A complete guide to restaurant management and opening know-how: everything you need to succeed

One of the main reasons running a restaurant is considered difficult is that it involves a high level of risk.
This is not unique to the food and beverage industry, but when starting any kind of business, in most cases it begins with financing from financial institutions such as banks or government-affiliated finance corporations.
Because of this, if the business fails, you are left with the risk of being burdened with debt.
Moreover, no matter how careful you are, there is always the possibility of unforeseen trouble, such as an outbreak of food poisoning or a fire caused by something in the kitchen.
In this way, compared with other types of businesses, restaurants carry greater risks.

If food poisoning occurs or you spill oil on a customer’s clothing and it becomes unusable, the compensation may be covered by insurance.
This type of insurance is called “liability insurance,” and there are various types with different coverage details and insured amounts. It is advisable to enroll in such a policy in advance to prepare for unexpected situations.

If a fire breaks out in the kitchen, it can be covered by an insurance policy called “fire insurance.”
Fires can occur not only due to careless handling of flames, but also when old electrical systems short-circuit.
No matter how careful the restaurant is, it cannot prevent incidents such as electrical wiring catching fire in the building it occupies.
Some types of fire insurance not only cover damage from fires, but also losses due to theft or robbery.
In addition, fires caused by natural disasters such as earthquakes are generally not covered, but you can add coverage for them as an optional rider by paying an additional premium.
For more on the risks involved in running a restaurant, please refer to “The Difficult Aspects of Running a Restaurant and How to Address Them,” which explains this topic in detail. If you are interested, be sure to take a look.

What kinds of licenses and procedures are required to run a restaurant?
Here, we will introduce the necessary qualifications and procedures for those who are considering starting a restaurant business.

The two minimum qualifications required to run a food and beverage business are “Food Sanitation Supervisor” and “Fire Prevention Manager.”

A cook’s license is not required, but having one is a qualification that can help increase your shop’s credibility.
In addition, qualifications such as sommelier or registered dietitian also help promote your shop, so if you want to build trust with customers or differentiate yourself from other establishments, it’s a good idea to consider obtaining these certifications.

In addition to obtaining the necessary licenses, running a restaurant requires various other procedures.

As you can see, when running a restaurant, many procedures are required.
For details on the qualifications and procedures needed to operate a restaurant, please refer to “Introducing the qualifications required to run a restaurant! Do you need a chef’s license?”, which explains everything in depth.

Before opening a restaurant, there are many things you need to do, such as creating the concept for the shop, choosing the location, deciding on the menu and setting prices.
Here, we will carefully explain each of the things you should do before opening a restaurant, so please use this as a reference.

If you are opening a restaurant by a method other than signing a franchise agreement with a nationwide restaurant chain, you must first consider the concept of your establishment.
You need to think through and decide on the restaurant’s concept, such as what kind of dishes you will offer to which type of customers, and what sort of atmosphere and overall feel the place will have.

Whether you’re entering a franchise agreement or starting an independent business, finding the right location for your shop is crucial.
The quality of the property you secure will have a major impact on how your restaurant performs later on, so choose carefully.
At this stage, looking for a “turnkey” property that was previously used as a restaurant can help you keep interior construction and related costs down.
However, when doing so, make sure you think through why the previous restaurant there didn’t succeed, and carefully consider whether the restaurant you plan to run might fall into the same pitfalls before making your decision.

As a restaurant owner, deciding what dishes to offer on the menu is an important responsibility.
In this case, the owner does not necessarily have to be the chef; it is also fine to hire a chef and work it out together.
Of course, in addition to food, you also need to consider what kinds of drinks you will serve.

One of the key factors that greatly influences the management of a restaurant is how you set the prices of the items on your menu.
If the presentation is attractive, the atmosphere is stylish, and the food tastes good, customers will come even if the prices are set on the higher side.
However, if customers feel that, compared to nearby restaurants, the overall level of satisfaction is low for the price they pay, they will not return, and the number of new customers will also decline.
For this reason, if you are running a restaurant for the first time, it is a good idea to set your prices on the lower side to encourage more people to visit.

When running a restaurant, understanding how to think about the cost ratio is also an important point.
It’s said that the food cost ratio for restaurants is around 20–30%. It’s not necessary to keep every single menu item within this range; by making adjustments—such as setting some items at a 10% cost ratio and others at 40%—you can be creative and increase your overall profit.

