How to Start a Small Business
Opening a Filipino Restaurant
We know a fair bit about starting a Filipino restaurant. This guide explores what you need to do to pursue this exciting business opportunity.
Wondering how to start a Filipino restaurant? We take you step-by-step from start to success.
Finding Customers for a Filipino Restaurant Startup
With Filipinos comprising only 1.5% of the U.S. population, a Filipino restaurant might not sound like the smartest concept for a food-based business startup. But when you factor in the number of Americans who enjoy a variety of Asian cuisines combined with those who have partial Filipino heritage, the idea of a Filipino starts to make a lot more sense.
Filipino cuisine incorporates an exceptionally broad range of ingredients, making it a natural dining option for family members with diverse palates. Noodles, rice, vegetables, grilled meats (chicken/beef/pork), seafood and other dishes can all be found in a really good Filipino establishment.
But to connect with the largest possible diner base, you'll need to include descriptions of your dishes and ingredients in your marketing messages. Most Americans aren't familiar with Filipino cuisine, so you'll need to use your ads and marketing channels to educate the public about your menu.
Selling Points for New Filipino Restaurants
As you prepare to open the doors of your Filipino restaurant to the public, it's important to create a uniformed understanding of your restaurant's primary selling points. These selling points should be clearly understood by all of your staff and should become hallmarks of your restaurant's brand identity.
- Menu Diversity. Menu diversity is definitely a feature you'll want to highlight in your Filipino restaurant startup. Diners expect any menu they encounter to contain a certain amount of diversity, but most don't realize the range of tastes they can experience with Filipino cuisine.
- Festive Characteristics. Many Filipino dishes are celebratory in nature. Consequently, your restaurant should feature a celebratory atmosphere that gives customers a truly unique dining experience. Consider hosting special meals and events to draw even more attention to the celebratory characteristics of Filipino food.
- Authenticity. It's critical to make your restaurant as authentic as possible. Today's diners don't want homogenized versions of ethnic cuisine -- they want the real thing. By giving your patrons an authentic Filipino dining experience, you give them something to talk about around the water cooler and create an incentive for them to return with their friends.
Tips for Creating a Great Filipino Restaurant Business Plan
If it includes hard numbers, a Filipino restaurant business plan can become the catalyst for an executable business strategy.
Since lenders and investors will use your plan to gauge risk, it needs to contain industry-specific benchmarks and a detailed marketing plan.
Early in the process, it's worth your time to learn how to write the market analysis section of a business plan. While a robust market analysis can be a selling point for a Filipino restaurant startup, weak market research is a sure giveaway for a business that hasn't invested adequate effort in planning.
Can Local Business Sustain You?
If you are similar to most Filipino restaurants, much of your customer base will be local community members. If local business potential is not robust enough to sustain your new business, it may make sense to consider other locations.
Don't Ignore Competitors
Well in advance of opening a Filipino restaurant in your area, it's worthwhile to see how many competitors you have. Use the link below to find competitors nearby. After following the link, enter your city, state and zip code to get a list of Filipino restaurants in your area.
How tough is the competition in the market you are considering? If the competition is too tough, you may need to think about starting the business in a different area or even start a completely different business instead.
Studying the Market
If you are interested in starting a Filipino restaurant, you really ought to learn as much as you can from somebody who is already in the business. If you think owners of nearby Filipino restaurants will give you advice, think again. What's in it for them?
Fortunately, somebody who runs a Filipino restaurant outside of your community will be much more likely to talk with you, as long as they don't view you as a competitive threat. In that case, the business owner may be more than happy to discuss the industry with you. In my experience, you may have to call ten business owners in order to find one who is willing to share his wisdom with you.
How do you find an owner of a Filipino restaurant who is willing to talk to you but doesn't live nearby?
Easy. Find them using our link below and start calling until you are successful.
Getting Started in Filipino Restaurant Ownership
As a prospective Filipino restaurant owner, your entry options are limited to buying a viable business or building one from scratch.
We understand why a startup may sound appealing. A new Filipino restaurant will definitely be more reflective of your personal business philosophy. From a funding perspective, however, you may have a hard time finding lenders who are willing to take a chance on your Filipino restaurant concept.
Armed with several years of actual financials and a current asset appraisal, it is much easier to convince lenders to take a chance on a Filipino restaurant acquisition. Although buying a business doesn't guarantee success, it substantially increases your odds of obtaining financing and achieving profitability.
Explore Franchising Options
If done right, a small business startup takes months and months of preparations just to lay the groundwork for the first day of business.
Franchise startups streamline startup requirements and give new business owners a head start on growing their businesses. Our asian restaurant franchise directory offers a variety of Filipino restaurant franchise opportunities, many of which may be the perfect fit for your personal and professional goals.
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