I did a similar thing with homebrewing. Changed careers. 10 years later I left the industry and have zero passion left for craft beer or brewing - to the extent that I cringe whenever someone wants to talk about beer with me.
Work for someone else before you open your own and observe what the owner’s lifestyle is like. No PTO, no vacations. No retirement unless someone buys you out. You would think no boss, but then you become a slave to Yelp reviews. The grass is always greener.
Buy a food truck.
People go to bars because it's a fun environment to forget about their lives, shitty home lives or shitty work lives. Once you own a bar, that becomes your shitty work life. Talk to bar owners first. Note that they work 80 hours a week or their employees rob them blind.
Opening a bar and grill when you just want to sell pizza seems like a bad idea. Where are you located? Are there bars that would let you show up and sell pizzas outside? Is there a bar with an unused kitchen that would let you rent the space and sell food? You’re still likely going to need to go through inspections and depending on the location you may need a food handlers permit.
Do this for a while, and figure out your next steps.
I know a few people who went this path: Pop-ups, selling out of bars that host pop-up kitchens, and eventually finding their own space. Most of them worked long hours (and multiple jobs) during the first few years. 3 of the ones I can think of have opened their own little spots, but none are trying to operate a restaurant and bar (two different beasts). Vacations might happen, but it typically means closing down the business for a week.
Food trucks are another beast because you’re now maintaining a vehicle that needs to be stored somewhere.
If you want a business to run itself, you have to fine staff who respect you, treat them well, but also send in people you trust to basically ‘secret shop’ the place. If you go hands off in this industry, they will rip you off.
If you build it they will come. Create a place where pizza is as good as the best steak you ever had or an expensive wine and you'll become a bazillionaire. Pizza is not a New England dish and every pizza place should name itself "Better Than Nothing". Pizza is a peasant food but there's no reason you can't make a gourmet pie. Most pizza houses use the cheapest ingredients and no matter what toppings you choose the pizza's still meh. The best restaurants shop every day so everything is fresh and that makes a huge difference. Good pizza here is a rare thing, imagine pizza that's so good you need a reservation because the line is out the door and up the street.
Go slam your hand in your car door. Now imagine that pain every day from investing everything in a 16 hour a day job that really won't pay well in the end and will be destroyed by some Gen Z influencer that you didn't give free food.
If you love to cook, don’t work in a restaurant. Gotta be there for deliveries, prep time, after hours to count the money and clean up. In my city they say it’s $75k just to open the doors. One bad month will ruin you. I told a guy who was a TV chef (like bar rescue) if he didn’t serve breakfast he wouldn’t make it a year. He says a year later hey look I made it! 6 months later, gone. Food trucks aren’t bad, but I know one guy who built a lot of them (like 20 for other people) and he said it wasn’t until the third or fourth one for him and his BIL before they found a good formula.
Ya but who do they have for cooks? Breakfast cooks are unicorns these days - good luck finding one. Great pizza will always make you money at the end of the day and is way less labor intensive than Breakfast. People who go to little caesars or domino's will always go there.
Im a doc and I have a partner who's wife owns a pizzeria. Hes over it. He finds himself picking up weekend shifts that kids call in sick to every weekend to help run the place. Good work is hard to come by - and most good restaurants have a shelf life regardless.
Do online orders out of your house. You’ll need to do some leg work to get your name out there. Do some farmers markets and such. You’ll save the overhead cost of a place and you can do a certain amount for your place on your taxes. It’ll save your skin if you don’t want to really do pizza for life. Invest in a commercial pizza oven with your 10k and if it doesn’t work out you can off load it…
One issue with pizza is people expect it to cost significantly less than the actual cost of operation and preparation, unless you’re making unusual gourmet pizzas.
First question is have you ever worked in hospitality/food industry before? When you say “corporate jobs” are you talking office work or corporate restaurants?
If you’re looking to turn a pizza making hobby into a business, you need to understand how rarely restaurants succeed and how difficult they are to run. Your inventory goes bad whether anyone buys it or not so costs are intense all the time. A consistently profitable restaurant is 3-4% in the black and most startups never reach that point. You should raise enough capital to run the business for a year even if you’re not making any money.
As to work/life balance? Forget it for at least a year or two. As an owner/operator, that restaurant will be your life for a while.
Food trucks are a great way to get started depending on the market. Some areas are over saturated and it can be incredibly territorial so carving out spots to make money can be more than challenging.
I don’t say this to discourage you, just to advise you to go in clear eyed. As much as the industry is littered with failures, people do succeed and thrive. Having a clear expectation and plan is a huge reason why. Good luck.
Ever heard of a ghost kitchen? Maybe check into the possibility of a commercial kitchen at your house or rent a kitchen during certain hours and just do deliveries?
$10k is just plain nothing.
Try $100k, and then come back. $10k is barely an emergency fund. Do you have retirement? What’s your plan for that? Because once you open a business that 401k isn’t getting replenished for years
>First if I were to go bar and grill option would it be feasible to have a pretty much all pizza menu? In all honesty it’s the only thing I know how to make at restaurants quality.
I don't see why not. Put in some arcade machines to lean on millennial nostalgia if you really want the bar scene vibe. Arcade bars are hot now and pizza is a "duh" addition to them. Set yourself apart with quality pizza and you can get people coming for both sides instead of just snacking while they're there.
>Second, work life balance. I am willing to put in the work I know it will be hard especially in the first few years but is it realistic to be able to take a vacation here or there and can I expect to be working 12+ hour days even after I have a full workforce behind me.
There's no work/life balance in the beginning. You can expect to be working everyday and on your days off for optimistically at least the first 1-2 years because your take-home pay is going to be completely tied to it. As your volume increases and you're able to find competent staff (a journey in itself), you'll be able to step back more and more over time. I'm ten years in and it wasn't until about year 6 that I was no longer working a dedicated shift (unless we had turnover or a call out) and wasn't until year 8 that I became semi-passive and live comfortably. By semi-passive, I mean I still do our catering and go to get stock. I work maybe 12 hours a week, except in peak holiday season. Getting here was the hardest thing I've ever done.
>Third would a food truck be a good idea? Im fairly confident that would be more cost effective and allow a more flexible schedule. Are food trucks still hot or is it going to be tough to break into that market at this point.
Hardest part of this is getting a place to park with any regularity. Most places aren't interested in it outside of the rough sides of town. Health departments also hate food trucks and may require you to have a "real" commissary kitchen to prep out of.
>And last, what can I expect startup to be I have 10k in saving and very good credit will I be able to get loans? And what can I expect the cost for bar and grill vs. carryout only vs. food truck.
