Becoming a restaurateur either in the UK or taking the plunge abroad is a fantasy many people have. In reality, though, the thought is often put on the back burner due to lack of knowledge on how to proceed, or because the leap from being an employee to becoming self-employed, is daunting.

WHY RUN YOUR OWN RESTAURANT?

As an employee, your work might be unrewarding, unstimulating and predictable, or you may be locked into a profession that no longer inspires. You long to develop a creative and business side you feel you have strengths in and the restaurant world has always attracted you.

Perhaps being in a partnership with family members is appealing, or the urge to control your own destiny is a motivating factor. Could you work with a friend who has agreed to enter into partnership with you?

Being a good cook can be just the catalyst some people need to chuck in the day job and open a restaurant. Their partners hopefully agree to the new venture by also throwing in the corporate towel. But you have to be a very good cook to sustain the business week in week out. Or perhaps you are a good front of house manager/business partner, able to offer excellent hospitality and to manage staff, the accounts, the ordering and the customers.

The good news is that more and more people are eating out. The gratifying result is a mushrooming of restaurants to suit every culinary whim. The bad news is that this business is not suited to all, despite strong aspirations to own and run a restaurant.

HOW SUITABLE ARE YOU?

First examine your strengths and your character – and those in partnership with you – by asking yourself these questions:

• Are you fed up with your job and looking for a change of lifestyle?
• Do you see yourself opening a restaurant in a beautiful spot for an easier lifestyle?
• Do you want to be your own boss and keep the profits?
• Are you really positive about creating a new business?
• Are you motivated, organised and self-disciplined?
• Have you taken on board the fact that you are saying goodbye to a secure pay packet and fringe benefits?
• Have you discussed with your family how this will affect them?
• As your busiest period is weekends, how does this tally with family life?
• Are your family committed to this change of lifestyle and will they back you wholeheartedly?
• Do you like people? Have you skills to deal with the idiosyncrasies of both customers and staff?
• Are you a good communicator?
• Are you prepared for perhaps a long haul before the business is successful?
• Do you and your business partner(s) share the right temperaments for the hospitality business?
• Are you a problem-solver? A decision-maker?
• Are you confident enough to sell your business plan to banks, customers and the media?
• Can you take advice? Learn new skills?
• Can you delegate?
• Can you prioritise?
• How good are you at coping with stress?
• Do you have good health?
• Do you have a warm personality? A hospitable nature?
• Do you have the stamina to work long hours?
• Are you flexible? Calm? Reasonable? Positive?
• How do you really feel about the service industry?

These questions need to be answered honestly. Yes, it is a long list of searching questions. You may have never been tested on some of these strengths but you will need the majority of them to run a successful business. It is worth analysing your personality and those of others who are entering the business with you, both professionally and personally to see if you all have the necessary attributes.

This analytical list is not meant to put you off becoming a restaurateur but merely guide you to become more aware of the skills one needs to aspire to. If many of the answers are in your favour, other attributes will be achieved along the way.

SEEING YOURSELF AS A RESTAURATEUR

Think about what kind of a restaurateur you see yourself as. You might be one who offers acceptable food and is in the business purely as a money-making venture. Or you could be a restaurateur who sees the trade as a way of life. You may seek to change, mature, explore new ideas and learn from other chefs and restaurateurs, but also, through judicious management to, stay afloat financially.

Your restaurant will reflect your personality.

Being a restaurateur is a hard, unrelenting, competitive way of life but it can be hugely satisfying, rewarding, pleasurable, entertaining, intense and stimulating. The people you work with are an immensely important factor in making this happen, as well as creating an atmosphere for customers to relax in by offering good food which is thoughtfully and skilfully prepared.

All human life is here. Being a restaurateur requires creativity and passion, boundless energy, commitment and enthusiasm. Dispensing hospitality is either the way of life you choose when running a restaurant – or not. If not, is this the right business for you?

Should you decide to join this way of life, you will be entering one of the oldest professions in the world, one that is very much part of our lives in all cultures. Pure theatre.