Building or renovating an upscale restaurant can be a major undertaking. You don’t only have to make sure that the end result is perfect, but the downtime you will experience while waiting for the project to be finish needs to be carefully planned in order to avoid it hurting your business.
Fortunately, it’s far from impossible. To help you remain successful and even increase your success in both urban and rural environments, here are 5 tips to make sure your high-end restaurant construction project is successful.
1) Research the Location
Regardless of scale, location is a crucial success factor for any restaurant business. If you are simply looking to renovate an existing location, you may be able to take your brand cache with you to a new place. But unless you plan to stop growing, new patrons will always be welcome and necessary.
That means before anything else, you need to make sure that the location in which you are planning to build or renovate has to be perfect. How easily is it accessible? What’s the competitive landscape of high-end restaurants in the area, and how easily can you gain exposure with potential customers?
2) Coordinate with Co-Tenants
Particularly in urban areas, your restaurant will probably not live in a standalone building. Instead, you will have a number of co-tenants, and working with them to make sure that heavy construction work will occur when it’s least inconvenient for them is absolutely crucial.
Co-tenants, especially in upscale neighborhood, can be important feeders for your restaurant. High-end retailers and hotels can lead to a natural flow of customers. But that can only be possible if you engender goodwill with these co-tenants, which means incorporating them in your construction project planning.
3) Plan for the Downtime
Speaking of planning: if you are looking to move an existing restaurant brand into a new space, you have to make sure that you’ll go dark for building renovation or the move itself that works best for your business. Choose a time of year during which you typically have low sales, and plan your construction around that time.
Ultimately, your restaurant construction project is designed to lead to long-term business growth. A short downtime is an anticipated bump in the road, but don’t let it get bigger than necessary by cutting into your high-volume season. Instead, plan for the downtime.
4) Narrow Down Your Specs
Next, you should make sure that you know exactly what to expect from the new location. How large does your kitchen need to be, how many patrons are you planning on accommodating at a given time, and where should your bar be for optimum traffic flow?
All of these questions are crucial items to discuss before the actual construction gets started. The more specific your plan, the more likely the construction project will be to satisfy both you and future customers.
5) Work with Experienced Restaurant Builders
Finally, you should absolutely make sure that the construction company you engage for the project has experience building high-end restaurant like yours in the same area. All of the above points show just how specific the needs of restaurant renovators and builders are, and only working with professionals who have gone through the same project multiple times can help you achieve success.
A quality contractor will help you with each of the above steps to ensure success. They will also work out a timeline with you that will minimize the negative short-term impact on your business. Finally, they will ensure that the finished construction project reflects the high-end brand you’re trying to achieve.
And as it turns out, we know just a little bit about successful restaurant construction. If you live in Minnesota, we’d love to have a chat with you to determine what you need to make your restaurant construction or renovation successful. Contact us today to get started.
