It’s been something that most of us have dreamt of at least once, a dream restaurant that’s full of life, bustling with energy & also a runaway success. Entrepreneurs driven by this dream end up conceptualizing some of the most successful restaurants while the unfortunate ones end up going bankrupt with their dream remaining unfulfilled.
Choose These 5 Upstart Vendors That Will Help Take Off Your Restaurant To Success
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While the glamour in running a restaurant is an attractive proposition for many, there’s a dark side of the business that involves cut throat competition resulting in narrow margins, lack of clarity regarding operating hours, high cost of utilities & a paucity of skilled service.
While most of these aspects will need to be managed on a continual basis, the other aspects typically rely on the business owners’ ability to identify, recruit & work with a reliable supplier.
In this post we list the 5 crucial aspects that are best outsourced, what to look for in the supplier & the best supplier to choose from.
Commercial Kitchen Equipment
To ensure proper functioning a seamless process after the order receipt stage, it is critical to have reliable kitchen equipments that don’t require much in the way of routine maintenance & don’t breakdown every fortnight.
The kitchen equipment you need will depend on the cuisine width & breadth on offer but these are the standard equipments that you’ll find in most restaurant kitchens.
- Deep Oil Fryer
- Commercial Grade Oven
- Commercial Burner
- Commercial Refrigerators OR Cold Storage Rooms
- Kitchen Utensils
- Commercial Mixers For Dough & Mixing station
- Commercial Sinks & Water Sprays
- Commercial Trash Bins
Simply due to the variety of these items, it is rare for a restaurant to have a single vendor supply all of these.
It is also rare to find a vendor who does supply all of these. Kanteen India is the one of the oldest suppliers of these items & has been supplying these to restaurants across India since the 1950s!
POS System
A point-of-sale system not only ensures a systematic process for catering to the orders in a timely fashion, it also ducks the need to file tax returns, report financials & store receipts, pretty much does away with the requirement of all types of paperwork. Since all documents are digitally stored, it is also a lot more reliable. The benefits of a POS system is numerous & we’ve covered them in a separate post.
While there are plenty of open-source platforms that allow for free of cost POS services, most restaurants & hospitality businesses, in general, require some level of customizations. If you know an adept software developer, then he/she can tweak the system within a matter of a couple of weeks.
If not, a paid service that is customizable is a good option to go for. Re-Pos is one of the most well known POS services for restaurants in India & also enjoys a delighted clientele.
Furniture, Fittings & Equipments
Furniture & hardware fittings are required in large quantities within restaurants & their costs can be underestimated. However, there are a few hacks to get around this.
Hospitality dining businesses like pubs, breweries, cafes, canteens & fine-dining restaurants of a decent size have a large requirement for furniture. This means that small manufacturers would not mind selling furniture to them directly at bulk prices for two reasons. Firstly, restaurant owners would be easier to turn into a sale since the prices will be lower for them as there is no middlemen wholesaler or retailer involved.
See this post on top restaurant furniture markets in India if
Secondly, the suppliers themselves can go for better margins, it’s a win-win situation for both parties.
Typical products include dining tables, dining chairs, booths, sofa sets, barstools, bar counters, dining sets & more. As these come directly from the factory, the furniture suppliers are also happy to add onto customization requirements from the restaurant owner.
Many of them also do fittings at the restaurant site itself, for larger quantity orders. In India, FF&E experts like Furniture roots is among the leading suppliers of such fittings & furniture.
However, See this post on top restaurant furniture markets in India if you wish to procure them locally.
Lighting & Miscellaneous Supplies
Lighting is not the first things that comes to mind & comparatively it is also a cheaper purchase in the overall scheme of things. But it has a crucial role to play, which is to take the look & feel of the restaurant to another level by adding a few glamour & contrasting elements. Lighting for homes & bedroom is a topic we’ve already written about before. But when it comes to bars, restaurants & pubs, it’s a different ballgame altogether.
Typically, most suppliers of furniture itself do have some tie-ups & they do supply for that separately but mostly restauranteurs opt for specialists & tailored solutions.
LED lights & a few dim, traditional lights are used together in most restaurants, but some boutique bars & restaurants also go for custom lights depending on the theme.
FosLighting in India does fancy lighting & LED solutions to match the aspirations of restauranteurs quite well.
Also Read:
5 Things to Know if You Want to Start a Restaurant Business