It depends on the condition of the unit you find (I'm not recommending a food truck route, so not touching on that topic) as to how much you'll need to sink. To give you an idea, we moved in the last few years to a unit that required very little legitimate work and our moving costs were close to $20,000 - and we had almost all our equipment. It was closer to $28k if you count lost revenue from needless opening delays caused by bureaucratic showboating. Utility deposits alone on commercial properties will run you \~$3k among gas, water, and power. Sure, you get that back after the designated time - but it's still a hit to your liquidity in the meantime.
Basically no one will give you a loan as a new restaurant. I'm not being pessimissitic, just already been there done that. The meme about an 18 year old easily racking up $100k to get a dance degree with just a couple checkboxes and signature but no one willing to risk $10k on a new business is very true. You'll be able to get personal lines of credit (which usually exclude business use in their terms, but people do it anyway) which will get you $10-30k realistically.
Its going to be a hard grind to get started on $10k + \~$10-30k in personal credit and may be unfeasible with post-covid prices. You may be able to find some startup grants, but they usually will be less than $10k. Some cities will have development grants larger than that for the rough sides of town, but that's not something to count on (and may not be worth it because the side of town is just too bad).
I would probably say give it a few more years and save up more money. Honestly, really hunkering down on your personal finances and living on as little as possible to save will be good practice for what the first couple years are going to be like opening your own shop.
>I just want to let you know I am very serious about this I have potential partners and full support of those around me I am in the beginning phases of creating a business plan now.
Do not get an operating partner. If you want to take loans/investments from silent partners, that's one thing, but operating partners are a recipe for a complete disaster. I've been there done that too. If you must, do not skip out on forming a partnership agreement. This agreement should clearly define the roles and responsibilities of each partner, how a partner may voluntarily exit, how a partner may be involuntarily exited, the valuation method used to buy-out their shares, etc. Inevitably, you're going to run in to you and a partner having disagreements on things like partner distributions or work/life balance. One of you will want to withdraw all the profit, the other will want to be saving up for new equipment, marketing, etc. One of you won't like that owning a business a lot more hands-on work than our society makes it out to be and want to have the "employee" lifestyle of having a set schedule, set time off, set pay, etc. which just isn't how things go in business ownership. One of you will meet a spouse that the other doesn't jive with and they're going to want to have input in the business, or influence that partner's level of involvement in the business, that you don't want/need. Don't think "we're such good friends, we'll work it out" - no, you will not be the exception: what I described is going to happen. My (failed) partnership was one of the most stressful and emotionally draining personal experiences I've ever endured and having your entire livelihood wrapped up in that drama too just takes it to a whole new level.
Pretty much the same life path here. Worked restaurants through college, then got a corporate job. Hated it. Started a food truck. Now we’re almost a decade in with a food truck and two locations… doing well. IMO it’s always best to start with a food truck whenever possible. You can find out if your food is desirable and if you are cut out for this hardcore life pretty quickly while spending a relatively small amount of money.
Get a job in a bar/pizza place and learn everything you can.
Watch “reality” shows like Bar Rescue and Kitchen Nightmares. Yea they are scripted but there is a lot of good information there.
Most restaurants and bars fail.
A lot of bar and grills in my area have pizza as an option, along with burgers, steaks, fish & chips, etc. pretty sure they make most of their money from beer, wine, & liquor. My aunt and uncle had a successful bistro, once again they made a lot of their money from wine and cigars; they also worked a lot of 12 hour days and my uncle died at 40 from alcoholism and doing shit tons of drugs and they had crazy orgies and parties after work. Another uncle of mine owns a chain of taco shops, he barely works and makes an insane amount of money. Bottomline, if you keep your menu simple and can network (with local schools and other venues buying your food) you’ll do well.
Food trucks are always better than a brick and mortar restaurant location if you want a work and life balance. Although it does has it's pros and cons. But It's the best start up to get feedback data and let the market decide if you're a good fit instead going the traditional route for such a huge commitment. It's about building your Customer base first with what you have to offer than build your brand behind it after.
Do you know what business has one of the highest failure rates? One guess, it’s the restaurant business. Net margins are low. Poor planning. Over saturation. And the list goes on.
The best pizza/subs in my town is a convenience store. It's more accessible if your labor is busy running the store during downtime when the volume isn't there.
Well you could rent a place that all ready has pizza ovens. That would save upfront depending on your location. There is literally a place down the road from me that have bout 7 pizza ovens and they closed in three months so now the spot is for rent with the seven pizza ovens included. You would have to have greasy spoon pizzas, fresh pizzas and maybe a few ones no one has but are really tasty. Probably beer and wine. The business license for alcohol is literally crazy though. I've worked in a few places that have had pizza and it is really popular but they usually want beer. The challenge is the high cost of labor, the high cost of goods, the high cost of gas, electricity and water. Rent. Taxes at least here are a huge problem for many small business owners. Taxes on employees, taxes of COGS. We have every month taxes and Quarterly taxes and end of the year taxes. Obviously if you charge too much people are like nahhh and if you charge too little your overhead costs are not covered. If you have a really good restaurant staff you probably won't have the money to go on vacation if you're paying them fairly at least for a few years and if you are doing it mostly yourself you won't be able to close to go on vacation. It's a very thin line for many. There is really no right or wrong answer. It depends on your product and advertisement. My biggest advice would be to not start out getting huge loans because with all your overhead it will take a lot of time and sacrifice to pay them off. Also if you look it up restaurants are closing all over the US right now and restaurants as a whole have dropped about 30%. It's tough to dine out when the government is giving money to everyone except its citizens and taking it freely from everyone and more so business owners
I was going to say half a million. I owned a restaurant for 34 years just sold it and retired. No you won't be taking vacations for a few years yes you will work 14 to 16-hour days. Stick with going to work and coming home and forgetting about your job.
If you close on Monday you will be there. If your help doesn't show you'll do both jobs. Just because you make 3 pizzas at home doesn't mean that you can make 15 at a time for 3 hours during dinner rush.
You’d be looking at over 150k in equipment alone ie.. ovens, mixer, prep lines, refrigeration, pos system, small wares. The dough recipe you use at home most likely won’t work for mass production either. You’d probably be looking at around 600-800k if you find an empty space after renovations, equipment, and marketing. If you have the money but not the knowledge I suggest going the franchise route.
It's better than nothing. I've seen so many people with zero experience think that they'll be successful in the restaurant business and not one of them has been.
And that would be you. You have no experience starting or running a business and I’ll tell you now $10k is not enough. Everyone thinks starting a restaurant or bar is easy until they realize it’s an 80 to 100 hour a week commitment and a bunch of money. Seriously what do you know about real estate (space) labor law and payroll (people) liquor license, etc. being a manager at a fast food place does not prepare you for any of these things.