Offering takeout is important when you need to use space efficiently in a small café.
If you don’t offer takeout, the limited number of seats means that no matter how many customers come, they will leave if there are no seats available, resulting in lost business opportunities.
To prevent such losses, providing takeout is essential. When starting takeout service, you do not need to obtain any special permits, so you can begin within the scope of your regular restaurant business license.

Ensuring that customers can charge their devices is an essential factor in running a café or coffee shop within the food and beverage industry.
To allow customers to charge smartphones, tablets, and other devices, it is necessary to install power outlets and USB charging ports as part of your in-store facilities.
In older buildings, it may be structurally difficult to install outlets at every seat, but if it is possible to add them through interior renovation work, it is highly recommended to do so.
Many customers who visit cafés and coffee shops assume that there will be power sources available for charging.
Therefore, if they find out that your shop has no power outlets, they may move to another place or be less likely to return as repeat customers.
If there is another shop nearby with similar menu prices, many people will choose the one where they can charge their devices, so securing power sources can be considered an essential point.

Creating a good Wi‑Fi environment is, just like securing power outlets, an essential element in running a café or coffee shop.
Unlike fast-food chains such as beef bowl restaurants, cafés and coffee shops attract many customers who come with the intention of relaxing and staying for a while.
Recently, with the spread of remote work, more and more people are bringing their own laptops to cafés and similar places to work.
These social trends represent a major opportunity, as they are driving up demand for cafés and coffee shops.
To meet these evolving needs, it’s important to make various adjustments, such as setting up single-person spaces that make it easy for customers to open their laptops and work.
However, if you don’t have a proper Wi‑Fi setup, your shop won’t even be considered as a potential place to work on a computer, so it’s advisable to ensure you have a solid Wi‑Fi environment in place.

On Google Maps, basic store information is automatically registered even if restaurant owners do nothing.
Therefore, it’s not the case that your business won’t appear on Google Maps unless you register it yourself.
However, by registering your business on your own, you can add various details to Google Maps, such as whether power outlets are available or whether there is a well-equipped Wi‑Fi environment.
In addition, there are advantages such as making it easier for people nearby who are looking for a place to eat to find your restaurant, as well as clearly showing business hours and other store information, which can become a strong motivation for customers to visit.
When running a restaurant, there are some things you absolutely must take care of—offering takeout, providing a full internet environment, and registering on Google Maps. These are explained in detail in “A powerful ally for running a café! What you should do and what you should use”.
Also, the shop’s concept, location, menu content, and pricing are explained in detail in “What matters most for restaurant owners? What you should do as a manager”, so please use it as a reference.

When running a restaurant, the most important thing is whether you are properly managing your FL costs.
“FL cost” is a term commonly used in the restaurant business, and it refers to the abbreviation of F (Food Cost) and L (Labor Cost).
In other words, it is the idea of carefully considering your cost ratio, spending an appropriate amount on labor in line with your store’s sales, and firmly securing your profit.
Below, we will explain specifically how you should manage these costs.

Methods for adjusting food costs can be broadly divided into three categories: adjusting menu prices, adjusting purchasing costs, and adjusting portion sizes.

Labor cost refers to personnel expenses.
If personnel expenses are raised too high, the store will hardly make any profit.
On the other hand, if they are cut too much, the level of service will decline, the burden on each employee will increase, and this may lead to staff leaving the job.
For this reason, as a general rule, we recommend adjusting personnel expenses so that they are around 25% of sales.
If you would like to learn more about FL costs, please see “What is most important in running a restaurant? Introducing key know-how”.

This doesn’t apply only to restaurants, but running any business involves various expenses.
Among them, personnel costs are one of the largest expenses when operating a restaurant.
Here, we will introduce several strategies for reducing labor costs, so please use them as a reference.

As the name suggests, automatic shift creation software is a tool that automatically creates weekly work schedules.
This is especially helpful for restaurants and other businesses with many employees, where planning the shift schedule each time can be a lot of work.
By introducing automatic shift creation software, you can save the time spent on scheduling and use that time more effectively for other tasks.
Because the features of automatic shift creation software vary depending on the product, it’s best to choose one after considering both its functions and your budget.

