Restaurant Startup: Does it Really Burn A Hole In Your Pocket?

Aspiring restaurateurs are often faced with the question as to how much it really costs to open a restaurant. The question is very important because fulfilling your passion for owning a restaurant does involve some serious money which depends on basically your location and the scale of the restaurant. 

This article is going to revolve around the various costs and expenses that you may face while trying to set up your dream restaurant. Costs that vary from renting a place/buying a place to paying the salary of the staff. If opening a restaurant business has been on the cards, then this guide to calculate your expenses will prove to be a godsend for your business.

Let's Talk Money

How much do you think the average cost of opening and setting up a restaurant is? Can’t figure it out? Let’s bifurcate it together and proceed step by step.

Owning/Renting A Place

The most difficult part is to finalize the locality where you would want to set up your restaurant. Then comes the size of the restaurant which will have you decide if it is going to be a cozy, small, and casual setup, or is it destined to be a high-end posh restaurant. These two factors will affect your finances hugely. The better the area, the costlier the place. Doesn't matter if you have a generous budget or a stretched one, there is always a place that you can find accordingly. If you are thinking of renting a place, the average cost would be somewhere between Rs 30,000 - Rs 1,00,000. However, if you are looking to buy out a place, you will have to spend a much higher amount that will vary from Rs 50 lacs to Rs 1 cr.

The Cost Of Acquiring Licenses

The most tedious task and equally time-consuming task is to get all the necessary permits and licenses to run a restaurant business without any hassles. You will be required to have a

FSSAI License: It will cost you around  7500/- for the central license and Rs. 2000- Rs.5000 for the state license. 

Health/Trade license: This license will cost you Rs. 500 – Rs. 50,000 depending on the requirements of your restaurant.

Eating house license: On average Rs. 300 will be the cost to get it and it’s valid for three years.

Shop and Establishment License: The cost ranges from Rs. 200 to Rs. 4,000 per year. The number of employees and the location of the restaurant plays a big role in this license.

Music License: The annual fees range between Rs. 3,500 – Rs. 10,000. This license is issued by the Phonographic Performance Limited (PPL).

Operational Costs And Staffing Costs

You will always want your restaurant to run as smoothly as possible without any glitches. However, to ensure that you need to get good quality equipment for your kitchen so that the operations are never halted due to the quality of the equipment such as grills, stove, mixers, etc. The appliances would cost you an average of 5 Lcs. Also, the staff you intend to hire to run your restaurant will take up to 20-30% of the total revenue you generate.

Raw Material Costs

Please keep it in mind that the salary of your staff and the raw materials costs are recurring expenses, The raw materials will cost you around 30-40% of the total revenue that your restaurant generates. Getting good quality and fresh material will cost you even higher, hence, plan accordingly.

Marketing and Maintenance

If you do not market your business in the best possible manner, you will cost it its potential customers. If you have built something for a particular type of audience or crowd, it becomes your duty to let the prospect know that you are open to business. Depending on how much and what way you promote your business, the cost will vary.

We hope this gives you a clear idea of how much it actually costs to build a restaurant from scratch. It is important to know that there will always be some random expenses that will raise their heads occasionally and you need to be prepared. Nonetheless, based on the above details, we wish you luck chalking out your business plan.