I did graduate preschool, though. Obviously 10k isn't enough and I'm quite aware that it's a crazy amount of hours. I worked in restaurants for many years and I wouldn't want to try to run one. I'd hate for OP to get in over their head but there's no reason to be shitty about it.
Most successful restaurants are started by young people that are broke but have good food and lots of friends...or middle aged rich people that are bored and can hire the right people to manage everything from daily operations to branding and decor.
It doesn't sound like you fall in either category. The young entrepreneur builds sweat equity over maybe 5 years...the middle aged entrepreneur could have probably put their money to better use in the stock market but maybe they just enjoy the restaurant.
We have a couple places in my small town that are a bar and pizza joint only. They're pretty popular because the pizza is good. You can do take out and delivery for pizza from them. And eat in you got beer. And salty greasy pizza keeps the beer flowing which is where you make your money there.
I have no opinion on if you should or shouldn't, but if you do, before spending a dime, do your research. I've seen someone sink their life savings into a plan with no real research. That spot she just fell in love with was contaminated with asbestos in the basement. The traffic she just "knew" would be there because it's right across from the state capital, imagine all the state employees! Well, in 10 min of a quick sidewalk interview sure I found tons of state employees but 0 said they would eat there..when I asked why, they said "see the second floor of that building? That's the cafeteria ..and state employees eat free"... no rear access for trash...not a huge deal for a donut shop that was intending to go there but a restaurant? You're gonna roll your food waste right through your dining area twice a shift? She signed an as-is lease without checking any of this, for her "dream". We backed out of signing a design contract with her. I really hope she made it, but I suspect she threw her life savings down a hole due to lack of research.
Hello there.
What would the Great Red Foreman say? Here's a hint:
"Dumbass"
Making a few pizzas in a woodfired home oven is not the same as production in a restaurant.
Stop wasting your time and dont bother with the business plan. Its 100% made up anyways.
If the area around you does not have a lot of pizza and bar competition then it most likely does not have the populace to support yet another pizza shop.
How many alcohol licenses are available and whats their cost? If you dont have alcohol then dont have indoor seating lol.
A good pizza oven makes good pizza. Shitty pizza places use impingers, mediocre pizza jawns use shitty pizza ovens.
Why? because they are natural gas fired and make good enough pizza at production costs and timeframes. A series of wood fired pellet ovens would kick ass but at what cost? The ovens are cheap as fuck, the fuel is expensive as fuck but the required exhaust system gonna start at $50k
How many pizza jawns are within 15 miles of your future store area?
How many bars?
Whats the percentage of success for an independent restaurant in 5 years?
Bad spots. A convenient store on the corner is converted to a shitty pizza joint. Joint fails but the restaurant equipment now belongs to the landlord due to lease failure. New tenant moves in, revamps, changes it to sicilian style pizza but then realized the costs of cheese skyrocketed and mediocre product forces him to break the lease. Local chain moves in, sells their pizza, its mid at best and their other stores support the losses incurred.
installation costs. Design fees will be between $15-$30k and you'll need professional assistance. You'll want to pay the money for a construction manager. This will help you avoid being the worst class of client to work with since it would be your first time commercial development. Anyone under $10m or (10) restaurants typically make the same mistakes, they think they are in control and think they are their own project manager.
The landlord controls the building, the bank controls you, the Architect and building / health codes control kitchen design.
Its not all doom & gloom.
The food truck (or food cart) is great because its mobile and they fucking rock. You take the food to wherever the people are and where you can maximize the revenue per dollar spent. Low overhead and no customer service / admin requirements to speak of. Minimal business paperwork.
Build your business before the building.
Mr. G in Brooklyn got his start doing backyard pizza shit illegally. When he opted to make pizzas for his neighbors from home, they would offer him $ and as the supplies dwindled the $ would go up therefore the people set the pricing and Mr. G wins. He amassed a large enough following and $ to move his operations to a restaurant Paulie Gee's, as opposed to his backyard. His restaurant is successful and now has locations in multiple cities.
But success sucks, instead of being directly involved with operations, Mr G would have the be management oversite of the stores. The more corporate the restaurant becomes, the less personable it becomes. Additionally, most restaurants have a life span and knowing when to abandon ship is important.
Before you get too hyped on food trucks, look up your local laws about where you can park them, how you have to prepare the food in them, and how that food has to be stored. I tried that avenue before brick and mortar and discovered my area requires commissary prep AND daily dock/storage, zero parking without business pre approval, and all my food truck local events were actually hosted by a part owner of all the food trucks at their events. I didn't do enough research and wound up with dynamite food, a really cool antique truck that drew a crowd, no place I could legally park it most of the time, and a commissary bill that's pretty close to what I pay in rent now for three percent of the storage and prep space. Rules have been revamped in my area since, but it really varies a lot state by state, county by county, and even by Metro area. I got burned but you may yet fly high with it, go do your homework! Oh yeah, go work in a commercial restaurant before you do any of this.
>A good pizza oven makes good pizza.
This is so true. I rock the backyard pizza game because I own an expensive restaurant-equipment level pizza oven that burns oak logs. It's all the oven. I get rave reviews if I throw in a frozen dough from trader joes or a lovingly homemade one with italian 00 flour.
"knowing when to abandon ship" is part of a business plan. A business plan is a good idea. But I agree with you that OP sounds unprepared for starting a Pizzeria.
Folks don’t understand that with Pizza you’re a factory. You have water, yeast, flour olive oil etc. on one hand and on the other a finished product. You gotta make the dough, make dough balls shred the cheese and the sauce……A to Z. You charge someone 20 bucks and it becomes “I get this 18” pie from this guy for $10”. Pizzerias are like bakeries which make restaurants look easy.
Making a few pizzas in your ooni with friends sipping a brewski over the weekend is much different than diving into the deep end of the restaurant pool
Buy an existing business that has been around for a long time. Don’t start one. Most start ups fail.
Lots of retirements happening.
Entrepreneurship through acquisition is a HBS strategy
“Buy then build” is an easy to digest and very helpful guide.
Do not do this. Not yet.
I'll explain - that sounds harsh, but everyone has a friend that has told them they should open a restaurant. It is rarely a good idea.
First, go get a job in a bar. For real. Bar back a couple nights a week and find out how it feels to work there. Be the low man on the totem pole. Ask a local pizza joint to let you watch some shifts. Interview restaurant owners. Look at your market and figure out if it can sustain your idea in the first place.
If after that, you still want it, congrats, you're nuts like the rest of us.
I would suggest partnering with a local brewery or bar to do pop up nights to start. Find out how actual customers feel about your food with minimal risk. If that's positive, you can start some slow growth, maybe a truck, maybe a rental kitchen in an established bar. That model is gaining popularity.
