at
most restaurants. This is a low-cost way to thank
guests and get them thinking about your snacks the
next time they walk in the door. snacks are
also a good item to give away, especially to
regular customers as a surprise after they have ordered their entrées.
Occasional giveaways are an important strategy,
but they only work when the products are
creative and appealing, and when servers are
trained to sell them correctly. This multi-step
process takes commitment and effort from
everyone in the building. But it’s a worthwhile
step, especially if your restaurant has hit the
revenue plateau

QUESTION:
hello, i wanted to ask how do charity events and community involvement help in marketing your restaurant

Well there are lots of Marketing concepts one can exploit however one of the most effective ideas is the community involvement idea

Community involvement sets your restaurant apart as a pillar in your community.
The successful restaurant differentiates itself from
the crowd. The savvy restaurant owner devises a
plan to keep his restaurant in the forefront of
people’s minds.
A great way to set your restaurant apart and
establish yourself as a community brand, is to get
involved in community events. You can reach out
to your partners and event holders in your
community.
Hosting branded events or getting involved with
other community events creates an emotional
connection with your customers. Diners are
influenced by their emotions when choosing a
place to eat. Whether they know it or not, how
they feel about your brand enhances their
decision to choose your restaurant.
While traditional marketing certainly works,
incorporating a community arm to your
marketing will pay for itself several times over.
The Strategic Business Network says, “Networking
is the single most powerful marketing tactic to
accelerate and sustain success for any
organization!”
Getting involved in more community events is a
great way to network in your city. (tweet this)
Sound complicated? It’s not. It, like most
marketing, takes a bit of creativity and some
planning.
Here’s how to get your restaurant involved in
more community events.
Use Your Chamber of
Commerce
Create community partnerships, and you’ll
stimulate business at your restaurant, garner free
publicity and promote your restaurant without
spending money on costly advertising. How?

Contact your local Chamber of Commerce.

Here are some avenues that your Chamber can
help you pursue:
Tell them you are willing to offer a meeting room,
host events or cater dinners to business
associations.
Ask about ways you can partner with businesses
to help local charities.
These generate
great publicity.
Participate in Local Events
Get a city-wide calendar and look for community
events.
benefits and festivals. You’ll increase your brand
awareness with your presence. Plus, these events
will often feature you in their advertising
materials.
Set up a booth, and you can sell sample sizes of
your best dishes. This gets you out in the
community and helps put a real face to your
restaurant.

Host a Charity Event

Hosting a charity event is a win-win for your
restaurant. Sit down with your staff and choose
an organization that means a lot to you. Decide
how you’ll support them. Here are some ways:
Hold an event at your restaurant to benefit the
charity.
Offer a space for monthly board meetings.
Pick a day and advertise that 10% of every tab
goes to the charity.
Designate a special menu item. Give the
profits from the dish to the charity.
If money allows, offer to sponsor a charity event.
This often means shelling out some money to
have your logo on their T-Shirt or a center-stage
booth.

Host Cooking Demos and
Classes in the Community

You should be familiar with this e.g maggi family menu etc Holding cooking classes or demos is one avenue, but consider hosting them
out and about around town.

Keep your eyes open for opportunities to feature
your food and your chef. It’s all about staying in
front of the community so you can subtly
promote your restaurant.
Building relationships in your community gets
more people in the door of your restaurant.
charities gives
People an emotional connection with your
restaurant. This helps you stand out in their mind
and reminds them that your restaurant is the
place to eat.

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Informative.


Lalasticlala please push it to FP. It would be very useful for some upcoming entrepreneurs.

How to get started running a food cart business in Nigeria.

http://www.businessplannigeria.com.ng/start-food-cart-business-nigeria/

pls i will like to know the likely cost to start up a restaurant
because i will like to join the industry this year
thanks wale

QUESTION:
pls i will like to know the likely cost to start up a restaurant
because i will like to join the industry this year
thanks wale

samask64

Sorry this took long, I can't really state for sure how much starting a restaurant business costs reason being that it depends on the business owner, your business plan and most especially your budget however perhaps this points can help you out

Business plan
When determining the start-up costs for your restaurant, it is essential to have a good business plan in place. Your plan should detail the exact
style of food, decor and service that you will
have, as well as the location and number of
diners you expect to serve each day. You should
build your sales forecast based on expected unit
sales (food and drink). You must also include
estimates for permits, food costs, staff training
and contingencies. Many restaurants fail because
they lack enough capital to keep running until
they turn a profit, so you also need to estimate
when you expect to turn a profit and make sure
you can meet the running costs until then.

Facilities Costs

The facilities costs vary widely, depending on
whether you are buying or leasing and, if buying,
on whether you are buying an existing
restaurant or building from the ground up. For an existing restaurant, you will need to spend money on renovation, but how much will depend
on the condition of the premises. If you are renting your premises, you will also
need to ensure that your it is for a long
enough period to ensure that you have time to
build up your business and become profitable.

Equipment
If you are taking over an existing restaurant,
your equipment costs will be primarily on
upgrading and adding anything you need.
However, if you are starting from scratch, your
most expensive items will be ventilation
equipment, cooking equipment and refrigeration.
In the kitchen you will also need counters with
under counter refrigeration and heating units,
shelving and all of your cooking and storage tools
and equipment. Since the naira isn't stable perhaps we'll be looking at the price range in stable dollaer range, This can cost anywhere from
$100,000 to $500,000 but like I said it all depends on you and your business plan. You will also
need to budget for all the plates, cutlery, glasses
and other items for the service, as well as for
breakages and equipment repairs and
maintenance.

