Need honest opinions

I am putting together a concept for a new restaurant/possible chain. Without giving away to much of my plans, I am going to offer hodogs/homemade chili, hamburgers/sliders, qeusodillas, and ice cream. My qeustion is does this menu sound to scattered and confusing? This will probably start out as a walk up/pick up window but I would like to move into a sit down place eventually.

What is going to be different than all the other Hamburger places ??? What is going to pull people away from the Hamburger joints they all ready go to. You need to give a lot more info if you want an answer. If I'm describing your restaurant to my family, what is going to make everyone jump out of their chairs and run for the car ??????  Bill

Why are you thinking "possible chain" when you haven't even done your proof of concept yet?

Taking a proven business model and progressing to developing a chain is a massive project, if done right.  Starting with an idea and immediately thinking chain is not a very viable position. 

If by any chance you're thinking of franchising to meet your chain aspirations, most franchising laws will preempt a premature launch of a franchised chain.

If you're thinking about building your own chain with "company stores", you better have a ton of money squirreled away or rich relatives who are willing to take a chance on losing a lot of money, even if your concept is a grand slam.

As far as your question about the menu, it kinda sounds like a DQ. 

My question was if the menu sounding erratic or to all over the place. No, we are not going into this with the idea of emmediatly going into chains. We think we have a good idea of what could work around my region, any additional restaurants will belong to me and my partner as we see fit to move forward. Of course you give yourself at least a year to iron out all the problems with one restaurant before you start another. We have been working on this for the better part of two years and have reinvented and adjusted the plan to what we think will work for our area.

Sounds pretty forgettable unless there is something exceptional about the chili, burger, ice cream, etc.  Even with that it would be rough as a walk up if there is a lot of competition for standard fare in your area. Is there something that makes you different besides your imaginative spelling of English?  Are you going to stay open later for club crowds in an area with few late night offerings?

It is really hard to give honest opinions about business when there are no revealing details.
 
Previous experience with good track records sometimes means you may expect positive results because been there done that and you may have hit on something. Not always since many of the same people take very detailed plans and tons of experience into a project and it does not work. It is hardest to determine the difference with no previous experience. I just usually ask people how much of their life savings would they invest on this  plan if it  was a plan that came from someone else and they were simply an investor. That takes all of the personal dream element out of the business plan.

At the risk of sounding rude( and I certainly am not trying to be) I just wanted to know if any of the professionals on here thought that my menu was confusing or erratic because I had several items that appeared to be my core items. Some places have hamburgers, some have mexican food. Perhaps I should have named this menu help. You guys are over analysing my question. I respect your opinions greatly.

Part of the honest answers usually go further to mention aspects of business.
 
Hamburgers sliders ice cream don't confuse people. All can be found at most every Diner most fast food establishments as well as casual restaurants.
 
I remember the details of the ice cream from months ago. What is going to make that ice cream unique vs. in-house  ice cream or other special desserts from the local competition?
 
It's sort of like being dealt 7 cards from a deck and asking honest opinions about the hand...when you are not sharing which cards you have.

georgiadogs


I am putting together a concept for a new restaurant/possible chain. Without giving away to much of my plans, I am going to offer hodogs/homemade chili, hamburgers/sliders, qeusodillas, and ice cream. My qeustion is does this menu sound to scattered and confusing? This will probably start out as a walk up/pick up window but I would like to move into a sit down place eventually.

Not only is it not confusing, it's pretty limited. As a successful BBQ restaurant owner 1 month short of 8 years, I've seen many places come and go, I've seen many make it, follow your dream, but make damn sure your dream is unique and consistent. BTW, nothing wrong with a limited menu as long as your items are unforgettable! Good luck!!

Quite the contrary. I plan on gourmeting things up a bit, thought about having mix and match slider flavor choices, about eight diffferent kinds of qeusadillas, and toppings galore with the hot dogs. French fries, onion rings, with my own sauces. The ice cream will be an excellent upsell also. I have put alot of thought into what I am going to offer and there is not alot of competition except for the McD's and the such. The place I am looking at right now is just a walk-up/pick-up but that may not work out. Getting together with my partner to go over things and we will begin looking for a place more seriously. He has alot of managment exp. in fast food. I have alot of good ideas. We will see what happens. At this point I am over qualified for any jobs around here and I guess I have gotten to opinionated with past employers. This is something I have always wanted to do so I will find a way over, under, or around any wall I come against. I know thats what it takes to make it in this business(part of it anyway). I value each and every one of ya'lls opinions. And as far as the spelling, I did graduate in rural georgia 25 years ago and spell check here leaves alot to be desired.

Oh yeah, when I say "chain" I mean regionally and owned by me and my partner and done very slowly when we have been in business for at least a year and ironed out all the problems.

How is the partnership structured?
 
Are you currently business partners by contract or just informal plans for the future?
 