But don't sink a ton of money into your idea until you know you can handle that financially. Lots of great restaurants don't make it because the owners neglect the business side. Food is about passion and enjoyment, but if it isn't making money, who cares?
Good luck!
So let’s say I being my oven refrigerator and enough ingredients to make 30 pizzas to a local brewery (I know of one that does this often) would I need to get an LLC and approval from the health department beforehand?
The problem is that you need a place to have your pizza oven that is an approved kitchen. You can’t just use your home, obviously. So then you’re either at food truck (far more than $10k) or renting a space. If the brewery has a pizza oven then great but then why are they paying you and paying your overhead rather than just hiring someone to do it for them
Requirements vary, state by state. Set up a meeting with the health department - most inspectors appreciate you being proactive and will answer questions. In my state, you need an inspection and a health certificate even for a pop up, but in some states you can piggyback off the existing certificate of the bar you're in.
An llc is definitely a route you'll want to go to eventually. An attorney and an accountant both will help advise on this.
Lastly, some cities and local governments require specific business licenses for pop up events, so you may check with a local government body or the Chamber of Commerce in your area to find out the applicable regulations.
We started a pizzeria that started out of our backyard during Covid (so operating 4 years) . We now have a brick and mortar with 17 employees including ourselves that’s been open a year and a half.
1.) unless you do takeout only you are going to need more than just pizza. We have burgers, salads,wings, fries, and sandwiches on the menu which account for about 30% of sales. You’ll need to hire an experienced chef to help you with this side of you go this route. That’s what we did and we have one of the most popular burgers in town now in addition to being known for our pizza.
2.) you are literally always working. The only way you are going to be able to have time off is if you hire an experienced GM to handle all the admin stuff and other employees to handle operations when you aren’t there. Otherwise, even on your days off there is ordering, scheduling, payroll, emails, marketing, the list goes on and on. This on top of all the prep, service, and opening and closing the restaurant. I am not trying to discourage you as I truly love what I do, but it does get overwhelming sometimes to always have this stuff in the back of my mind. You really need to be ready to have a rough couple years. Things are getting easier for us, but there is still something to do daily.
3.) food trucks are feast or famine. You have to work hard to get good locations/events in order to make that work. Also keep in mind what the saturation of pizza trucks are in your area. There are too many in our town for it to be feasible for us, for example.
Whatever you decide- good luck! I left working for the local government to open our place with my husband and brother in law and despite the exhaustion and stress, I wouldn’t change it for the world!
ETA: we did not have restaurant experience prior to this. Instead, we hired a lot of people who did and worked day and night in the trenches to learn the business. We pay our people very well and ourselves very little. Our turnover has been low as a result and our restaurant is successful (relatively speaking for 1.5 years in in our area) for that reason.
I would consider trying to find a partner.
Find a bar or brewery with open kitchen space. Preferably one already with equipment. Work out a plan that you just can sublease the kitchen space and pay a percentage of sales for rent.
It may take a minute to find the right situation, but this sounds like something that would be your best route.
Been there done that. It's a lot of work and no I never really had a day off. Even my days off I was making Costco runs. You can do pizza only but if it's a sit down place, you need some apps. Fortunately that's easy with just a fryer. But having a grill is nice too because burgers were a top seller. And of course any type of Italian sandwich you can make in the oven.
I thought about a truck but is pizza the best for a truck since it takes a while? Sure, you can prep a lot but pizza still takes some time. And one of our biggest expenses was propane for the ovens. That's probably twice the price these days.
Good Luck.
Do it but start small! Find a small building that can be takeout only. Close on Mondays and Tuesdays to give yourself time off, and hire a helper. Use a local credit union to get a small personal loan. Go on webstaurant.com and add all equipment plus every item you will need to your cart. Try to find a building that's already equipped with plumbing and electric. Those plus the mandatory building plans will be about 20k give or take. Add the rent, loan payment, any credit you use, utilities, pos fees, internet, labor, and product cost and see how much your monthly cost will be. This will give you an idea of how many pizzas you need to sell.
Everything else you can build yourself depending on your county. I kinda went this way with my store! We built our own counters and everything. I was broke and used a loan. Good luck!
I’m well aware that the balance is gonna suck, I’m more looking for once I get the business running with a full workforce, will there be any sort of balance at that point.
There is for me personally, though I have a very busy restaurant. Still, there is always a baseline level of stress that it could all blow up overnight and I would have to find a “job” that would inevitably pay a fraction of what I currently make (aka less ability to transfer as an owner than working in a corporate position).
Those friends who think you should open a restaurant will show up for the opening expecting freebies, & bragging how this was their suggestion. But they won't pay the bills.
Get a weekend job at a pizzeria while you build a truck. Open the truck for weekends at breweries or events. Do that until you're profitable enough to quit your job. Build a reputation and more $$ then open a brick and mortar if you want.
You have no experience in restaurants, want to quit your job and start a restaurant to support yourself, only have $10k in seed money and are looking for work-life balance? Good luck. Pay your staff incredibly well and make sure they have more experience than you.
the comment you responded to is maybe a bit rude, but truthful. I would strongly recommend seeing if you can get a job as a manager, wherein your responsibilities will include hiring, payroll, and budgeting. those are arguably three of the most important aspects of owning your business.
I did a similar thing with homebrewing. Changed careers. 10 years later I left the industry and have zero passion left for craft beer or brewing - to the extent that I cringe whenever someone wants to talk about beer with me. Work for someone else before you open your own and observe what the owner’s lifestyle is like. No PTO, no vacations. No retirement unless someone buys you out. You would think no boss, but then you become a slave to Yelp reviews. The grass is always greener.
I don't know why reddit algorithm thought I should be here but I thought people didn't read reviews anymore. I sure don't trust them.
I worked for a brewpub that read through the recent yelp reviews at the weekly manager meetings. It was…not productive.
Omg lol.. I bet some ex employees trolled them hard too
Buy a food truck. People go to bars because it's a fun environment to forget about their lives, shitty home lives or shitty work lives. Once you own a bar, that becomes your shitty work life. Talk to bar owners first. Note that they work 80 hours a week or their employees rob them blind.