Extras
Many restaurant owners do not plan adequately
for all the extra expenses that can occur. For
example, you will probably need to purchase a
point of sale system, for managing orders. Many small details that can add
up, printing menus,
purchasing uniforms for staff and the cost of
laundry (for napkins and tablecloths), waste
disposal and an accountant.

Food Costs
Once you are up and running, your biggest costs
will be for food and beverages. Depending on the
restaurant concept, your food and beverage
costs should run no more than 25 percent to 40
percent of your revenue.

Sincerely hope this helps and best of luck

babytejiri:
How to get started running a food cart business in Nigeria.

http://www.businessplannigeria.com.ng/start-food-cart-business-nigeria/

guy you go pay for this advert o

5 Steps to Attract More Customers
With Your Website

QUESTION:

Today’s restaurant customers expect your restaurant to work on their desktops, laptops, tablets and smartphones. They expect a seamless experience among all of their
devices. Are you providing this for your restaurant customers? If you don’t have a mobile responsive site, you’re losing patrons.
A loss of patrons means a loss of business. So,
how do you remedy the situation?

You build a mobile-friendly website.
In the not so distant past, web designers created two sites – one for mobile and one for desktop use. That trend has rapidly
disappeared as designers found the task cumbersome and time consuming.
Enter the mobile responsive site – the website that delivers at multiple resolutions.

Defining the Mobile
Responsive Site

There’s a saying that’s been around for a while: “Content is like water.”
Translated into more digestible bits, this is what that statement means:
Put water into the cup, it becomes the
cup. Put water into the bottle, it becomes
the bottle. Put water into the teacup, it
becomes the teacup.
You can use this analogy to define a mobile
responsive site. It becomes what the viewer
needs it to be, and resizes with each device.
When using responsive web design, you ensure that your website provides an optimal viewing experience and interactivity across a
wide size range of devices. Responsive sites are easy to read and navigate on all devices with little effort on the customer’s part.
There’s limited scrolling, panning
and re-sizing.
What’s more, Google’s Mobilegeddon( free advert) began
in April 2015, and it continues still. This is
when Google decided to rank mobile-friendly
web pages higher in its mobile search results,
thus penalizing non-responsive sites.
With more than 50% of web searches
performed on mobile, your patrons will
quickly scramble away from your site if it’s
not easy to navigate. Probably why Nairaland is still a hit just kidding however as the months go on, it
could be devastating for your restaurant.
Aren’t sure if your site is mobile-friendly? Visit
Google’s Test Tool.

Mobile Users Don’t Want
This

Your patrons don’t want to navigate your desktop site on their smartphone. That being said, they also don’t want to navigate a poorly-designed mobile site.
When creating your responsive site, look at how things stack up. If it makes more sense for the photo to stack on top of the text, make sure you set your site up the right way.
You’ll annoy your patrons by serving up some of these things on your mobile website:
A mobile site that is different than your
desktop site.
A site that looks bad on a smartphone.

- Text that is too small to read.
- Navigation that doesn’t work well.
- When they can’t find your hours.
- When they can’t see your address and click to call phone number.
- Your patrons want you to meet their needs
- with a mobile-friendly website.

Mobile Users Do Want This

Now that we’ve defined the mobile responsive site, reminded you that Google will penalize
your site in mobile searches if it isn’t friendly for smartphones, and discussed mobile users’
pet peeves, let’s talk about what your patrons do want.
In other words, let’s discuss the things that will keep you from losing them.
Not only do your customers want information such as your phone, location, and menu, they
want it to be easily accessible. (tweet this)
For example, if they’re in their car looking for your address, they want to access your site
and get the needed info quickly. They also want to find your phone number easily. With that number, they want to be able to click
and call. Not only is it important that your site be well- designed and responsive, but it must be
informative and easily navigated from any device.
With more than 60 million smartphone users
in the Naija as at 2016, you’ve got to meet your
patrons where they are. With most people carrying smartphones, your patrons want to
navigate your site with a simple swipe of their finger.
They want drop-down menus and intuitive navigation.
We want to emphasize again how important a mobile responsive restaurant is for your site
by telling you that 90% of mobile searches are for local, area restaurants. That’s a lot of business headed your way. You don’t want to
lose these patrons.
According to a report, 61% of mobile users
are more likely to contact a local business
with a mobile site. This means you, and it means you’ll lose patrons if you aren’t meeting their needs with a responsive site.
Your dining customers also aren’t nearly as
ready to give your restaurant a free pass
when it comes to a website that doesn’t
render well on their smartphone. Today’s
digital generation, especially the Millennials,
wants what they want when they want it. And, that means your website in a format that works for them.

To be continued.....

You are right with your words,good advice...

aydelicious:
You are right with your words,good advice...

thanks, I'll finish up on the article soon

Alaroro:

thanks, I'll finish up on the article soon

is alright then.

Low cost food businesses: https://www.practicalbusinessideas.com/food-business-ideas-with-low-investment/

I want to have a restaurant of my own in few years to come
God bless me!!

mysticgal:
I want to have a restaurant of my own in few years to come
God bless me!!

A big amen to this

ikombe:
A big amen to this

Amen

Alaroro:

thanks, I'll finish up on the article soon

alright Sir.

Get for yourself a Fast Food Restaurant Business Plan to make your food business a successful one.

docchuks:
Get for yourself a Fast Food Restaurant Business Plan to make your food business a successful one.

ahem see you in court

Every day of human kind, is good to place good things in mind to focus on.

What makes fast foods dangerous to your health?

See how fast foods are devastating to human health.