menu item: mushroom panini

portobello mushrooms (sauteed in balsamic vinegar)

sundried tomato pesto

mozzarella cheese

arugala

menu item: prosciutto panini

sliced prosciutto

manchego cheese

fresh pesto

sliced apple

The Cutting Board

When I lived in California I worked in a business park in Santa Monica. There was a Korean couple, Sonny and Won (sp), that owned a small sandwich shop in the business park called "The Cutting Board". Now the cutting board didn't serve the best food, just simple sandwiches like turkey on wheat, and there were much better options in the neighborhood, but the place always had a line. People went there out of convienence. It was literally in the business park, on the first floor. Anytime you walked outside (bank, mailbox, gym) you passed it and they even had a guy who would deliver your order to your office, you can't get much more convienent then that. I'm not sure how much those guys were making, but there operating costs couldn't have been much and like I said, there was always a line. I'd like to start a list of similar places in the triangle. The first place that pops in my head is "The Village Deli" in Morrisville. While its much more upscale then "The Cutting Board" it sticks to the same basic principle: a simple menu located near a business park offering the lunch time crowd a good, quick place to eat.

A few different options

So there are a few different ways we can go when opening a restaurant / cafe / sandwich shop.

1. The business park cafe - This would be a simple cafe / sandwich shop within a business park, hopefully taking advantage of the people who work in the park and offering them a good breakfast and lunch
2. The street cafe - A little more upscale then the business cafe with a broader menu. This would still need to be in an area of high traffic, but would be a sitdown restaurant for people taking the hour long lunch break.
3. franchise - there is always the option of franchising a shop such as Brueggers, Subway, or Chic-Fil-A. Not sure how profitable this is, but well worth looking into.
4. restaurant - The big, seats 100, open for dinner place is probably beyond us right now but we should look into its profitability.

I'm personally leaning towards #1. Keep costs low, offer a good product, and take advantage of the simple fact that when people are at work they are looking for their food to be one thing: convenient.

Money, money, money, money. . .

I just read a great article in Slate magazine by Micheal Idov entitled "Bitter Brew" . In it, Micheal talks about his experience opening (and closing) of a coffee shop he and his wife started. While Micheal's affair sounds like a complete nightmare, it didn't deter me. Instead, it inspired me to become more knowledgeable of the science of opening a business. In the end it comes down to one thing: money. While reading the article it dawned on me that there is some basic (and more advanced) math behind a cafe's success. Simply put: revenue = profit - cost and cost = rent + food + help. The article also discusses a golden rule of restaurants:

There is a golden rule, long cherished by restaurateurs, for determining whether a business is viable. Rent should take up no more than 25 percent of your revenue, another 25 percent should go toward payroll, and 35 percent should go toward the product. The remaining 15 percent is what you take home. There's an even more elegant version of that rule: Make your rent in four days to be profitable, a week to break even. If you haven't hit the latter mark in a month, close. --Micheal Idov

So in general, making sure you deliver a good product while at the same time having a good profit margin on that product seems very important. I realized the best way to approach things is not to get too cute. Design a practical menu with items that have a reasonable markup. Remember, your not going to sell everything you buy. All food has a shelf life and is perishable. The stuff you throw away needs to be added to the equation. Micheal outlined a story in which he and his wife ordered fancy french pastries for $1.25 a piece and sold them for $2.00 with a $.75 cent profit for each pastry, but pastries have a short shelf life and he only sold 50%, making his profit $-.25 a pastry. . .ouch.

Also, I need to take into consideration what we want to serve based on how it is prepared. For example, if we decide to keep it simple and only serve paninnis and salads then our start up cost will be lower because we won't require an oven, just a couple of sandwich presses. But if you go and put a roast pork sandwich on the menu, suddenly you need an oven for one menu item.

Dare to Dream the Impossible Dream

My wife and I have talked for some time about opening a small food cafe. I know I know, it's insanely hard work and most small businesses fail, but we might try anyways. The purpose of the blog is to write down themes, recipes, menus, and general ideas in an effort to start to form a business plan for our dream cafe. Bon Appetit!