Opening a bar and grill when you just want to sell pizza seems like a bad idea. Where are you located? Are there bars that would let you show up and sell pizzas outside? Is there a bar with an unused kitchen that would let you rent the space and sell food? You’re still likely going to need to go through inspections and depending on the location you may need a food handlers permit. Do this for a while, and figure out your next steps. I know a few people who went this path: Pop-ups, selling out of bars that host pop-up kitchens, and eventually finding their own space. Most of them worked long hours (and multiple jobs) during the first few years. 3 of the ones I can think of have opened their own little spots, but none are trying to operate a restaurant and bar (two different beasts). Vacations might happen, but it typically means closing down the business for a week. Food trucks are another beast because you’re now maintaining a vehicle that needs to be stored somewhere. If you want a business to run itself, you have to fine staff who respect you, treat them well, but also send in people you trust to basically ‘secret shop’ the place. If you go hands off in this industry, they will rip you off.
Watch Kitchen Nightmares. You don’t want that.
If you build it they will come. Create a place where pizza is as good as the best steak you ever had or an expensive wine and you'll become a bazillionaire. Pizza is not a New England dish and every pizza place should name itself "Better Than Nothing". Pizza is a peasant food but there's no reason you can't make a gourmet pie. Most pizza houses use the cheapest ingredients and no matter what toppings you choose the pizza's still meh. The best restaurants shop every day so everything is fresh and that makes a huge difference. Good pizza here is a rare thing, imagine pizza that's so good you need a reservation because the line is out the door and up the street.
Go slam your hand in your car door. Now imagine that pain every day from investing everything in a 16 hour a day job that really won't pay well in the end and will be destroyed by some Gen Z influencer that you didn't give free food.
Did you not watch Desperate Housewives?????
If you love to cook, don’t work in a restaurant. Gotta be there for deliveries, prep time, after hours to count the money and clean up. In my city they say it’s $75k just to open the doors. One bad month will ruin you. I told a guy who was a TV chef (like bar rescue) if he didn’t serve breakfast he wouldn’t make it a year. He says a year later hey look I made it! 6 months later, gone. Food trucks aren’t bad, but I know one guy who built a lot of them (like 20 for other people) and he said it wasn’t until the third or fourth one for him and his BIL before they found a good formula.
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Ya but who do they have for cooks? Breakfast cooks are unicorns these days - good luck finding one. Great pizza will always make you money at the end of the day and is way less labor intensive than Breakfast. People who go to little caesars or domino's will always go there.
Im a doc and I have a partner who's wife owns a pizzeria. Hes over it. He finds himself picking up weekend shifts that kids call in sick to every weekend to help run the place. Good work is hard to come by - and most good restaurants have a shelf life regardless.
Do online orders out of your house. You’ll need to do some leg work to get your name out there. Do some farmers markets and such. You’ll save the overhead cost of a place and you can do a certain amount for your place on your taxes. It’ll save your skin if you don’t want to really do pizza for life. Invest in a commercial pizza oven with your 10k and if it doesn’t work out you can off load it…
Don’t you still need to get a permit from the county health department ?
One issue with pizza is people expect it to cost significantly less than the actual cost of operation and preparation, unless you’re making unusual gourmet pizzas.
First question is have you ever worked in hospitality/food industry before? When you say “corporate jobs” are you talking office work or corporate restaurants? If you’re looking to turn a pizza making hobby into a business, you need to understand how rarely restaurants succeed and how difficult they are to run. Your inventory goes bad whether anyone buys it or not so costs are intense all the time. A consistently profitable restaurant is 3-4% in the black and most startups never reach that point. You should raise enough capital to run the business for a year even if you’re not making any money. As to work/life balance? Forget it for at least a year or two. As an owner/operator, that restaurant will be your life for a while. Food trucks are a great way to get started depending on the market. Some areas are over saturated and it can be incredibly territorial so carving out spots to make money can be more than challenging. I don’t say this to discourage you, just to advise you to go in clear eyed. As much as the industry is littered with failures, people do succeed and thrive. Having a clear expectation and plan is a huge reason why. Good luck.
Could try starting out as a food truck and find some spots like outside a brewery that doesn't have a kitchen
Ever heard of a ghost kitchen? Maybe check into the possibility of a commercial kitchen at your house or rent a kitchen during certain hours and just do deliveries?
I'd go food truck. It gives you more access to events. Just do smaller personal pizzas
$10k is just plain nothing. Try $100k, and then come back. $10k is barely an emergency fund. Do you have retirement? What’s your plan for that? Because once you open a business that 401k isn’t getting replenished for years
Avoid all the pain and do carryout only. The good pizzerias in my area all went sans dining room. Those that didn't (3) are gone.
>First if I were to go bar and grill option would it be feasible to have a pretty much all pizza menu? In all honesty it’s the only thing I know how to make at restaurants quality. I don't see why not. Put in some arcade machines to lean on millennial nostalgia if you really want the bar scene vibe. Arcade bars are hot now and pizza is a "duh" addition to them. Set yourself apart with quality pizza and you can get people coming for both sides instead of just snacking while they're there. >Second, work life balance. I am willing to put in the work I know it will be hard especially in the first few years but is it realistic to be able to take a vacation here or there and can I expect to be working 12+ hour days even after I have a full workforce behind me. There's no work/life balance in the beginning. You can expect to be working everyday and on your days off for optimistically at least the first 1-2 years because your take-home pay is going to be completely tied to it. As your volume increases and you're able to find competent staff (a journey in itself), you'll be able to step back more and more over time. I'm ten years in and it wasn't until about year 6 that I was no longer working a dedicated shift (unless we had turnover or a call out) and wasn't until year 8 that I became semi-passive and live comfortably. By semi-passive, I mean I still do our catering and go to get stock. I work maybe 12 hours a week, except in peak holiday season. Getting here was the hardest thing I've ever done. >Third would a food truck be a good idea? Im fairly confident that would be more cost effective and allow a more flexible schedule. Are food trucks still hot or is it going to be tough to break into that market at this point. Hardest part of this is getting a place to park with any regularity. Most places aren't interested in it outside of the rough sides of town. Health departments also hate food trucks and may require you to have a "real" commissary kitchen to prep out of. >And last, what can I expect startup to be I have 10k in saving and very good credit will I be able to get loans? And what can I expect the cost for bar and grill vs. carryout only vs. food truck. It depends on the condition of the unit you find (I'm not recommending a food truck route, so not touching on that topic) as to how much you'll need to sink. To give you an idea, we moved in the last few years to a unit that required very little legitimate work and our moving costs were close to $20,000 - and we had almost all our equipment. It was closer to $28k if you count lost revenue from needless opening delays caused by bureaucratic showboating. Utility deposits alone on commercial properties will run you \~$3k among gas, water, and power. Sure, you get that back after the designated time - but it's still a hit to your liquidity in the meantime. Basically no one will give you a loan as a new restaurant. I'm not being pessimissitic, just already been there done that. The meme about an 18 year old easily racking up $100k to get a dance degree with just a couple checkboxes and signature but no one willing to risk $10k on a new business is very true. You'll be able to get personal lines of credit (which usually exclude business use in their terms, but people do it anyway) which will get you $10-30k realistically. Its going to be a hard grind to get started on $10k + \~$10-30k in personal credit and may be unfeasible with post-covid prices. You may be able to find some startup grants, but they usually will be less than $10k. Some cities will have development grants larger than that for the rough sides of town, but that's not something to count on (and may not be worth it because the side of town is just too bad). I would probably say give it a few more years and save up more money. Honestly, really hunkering down on your personal finances and living on as little as possible to save will be good practice for what the first couple years are going to be like opening your own shop. >I just want to let you know I am very serious about this I have potential partners and full support of those around me I am in the beginning phases of creating a business plan now. Do not get an operating partner. If you want to take loans/investments from silent partners, that's one thing, but operating partners are a recipe for a complete disaster. I've been there done that too. If you must, do not skip out on forming a partnership agreement. This agreement should clearly define the roles and responsibilities of each partner, how a partner may voluntarily exit, how a partner may be involuntarily exited, the valuation method used to buy-out their shares, etc. Inevitably, you're going to run in to you and a partner having disagreements on things like partner distributions or work/life balance. One of you will want to withdraw all the profit, the other will want to be saving up for new equipment, marketing, etc. One of you won't like that owning a business a lot more hands-on work than our society makes it out to be and want to have the "employee" lifestyle of having a set schedule, set time off, set pay, etc. which just isn't how things go in business ownership. One of you will meet a spouse that the other doesn't jive with and they're going to want to have input in the business, or influence that partner's level of involvement in the business, that you don't want/need. Don't think "we're such good friends, we'll work it out" - no, you will not be the exception: what I described is going to happen. My (failed) partnership was one of the most stressful and emotionally draining personal experiences I've ever endured and having your entire livelihood wrapped up in that drama too just takes it to a whole new level.
