A desire to start a seafood restaurant could be a profitable one if well executed.
Seafood restaurants have been an ongoing trend among people passionate about food. Seafood is hard to grasp taste for most, but once you start enjoying the jewels of the ocean, there is no going back.
According to a report in 2017, 70% of the seafood consumed in the United States Of America is done in restaurants or other eateries, which is worth more than 70 billion dollars per year. Mainly because home cooks are afraid they won’t be able to do justice to this fascinating protein.
That being said, there is a huge gap in the market for good seafood restaurants.
A look at Google trends for Seafood and Seafood restaurants in the past 5 years in the US reveals that although the trend for seafood has more than doubled within the period, the growth in seafood restaurants has remained more or less the same. This therefore could mean that there could be a gap to meet the trending demand for seafood in the US.
There is no reason why you should not work towards filling that gap and open your own seafood restaurant!
Are you passionate about seafood?
Are you tired of looking for that perfect melt-in-the-mouth seafood that you just can’t seem to find?
Are you trying to meet ends financially?
If you answered Yes to any of the questions above, starting a seafood restaurant can result in a hefty paycheck and great clientele if you’re doing things right.
But the question remains, how to open a seafood restaurant?
Here are a few pointers you must remember when planning to start a seafood restaurant.
For most businesses, location and accessibility are one of the most important things to consider; it can totally make or break your business.
Choosing a spot to open a seafood restaurant can be crucial; the factors to consider both customers convenience as well as yours.
The location you choose must be in a well-known and lit area.
To grab the right kind of attention and clientele, make sure the site you choose is accessible to everyone around town, in terms of public transport and is not too overcrowded. Because overcrowdedness can sometimes lure off potential customers.
Sometimes having a restaurant near corporate offices can be a great business booster, especially during lunch hours, so plan accordingly.
At the same time, the location should also be close to all of your vendors, in case you run into some supply emergencies.
Premium quality seafood is essential. When it comes to seafood restaurants, customers look for quality and freshness of the produce, which is a difficult note to hit.
But with proper planning, you could be serving the freshest fish in town.
If you live near freshwaters, you’re a step closer to making your seafood restaurant business a hit. You can hire any of the local fisheries that promise to provide you with a set amount of product each day.
However, this doesn’t mean that you can’t acquire fresh fish if you’re around barren land. Many vendors import fish from nearby areas and with strict quality control, they’re made to keep as fresh as possible.
To ensure quality, make sure to do quality checks every now and then, whether you are buying from different vendors each time or the same. Make sure to check each of their licenses as well as the equipment and environment in which the fish are bred or caught.
It’s the 21st century, and we love to leave our days happening on social media. If your restaurant has great aesthetics, you’re getting free marketing, Because more and more people will choose to post photos of the ambiance and decor.
The ambiance in restaurants is an extra step to make sure your business remains successful. Seafood restaurants are usually casual; the ambiance should be comforting and inviting, a small space for families and friends to catch up and hang out over good quality food. Good lighting, colours, and a well-arranged space could bring your business up by 20%.
Professional kitchens are the basic building blocks of a successful restaurant; having top quality equipment could make your service efficient.
However, the equipment can be expensive, but if handled with care, it could be a one-time investment, and you could cover your costs easily if you’re efficient in the kitchen.
Efficiency in the kitchen equals quicker service, which equals happier customers; which makes for a win-win situation!
The staff you hire will be the face of the restaurant – yet another crucial element of a food restaurant business. The representatives of the restaurant reflect the vision of your restaurant.
Having an approachable, kind and dedicated staff, can help your customer stay loyal to your restaurant.
Being treated with care can evoke emotions and attachments to a place, and that is exactly what your staff is supposed to be doing other than being efficient with their services.
Make sure to not under-hire because restaurants can have stressful lunch hours leaving many customers in despair because of poor service.
Apart from the front staff, an essential part of your team is the chefs and the sous chef. Working with seafood is different from working with other proteins, so to bring your vision to life, you need a chef that can handle seafood and knows its science, once you have a good team on your hands, your seafood heaven is almost ready.
Devising a proper menu can be very time-consuming, but it is essential. Your menu is the summary of your taste and palate. It needs to be complete, and each meal course must complement one another.
The seafood itself has a wide variety of cuisines, the right menu would have meals from at least three different cuisines, and each cuisine should have at least one complementary dessert, and drink.
For example, if you have Mexican cuisine in mind, you could have a shrimp cocktail for appetizers, fish tacos for your main course, and a fruit trifle for dessert.
From appetizers down to dessert, a well-planned menu will give your customers a very satisfying dining experience.
With social media at its peak, promoting a new business can be easy. However, it requires proper planning, like most things in a seafood restaurant business.
As mentioned earlier, Instagram is an excellent platform for marketing. Instagram has a community of influencers, for whom you could hold a small soft launch event.
You could invite food bloggers, and people from around the neighbourhood to try out free samples of your food. These influencers, in return, would put up reviews of your food and get the word out about your restaurant.
Similarly, you could have discount vouchers and introductory deals to attract customers. Some traditional ways to promote would be to send out flyers and invitations around town, and have billboards set up.
You could also send food pr packages to influencers and food bloggers.
Another strategy to keep in mind is to come up with share boxes and deals for groups that could be economical for your customers. If your customers see tremendous value in their meals, they will continue to dine out at your restaurant.
You may also like how to make money with catfish farming business
It all seems fun until we get down to actual business. Managing expenses can be a challenging part to tackle in any food restaurant business. The investment rates are very high, and the money is always on the roll because you are getting produce and groceries every day.
Covering investment is a slow process, but in the long run, it can be gratifying. To manage expenses, minimal food wastage is essential. Since the quality of the food cannot be compromised; it is necessary to save up wherever possible.
Make use of as much free social media marketing as possible and hire students looking for part-time jobs as staff, since their wages are lower.
If you are running low on the budget, in the beginning, you could always look for second-hand equipment from older restaurants.
Once you have the payroll going, you can always invest in equipment of your own.
Make sure the location you choose has reasonable rent. If you have enough investments, your first step should be to buy the place instead of renting it out because it will give you some sort of business security.
Seafood, being an acquired taste, is the reason why there are less seafood-only places in the US. Which means there is very little competition and a lot more opportunities to experiment. This also means that you can set your prices, as you please. However, this does not mean you overcharge the customers because ripping the customers off of their precious money, will not lead to a good clientele.
All in all, it is a slow process to start a seafood restaurant, but it will bring your dreams to life, the payroll might be slow, to begin with, but that is no reason to give up on your dreams of starting a seafood restaurant. Because entrepreneurship never comes easy, but it isn’t impossible.
So all it takes is the right planning, to build your very own seafood restaurant, and who knows within some time you might be the owner of the most hyped seafood restaurant business, around town.
Related posts: Health benefits of smoked catfish and Is Catfish A Good Fish To Eat?
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