Introducing systems that simplify food preparation as much as possible can also reduce the number of employees needed in the kitchen, which leads to lower labor costs.
For example, by purchasing ingredients that have already been partially prepped, or by installing high‑performance dishwashers and other equipment, you can reduce the number of staff required in the kitchen.
That said, convenient cooking equipment is usually more expensive than standard kitchen tools.
However, because you save that much in labor costs, you can recoup the investment by running your restaurant over the long term, so there’s no need to worry too much about it.

Self-ordering refers to a system that allows customers to place orders using their own smartphones.
While it is also possible to use touch-panel self-ordering systems like those found in major chain izakaya restaurants, these require purchasing tablets and other devices, which makes the initial implementation cost high.
In contrast, with a smartphone-based self-ordering system, customers simply place orders from their own smartphones, so there is no need for the store to purchase tablets.
However, for customers who do not have a smartphone, orders will be placed using tablets provided by the store.
Even so, because it reduces the number of staff needed to take orders on the floor and handle checkout, it leads to lower labor costs.

多くの会社がセルフオーダーシステムを提供していますが、オススメしているのはオートリザーブオーダーです。
オートリザーブオーダーは注文からお会計までお客様のスマホで完結できるセルフオーダーシステムです。他社にはない会計機能が付いていたり、メニューの多言語化など豊富な機能が揃っている中で初期導入費用を圧倒的に抑えられることが特徴です。

A self-checkout register refers to a system that allows customers to handle payment on their own.
Because customers make the payment themselves, there is no need to have staff dedicated to checkout.
In a broad sense, the ticket machines used by major restaurant chains to sell meal tickets can also be considered a type of self-checkout.
By installing self-checkout registers near the entrance, you can shorten the time required for payment, and by making payment in advance, you can also strengthen security measures. For this reason, it can be a good approach to use a meal-ticket system only during busy hours.
For more details on strategies to reduce expenses and labor costs, please see “What is most important in running a restaurant? Introducing key know-how,” which explains this in depth. If you’re interested, be sure to check it out.

Running a restaurant isn’t as simple as just serving delicious food at low prices with great service and expecting to make a profit.
If you make mistakes in choosing the items for an all‑you‑can‑eat menu or in setting their prices, you can end up in a situation where the place looks busy and successful with many customers coming in, but in reality it’s hardly making any profit.
That’s why, if you properly build a system that ensures profitability, you can still make a profit even if your food isn’t exceptionally delicious compared to neighboring restaurants.

It’s important to secure a space that can accommodate banquets for as many people as possible.
In general, banquet course menus tend to be set with a lower food cost ratio than regular menus.
They can also often be served on large shared platters, which reduces the amount of cooking work compared to regular menu items and allows fewer staff to handle service.
Because large-group banquets are highly profitable in this way, it’s advisable even for small restaurants to secure such a space by, for example, arranging the seating layout creatively.

A restaurant menu isn’t something that will generate profit just by lining up a bunch of tasty dishes.
In many food and beverage establishments, the menu is a mix of items with low food cost ratios and items with high food cost ratios, and profits vary depending on how skillfully these are combined.
It’s also important to design mechanisms that encourage customers to order items with lower food cost ratios as much as possible.
For example, in an izakaya, the recommended snacks that can be served quickly often have a low food cost ratio of around 10%, and drinks such as cocktails also tend to have low cost ratios.
By creating a setup that naturally leads customers to order low-cost-ratio items like these, you can generate profit even if sales are not very high.
For more details on how to build a profit-generating system, please also see “Is regular day‑to‑day operation not enough? An introduction to management strategies for restaurants”.

These days, the number of restaurants that rely solely on customers visiting the store and dining in to increase their sales is gradually decreasing.
Also, since most people now use smartphones, many restaurants are adopting various internet-based methods to boost their sales.
Here, we will introduce several ideas for increasing your revenue, so please use them as a reference.
In addition to the ideas introduced here, it’s also a good idea to actively study any new services that become available and consider whether you should implement them.

You can start offering takeout within the scope of a standard restaurant business license issued by the public health center.
All you need to prepare are containers for takeout, so no special upfront investment is required.
In recent times, due to the impact of COVID-19, many restaurants have begun offering takeout.
As a result, many people have come to appreciate the benefits of takeout, and it is expected that strong demand will continue even after infection control measures come to an end.