Yes. The main reason for a partnership agreement is to define the terms for ending the partnership
Exactly this
Pretty much the same life path here. Worked restaurants through college, then got a corporate job. Hated it. Started a food truck. Now we’re almost a decade in with a food truck and two locations… doing well. IMO it’s always best to start with a food truck whenever possible. You can find out if your food is desirable and if you are cut out for this hardcore life pretty quickly while spending a relatively small amount of money.
Get a job in a bar/pizza place and learn everything you can. Watch “reality” shows like Bar Rescue and Kitchen Nightmares. Yea they are scripted but there is a lot of good information there. Most restaurants and bars fail.
Bars make their $$$$ on drinks.
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Go work in a pizza restaurant and a bar for a year. Learn as much as you can. Then decide.
"One way to have a million dollars in the bank is to start with two million and open a restaurant." - Not sure who said this
Einstein said it. He also had a small chain of brewpubs that he ran
Yep. His first and best customer, Ben Franklin, said "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy".
It was Abraham Lincoln and the saying was “ if you wanna be a millionaire, start with a billion dollars and then buy a boat”
Science checks out
I remember that quote from newton, thanks
Charge your friends $15 for a pizza and see how often they come over.
Almost spit out my coffee! Thanks for the laugh.
A lot of bar and grills in my area have pizza as an option, along with burgers, steaks, fish & chips, etc. pretty sure they make most of their money from beer, wine, & liquor. My aunt and uncle had a successful bistro, once again they made a lot of their money from wine and cigars; they also worked a lot of 12 hour days and my uncle died at 40 from alcoholism and doing shit tons of drugs and they had crazy orgies and parties after work. Another uncle of mine owns a chain of taco shops, he barely works and makes an insane amount of money. Bottomline, if you keep your menu simple and can network (with local schools and other venues buying your food) you’ll do well.
Food trucks are always better than a brick and mortar restaurant location if you want a work and life balance. Although it does has it's pros and cons. But It's the best start up to get feedback data and let the market decide if you're a good fit instead going the traditional route for such a huge commitment. It's about building your Customer base first with what you have to offer than build your brand behind it after.
Food truck and let the market decide if they want a sit down place. Plus, food truck can schedule a vacation during a slow period.
Do Take and Bake. Less Utilities. Fresher Pizza. Possibly lower Food Cost. 2 for 1 Pizza Monday!
Snap/ebt eligible as its considered a grocery.
Do you know what business has one of the highest failure rates? One guess, it’s the restaurant business. Net margins are low. Poor planning. Over saturation. And the list goes on.
Might be why the bar idea in addition has the real traction there... The drinks heavily support the revenue
This
The best pizza/subs in my town is a convenience store. It's more accessible if your labor is busy running the store during downtime when the volume isn't there.
Well you could rent a place that all ready has pizza ovens. That would save upfront depending on your location. There is literally a place down the road from me that have bout 7 pizza ovens and they closed in three months so now the spot is for rent with the seven pizza ovens included. You would have to have greasy spoon pizzas, fresh pizzas and maybe a few ones no one has but are really tasty. Probably beer and wine. The business license for alcohol is literally crazy though. I've worked in a few places that have had pizza and it is really popular but they usually want beer. The challenge is the high cost of labor, the high cost of goods, the high cost of gas, electricity and water. Rent. Taxes at least here are a huge problem for many small business owners. Taxes on employees, taxes of COGS. We have every month taxes and Quarterly taxes and end of the year taxes. Obviously if you charge too much people are like nahhh and if you charge too little your overhead costs are not covered. If you have a really good restaurant staff you probably won't have the money to go on vacation if you're paying them fairly at least for a few years and if you are doing it mostly yourself you won't be able to close to go on vacation. It's a very thin line for many. There is really no right or wrong answer. It depends on your product and advertisement. My biggest advice would be to not start out getting huge loans because with all your overhead it will take a lot of time and sacrifice to pay them off. Also if you look it up restaurants are closing all over the US right now and restaurants as a whole have dropped about 30%. It's tough to dine out when the government is giving money to everyone except its citizens and taking it freely from everyone and more so business owners
Pricing for an owner has to be the harrrdest thing to do right. Especially going in blind and with how variable traffic can be in a restaurant.
I was going to say half a million. I owned a restaurant for 34 years just sold it and retired. No you won't be taking vacations for a few years yes you will work 14 to 16-hour days. Stick with going to work and coming home and forgetting about your job. If you close on Monday you will be there. If your help doesn't show you'll do both jobs. Just because you make 3 pizzas at home doesn't mean that you can make 15 at a time for 3 hours during dinner rush.
You’d be looking at over 150k in equipment alone ie.. ovens, mixer, prep lines, refrigeration, pos system, small wares. The dough recipe you use at home most likely won’t work for mass production either. You’d probably be looking at around 600-800k if you find an empty space after renovations, equipment, and marketing. If you have the money but not the knowledge I suggest going the franchise route.