I am only asking because if one potential business partner has the experience and the money the other partner is responsible for the ideas....that gets tricky. Your ideas easily become others business plans quickly in a partnership without formal contracts and without equal investment. Even with equal investment within family members things happen when the business vision is not on the same page...and especially when one party feels like they are bringing much more to the table.
 
I would start with the strongest potential menu item or a limited few. The biggest business risk is not having the luxury of surviving or overcoming your mistakes. By the time some figure out what works they already are operating in the red and get behind quickly. You might sit down and figure out how much  time based on initial investment total  you have to operate (considering the operating expenses and costs involved with carrying inventory) considering worse case scenarios in the beginning. Slow business no business inventory loss. 
You also should consider that sometimes partners change their mind.  When one partner wants out and the remaining partner cannot either buy them out or continue to operate alone....there are issues.
 

Georgia: I went to high school in Athens, and, from what I remember, there are several well-established restaurants/walk-ups, etc. that offer similar fare -- not to mention the major chains.  Athens is (or was in the 90's) perfect for such a venture, but that's exactly why the diners/walk-ups/fast-food/slow-food/etc. type places were so stinkin' successful -- and so "established".  Sure, go for it, but think about who you are competing with.

Believe me, I have a similar problem.  I've been operating my hot dog cart for two weeks now in my town (Rosamond, CA).  The problem is that in a town of 15,000, I can count on one hand the number of mom-and-pop restaurants that have survived more than five years [I've lived here seven].  Plenty have come and gone [I'll low-ball and say "15"], but now I'm competing with town-favorites (the ones that have survived).  This elite group consists of one Mexican sit-down; one west-coast burger chain; a good pizza franchise (my commissary); a Thai place; and a we-make-everything-from-burritos-to-fried-chicken franchise.  That's NOT counting the Jack-In-The-Box, the Domino's, the McDonald's, the Subway, the Taco Bell, or the AM/PM that sells crappy $1 "hot dogs".

So my goal is to A) sell a delicious product B) at an affordable price (meals range from $4.00 to $4.75) and C) be "THE" hot dog guy that my 15,000 neighbors dine at any time they get a craving.  I'll let you know if Goliath wins...

-Jon
www.twitter.com/locatefrank

I say do your homework, ideas are good, drive thru is big, better than walk-up.  
Are quesadillas big in your area.
I know of a small chain like you are talking about,regional, they do well.
But no quesadillas. They do breakfast too.

CCinNJ


How is the partnership structured?
 
Are you currently business partners by contract or just informal plans for the future?
 
I am only asking because if one potential business partner has the experience and the money the other partner is responsible for the ideas....that gets tricky. Your ideas easily become others business plans quickly in a partnership without formal contracts and without equal investment. Even with equal investment within family members things happen when the business vision is not on the same page...and especially when one party feels like they are bringing much more to the table.
 
I would start with the strongest potential menu item or a limited few. The biggest business risk is not having the luxury of surviving or overcoming your mistakes. By the time some figure out what works they already are operating in the red and get behind quickly. You might sit down and figure out how much  time based on initial investment total  you have to operate (considering the operating expenses and costs involved with carrying inventory) considering worse case scenarios in the beginning. Slow business no business inventory loss. 
You also should consider that sometimes partners change their mind.  When one partner wants out and the remaining partner cannot either buy them out or continue to operate alone....there are issues.
 

We will be equal to start with until we can figure out who will be responsible for what as we grow. As for the ideas I believe he has as many ideas as I do, we just have to throw them up against the wall and see which ones stick. The place we are looking at is in front of a large movie theatre in which they sell food,albight very expensive and not so good food, but they do have captive customers. We think that it might be possible to be a good place to hang out until the movie starts. There is a business their now but not in prepared food that we don't think will last very long, but we are looking in other areas.My main concern was when you look at other chains there is usually one core item and we have three, does that sound confusing? Or maybe one item will emerge as our core item out of the three when we start selling.

The whole thing sounds confusing.
 
No location - no set  menu direction - vision of expansion to "chain"
 
Are you both working while planning this venture?
 
 

No, I have been out of work for over a year playing Mr Mom to eight kids. My partner still works but will not at that time. The whole is still in the planning stages. We are having trouble with the menu. All these things will do well, we believe. but we are having trouble bringing them all together. All three things will be fresh and made to order which is something we don't have as far as a fast food or fast casual. We have a Five Guys Hamburger place but they are nowhere near us and I believe we can do better job than they anyway. Any suggestions on how to bring these things together. As for location we are still looking but have in mind the areas we want to go in.We actually have untill tax time to come up with our plan.

I think you are in the thinking stage...and that is a good place to be with a family of 10 supported by one income. I am sure there is not much room for investment risk (loss). Keep thinking researching experimenting developing until you have the definitive answers. Menu items are not givens just because the item is popular in general. It has to be creative fresh  delicious and served hot and fast.