Delivery services such as Uber Eats can be started without making a large upfront investment, as long as you are within the delivery area.
You will need containers for takeout, but if your restaurant already offers takeout, there is no need for any particularly large initial investment.
In addition, on days with bad weather, such as rain or snow, there is a strong tendency for fewer customers to visit restaurants in person.
On the other hand, because delivery can be ordered without stepping outside at all, demand tends to increase during periods of bad weather.
For this reason, delivery can be a real savior for restaurants that struggle with low customer numbers when the weather is poor.

When restaurants run online shops, there are cases where, in addition to the usual business license for operating a restaurant, they also need to obtain different types of permits. However, depending on the establishment, it is possible to get started simply by obtaining the necessary permits without making major changes to the existing facilities.
To start an online shop, it is recommended to sell products that do not require new equipment specifically for producing items for online sales. This way, you can avoid unnecessary expenses on additional facilities.

Free papers that carry restaurant coupons, such as Hot Pepper, are one of the most fundamental forms of advertising.
In particular, during the year-end and New Year party season, simply being featured in a free paper will almost certainly fill your weekend reservations.
In addition, there are locally produced free papers and gourmet magazines as well.
The more exposure your restaurant has, the greater the promotional effect, so it’s best to make use of various free papers and get listed in as many places as possible.

When promoting your store on social media, it doesn’t cost money, but it does require time and effort.
Because so many restaurants advertise on social media, you need various ideas to make yours stand out.
However, social media is not only useful for promotion; if regular customers follow you, you can share information about new menu items, special discounts, and more, so it’s definitely worth doing.
Also, as your number of followers increases, more people will help spread the word, allowing you to promote your business without putting in that much extra effort.

食べログたぐるなびの登録には、毎月一定必要となりますが、宣伝効果は絶大です。
2つとも知名度が高く、人気もあるため、こうしたサービスを利用して店を探す方が多い傾向にあります。
特に、忘年会や新年会など、大人数での食事会ができる店を探す際、食べログやぐるなびを利用して探す方がほとんどでしょう。
そのため、宴会などができる店の場合、登録が必須のサービスといえます。
たとえ、宴会ができないような店であっても、低価格から掲載することができるため、試しに登録して、どのくらい売上に差が出るのか検討してみるのも良いでしょう。
売上を伸ばすアイデアについて、「通常の営業だけでは不充分？飲食店の経営戦略を紹介」と「飲食店経営で最も重要なことは？ノウハウを紹介」に詳しく書いてあります。
気になる方は、ぜひチェックしてみてください。

When running a restaurant becomes financially difficult and you desperately need funds, many people may think about getting a loan from a financial institution.
However, financial institutions only lend to businesses whose management is stable and that clearly have the ability to repay the loan.
If your premises are not rented but are a property you own, it is possible to use them as collateral to borrow money.
That said, since most restaurants operate out of rented properties, it will be difficult to rely on financial institutions just because your business is struggling.

If you can’t rely on financial institutions, using crowdfunding to rebuild is one possible option.
Crowdfunding is a type of investment, but unlike traditional investments, you launch a project, prepare several tiers (courses) based on the investment amount, and people who agree with the content of those tiers purchase them.
Its biggest feature is that instead of returning money to the investors, you provide goods or services in return.
For example, in the case of a restaurant, common returns include things like “offering a special course meal” or “providing a plan that allows access to special services,” depending on the amount invested.

Compared to conventional investment or loans from financial institutions, crowdfunding does not carry the risk of being burdened with repayments no matter how much funding you receive.
However, that doesn’t mean a restaurant with no track record will succeed just by running a normal campaign, and if the money doesn’t come in, it can actually damage your image instead.
To help avoid such risks, this article will explain what is necessary to succeed with crowdfunding.

For ways to deal with tough times in running a restaurant,How should you handle restaurant operating expenses? Measures to take when you’re in the redexplains this in detail.
It’s a good idea to look it over once in case something unexpected happens.

Here we have compiled and introduced the know-how you need to successfully run and open a restaurant.
As we’ve discussed, simply serving delicious food is not enough for a restaurant to grow its sales, and there is a risk that the business will not be sustainable.
By making use of the internet—such as launching delivery services and online shops, and promoting your business through social media—you can gain an advantage over other restaurants.
It is also important to thoroughly manage FL (food and labor) costs, keep an eye on the cost ratio, and set labor expenses that match your sales so you can reliably secure profits.
Another way to increase sales is to offer services that meet the needs of each era.
To that end, you should always stay alert for the latest information, adopt what works well, and aim to manage your restaurant more efficiently than before.