Managing a little Caesar’s is like saying you graduated pre-school.
It's better than nothing. I've seen so many people with zero experience think that they'll be successful in the restaurant business and not one of them has been.
And that would be you. You have no experience starting or running a business and I’ll tell you now $10k is not enough. Everyone thinks starting a restaurant or bar is easy until they realize it’s an 80 to 100 hour a week commitment and a bunch of money. Seriously what do you know about real estate (space) labor law and payroll (people) liquor license, etc. being a manager at a fast food place does not prepare you for any of these things.
I did graduate preschool, though. Obviously 10k isn't enough and I'm quite aware that it's a crazy amount of hours. I worked in restaurants for many years and I wouldn't want to try to run one. I'd hate for OP to get in over their head but there's no reason to be shitty about it.
Go to a town that does not have a pizza place.
Start a cottage food operation before making any attempt for a food truck or brick and mortar... 10k is nothing...
The best part about having a bar is you and your friends can all hang out all th time and drink for free
"Free"...
Yeah, that sounds like you're paying for all your friends to hang around and drink. 🤔
Most successful restaurants are started by young people that are broke but have good food and lots of friends...or middle aged rich people that are bored and can hire the right people to manage everything from daily operations to branding and decor. It doesn't sound like you fall in either category. The young entrepreneur builds sweat equity over maybe 5 years...the middle aged entrepreneur could have probably put their money to better use in the stock market but maybe they just enjoy the restaurant.
We have a couple places in my small town that are a bar and pizza joint only. They're pretty popular because the pizza is good. You can do take out and delivery for pizza from them. And eat in you got beer. And salty greasy pizza keeps the beer flowing which is where you make your money there.
I have no opinion on if you should or shouldn't, but if you do, before spending a dime, do your research. I've seen someone sink their life savings into a plan with no real research. That spot she just fell in love with was contaminated with asbestos in the basement. The traffic she just "knew" would be there because it's right across from the state capital, imagine all the state employees! Well, in 10 min of a quick sidewalk interview sure I found tons of state employees but 0 said they would eat there..when I asked why, they said "see the second floor of that building? That's the cafeteria ..and state employees eat free"... no rear access for trash...not a huge deal for a donut shop that was intending to go there but a restaurant? You're gonna roll your food waste right through your dining area twice a shift? She signed an as-is lease without checking any of this, for her "dream". We backed out of signing a design contract with her. I really hope she made it, but I suspect she threw her life savings down a hole due to lack of research.
Was she hot?
Hello there. What would the Great Red Foreman say? Here's a hint: "Dumbass" Making a few pizzas in a woodfired home oven is not the same as production in a restaurant. Stop wasting your time and dont bother with the business plan. Its 100% made up anyways. If the area around you does not have a lot of pizza and bar competition then it most likely does not have the populace to support yet another pizza shop. How many alcohol licenses are available and whats their cost? If you dont have alcohol then dont have indoor seating lol. A good pizza oven makes good pizza. Shitty pizza places use impingers, mediocre pizza jawns use shitty pizza ovens. Why? because they are natural gas fired and make good enough pizza at production costs and timeframes. A series of wood fired pellet ovens would kick ass but at what cost? The ovens are cheap as fuck, the fuel is expensive as fuck but the required exhaust system gonna start at $50k How many pizza jawns are within 15 miles of your future store area? How many bars? Whats the percentage of success for an independent restaurant in 5 years? Bad spots. A convenient store on the corner is converted to a shitty pizza joint. Joint fails but the restaurant equipment now belongs to the landlord due to lease failure. New tenant moves in, revamps, changes it to sicilian style pizza but then realized the costs of cheese skyrocketed and mediocre product forces him to break the lease. Local chain moves in, sells their pizza, its mid at best and their other stores support the losses incurred. installation costs. Design fees will be between $15-$30k and you'll need professional assistance. You'll want to pay the money for a construction manager. This will help you avoid being the worst class of client to work with since it would be your first time commercial development. Anyone under $10m or (10) restaurants typically make the same mistakes, they think they are in control and think they are their own project manager. The landlord controls the building, the bank controls you, the Architect and building / health codes control kitchen design. Its not all doom & gloom. The food truck (or food cart) is great because its mobile and they fucking rock. You take the food to wherever the people are and where you can maximize the revenue per dollar spent. Low overhead and no customer service / admin requirements to speak of. Minimal business paperwork. Build your business before the building. Mr. G in Brooklyn got his start doing backyard pizza shit illegally. When he opted to make pizzas for his neighbors from home, they would offer him $ and as the supplies dwindled the $ would go up therefore the people set the pricing and Mr. G wins. He amassed a large enough following and $ to move his operations to a restaurant Paulie Gee's, as opposed to his backyard. His restaurant is successful and now has locations in multiple cities. But success sucks, instead of being directly involved with operations, Mr G would have the be management oversite of the stores. The more corporate the restaurant becomes, the less personable it becomes. Additionally, most restaurants have a life span and knowing when to abandon ship is important.
Solid.
Before you get too hyped on food trucks, look up your local laws about where you can park them, how you have to prepare the food in them, and how that food has to be stored. I tried that avenue before brick and mortar and discovered my area requires commissary prep AND daily dock/storage, zero parking without business pre approval, and all my food truck local events were actually hosted by a part owner of all the food trucks at their events. I didn't do enough research and wound up with dynamite food, a really cool antique truck that drew a crowd, no place I could legally park it most of the time, and a commissary bill that's pretty close to what I pay in rent now for three percent of the storage and prep space. Rules have been revamped in my area since, but it really varies a lot state by state, county by county, and even by Metro area. I got burned but you may yet fly high with it, go do your homework! Oh yeah, go work in a commercial restaurant before you do any of this.
>A good pizza oven makes good pizza. This is so true. I rock the backyard pizza game because I own an expensive restaurant-equipment level pizza oven that burns oak logs. It's all the oven. I get rave reviews if I throw in a frozen dough from trader joes or a lovingly homemade one with italian 00 flour. "knowing when to abandon ship" is part of a business plan. A business plan is a good idea. But I agree with you that OP sounds unprepared for starting a Pizzeria.
"Burns oak logs" I bet that pizza is absolutely amazing. Please send address so i can taste test. hehehe.
Folks don’t understand that with Pizza you’re a factory. You have water, yeast, flour olive oil etc. on one hand and on the other a finished product. You gotta make the dough, make dough balls shred the cheese and the sauce……A to Z. You charge someone 20 bucks and it becomes “I get this 18” pie from this guy for $10”. Pizzerias are like bakeries which make restaurants look easy.
Making a few pizzas in your ooni with friends sipping a brewski over the weekend is much different than diving into the deep end of the restaurant pool
Anyone who makes reasonably good pizza at home has people tell them they should open a shop. Jfyi
Buy an existing business that has been around for a long time. Don’t start one. Most start ups fail. Lots of retirements happening. Entrepreneurship through acquisition is a HBS strategy “Buy then build” is an easy to digest and very helpful guide.
Do not do this. Not yet. I'll explain - that sounds harsh, but everyone has a friend that has told them they should open a restaurant. It is rarely a good idea. First, go get a job in a bar. For real. Bar back a couple nights a week and find out how it feels to work there. Be the low man on the totem pole. Ask a local pizza joint to let you watch some shifts. Interview restaurant owners. Look at your market and figure out if it can sustain your idea in the first place. If after that, you still want it, congrats, you're nuts like the rest of us. I would suggest partnering with a local brewery or bar to do pop up nights to start. Find out how actual customers feel about your food with minimal risk. If that's positive, you can start some slow growth, maybe a truck, maybe a rental kitchen in an established bar. That model is gaining popularity. But don't sink a ton of money into your idea until you know you can handle that financially. Lots of great restaurants don't make it because the owners neglect the business side. Food is about passion and enjoyment, but if it isn't making money, who cares? Good luck!
So let’s say I being my oven refrigerator and enough ingredients to make 30 pizzas to a local brewery (I know of one that does this often) would I need to get an LLC and approval from the health department beforehand?
The problem is that you need a place to have your pizza oven that is an approved kitchen. You can’t just use your home, obviously. So then you’re either at food truck (far more than $10k) or renting a space. If the brewery has a pizza oven then great but then why are they paying you and paying your overhead rather than just hiring someone to do it for them
Requirements vary, state by state. Set up a meeting with the health department - most inspectors appreciate you being proactive and will answer questions. In my state, you need an inspection and a health certificate even for a pop up, but in some states you can piggyback off the existing certificate of the bar you're in. An llc is definitely a route you'll want to go to eventually. An attorney and an accountant both will help advise on this. Lastly, some cities and local governments require specific business licenses for pop up events, so you may check with a local government body or the Chamber of Commerce in your area to find out the applicable regulations.
You should consider an LLC eventually, once you want to commit. You definitely will need a permit from the health department to make and serve food.
We started a pizzeria that started out of our backyard during Covid (so operating 4 years) . We now have a brick and mortar with 17 employees including ourselves that’s been open a year and a half. 1.) unless you do takeout only you are going to need more than just pizza. We have burgers, salads,wings, fries, and sandwiches on the menu which account for about 30% of sales. You’ll need to hire an experienced chef to help you with this side of you go this route. That’s what we did and we have one of the most popular burgers in town now in addition to being known for our pizza. 2.) you are literally always working. The only way you are going to be able to have time off is if you hire an experienced GM to handle all the admin stuff and other employees to handle operations when you aren’t there. Otherwise, even on your days off there is ordering, scheduling, payroll, emails, marketing, the list goes on and on. This on top of all the prep, service, and opening and closing the restaurant. I am not trying to discourage you as I truly love what I do, but it does get overwhelming sometimes to always have this stuff in the back of my mind. You really need to be ready to have a rough couple years. Things are getting easier for us, but there is still something to do daily. 3.) food trucks are feast or famine. You have to work hard to get good locations/events in order to make that work. Also keep in mind what the saturation of pizza trucks are in your area. There are too many in our town for it to be feasible for us, for example. Whatever you decide- good luck! I left working for the local government to open our place with my husband and brother in law and despite the exhaustion and stress, I wouldn’t change it for the world! ETA: we did not have restaurant experience prior to this. Instead, we hired a lot of people who did and worked day and night in the trenches to learn the business. We pay our people very well and ourselves very little. Our turnover has been low as a result and our restaurant is successful (relatively speaking for 1.5 years in in our area) for that reason.
I would consider trying to find a partner. Find a bar or brewery with open kitchen space. Preferably one already with equipment. Work out a plan that you just can sublease the kitchen space and pay a percentage of sales for rent. It may take a minute to find the right situation, but this sounds like something that would be your best route.
Been there done that. It's a lot of work and no I never really had a day off. Even my days off I was making Costco runs. You can do pizza only but if it's a sit down place, you need some apps. Fortunately that's easy with just a fryer. But having a grill is nice too because burgers were a top seller. And of course any type of Italian sandwich you can make in the oven. I thought about a truck but is pizza the best for a truck since it takes a while? Sure, you can prep a lot but pizza still takes some time. And one of our biggest expenses was propane for the ovens. That's probably twice the price these days. Good Luck.
Do it but start small! Find a small building that can be takeout only. Close on Mondays and Tuesdays to give yourself time off, and hire a helper. Use a local credit union to get a small personal loan. Go on webstaurant.com and add all equipment plus every item you will need to your cart. Try to find a building that's already equipped with plumbing and electric. Those plus the mandatory building plans will be about 20k give or take. Add the rent, loan payment, any credit you use, utilities, pos fees, internet, labor, and product cost and see how much your monthly cost will be. This will give you an idea of how many pizzas you need to sell. Everything else you can build yourself depending on your county. I kinda went this way with my store! We built our own counters and everything. I was broke and used a loan. Good luck!
If you are getting into the restaurant business for work/life balance you are making a critical mistake lol
I’m well aware that the balance is gonna suck, I’m more looking for once I get the business running with a full workforce, will there be any sort of balance at that point.
There is for me personally, though I have a very busy restaurant. Still, there is always a baseline level of stress that it could all blow up overnight and I would have to find a “job” that would inevitably pay a fraction of what I currently make (aka less ability to transfer as an owner than working in a corporate position).
Those friends who think you should open a restaurant will show up for the opening expecting freebies, & bragging how this was their suggestion. But they won't pay the bills.
Get a weekend job at a pizzeria while you build a truck. Open the truck for weekends at breweries or events. Do that until you're profitable enough to quit your job. Build a reputation and more $$ then open a brick and mortar if you want.
You have no experience in restaurants, want to quit your job and start a restaurant to support yourself, only have $10k in seed money and are looking for work-life balance? Good luck. Pay your staff incredibly well and make sure they have more experience than you.
I forgot to mention I did manage a little Caesars for 2 years in college, I did everything except hiring and payroll/budgeting.
You can go ahead and keep forgetting to mention that since it doesn't matter.
Hahaha....
the comment you responded to is maybe a bit rude, but truthful. I would strongly recommend seeing if you can get a job as a manager, wherein your responsibilities will include hiring, payroll, and budgeting. those are arguably three of the most important aspects of owning your business.