Start a Restaurant

Time to prep for the social season, so here’s a list of table basics, décor tips and more.

View full post on Food And Beverage Stories

Here in the UK, we have heard a lot recently from the new coalition government about increasing business growth through supporting entrepreneurs. This is great news for business women or men trading in the UK, we all know that a country needs private enterprise to grow and create jobs for the economy to get better.

Just because this is being promoted, in the main because they believe and partly because they know this is what the business community wants to hear, it does not mean that the entrepreneurial spirit does not still exist. Before we hit with the big recession, businesses were starting up every day of the year throughout the land. This has not stopped and new businesses continue to spring up. The only difference is that these newer companies know full well that they have to be leaner and meaner, because they cannot simply start through getting a huge start up bank loan. Whilst the banks do lend to small businesses still (or so we are led to believe) their terms and conditions are tighter and there are more hoops to jump through before you even get considered for a loan.

The leisure trade is one that has been harder than many, but there are still people deciding that now is the time to start a new venture supplying cooked food to members of the public. As with all new businesses, there are not only the physical sides to starting (ie getting premises, seeing suppliers and buying machinery & plant) there are other issues to be considered.

One of these, which should be near the top of things to do before you open, is getting restaurant insurance in place. If you do not have employees then, believe it or not there is no legal requirement upon you to arrange any insurance cover. Many people mistakenly believe that the must have business liability insurance. This is not the case. Of course, any sensible business person should not trade without this cover. It is too much of a risk nowadays to let your business be faced with the potential costs of a flash flood, break in, smashed window, fire or claim from a member of the public who has slipped on your floor and will happily accept £50,000 as payment for their pain and suffering.

For this reason, you really do need the cover and you would be foolish to trade without it. A restaurant policy is very similar to most other packaged business insurance contract, except the pricing and cover is skewed to the particular trade. So, it should include the option of frozen or refrigerated food, legal expenses, public liability for deliveries etc.

As with all quotes, you should only speak to a business insurance broker. There are literally thousands of different companies that can offer you commercial cover. What you want though, is a human being that you can speak to and discuss. Whilst the internet is great and you can compare the prices of everything from baked beans to houses, with your insurance cover you really should speak to, and build some rapport, with a human being.

You can then tick your insurance cover from the list of things to do and concentrate on the 101 other things to do, before your grand, successful, opening night.

Have you ever seen those shows on TV that make you hungry? You know, you’re sitting on the couch surfing the normal channel wave when all of a sudden you see some mouth watering dish at a random restaurant that you have never heard of.

There are two different channels that boast four shows in particular that scavenge the country for these diamond in the rough restaurants: Man vs. Food, Extreme, and Food Paradise on the Travel channel, and Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives on the Food Network.

These restaurants are not by any means fancy or expensive, but tasty nonetheless. As I slowly got addicted to watching these shows I thought to myself “I wish there was somewhere I could go where all of these restaurants were organized by state.” That way, anytime I was visiting a friend or in a big city I would have a list of the best reasonably priced restaurants in the area, the local favorites.

I decided to make one of these lists myself. Now, no matter where I am in America I will have the advantage of knowing the best restaurants names, cities, and websites.

How would you like to visit a friend in Chicago and take him to the best place he never has heard of? Now you can. And the best part about it is that our friends at the Food Network and Travel Channel did all the work for us.

If you think you know a really great, unique restaurant that is not on listed, I encourage you leave a post. These shows continue to come out with more restaurants they profile which I will continue to add, but there are thousands of restaurants to choose from.

I’m sure you will see a few franchised restaurants on the list that you may think don’t belong on it. The fact is, the locations of the franchised restaurants are their original locations, and therefore much better than any of the franchised ones. Pizzeria Uno’s in Chicago is an example, I have eaten there myself and it is far and away better than any of its franchised locations.

About half way through compiling the list I stopped listing the phone numbers of the restaurants. I figured if you are reading this blog and have access to the website, you are probably capable of finding the phone number if you need it.

Chris Carlton is a blogger and a graduating student at University at Wisconsin – Whitewater taking up double major in Management and Marketing. Next spring, he will be in Buenos Aires to conduct independent research on what the vibrant city has to offer.
Follow Chris on Twitter and Facebook.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/restaurant-reviews-articles/bon-appetit-1311052.html

People often ask what makes WebWarehouse different from a regular commercial agent.  The difference is customer satisfaction. 

So many people seem to encounter one problem after another when using a regular commercial agent, but what is it that WebWarehouse do differently?  The truth is simple – we give the customer the service that they want, individually tailored to their needs.

 The following case study was written by one of WebWarehouse’s many satisfied customers, and really highlights the contrast in the types of service he received.

 In late 2008 we were awarded a major contract that we had been tendering for.  The contract involved storage, a large pick and pack operation and distribution, and therefore we needed to rent commercial storage space and warehouse space.  Surely it couldn’t be that hard for us to find warehouse space for rent?Unfortunately, it seemed that nothing was straightforward.  We made initial web enquiries for storage in Bicester, but two of the three companies we contacted did not answer our request at all.  The third company asked our requirements, but took almost 48 hours to come back to us with suitable warehouses to rent.  Only one of the storage spaces seemed to meet our requirements, so we made an appointment to view the premises.The viewing was not what we had hoped it would be.  The building seemed to be what we were after, but the agent was not able to help us with any auxiliary requirements we had, and there was no flexibility with the price.  We were back to square one.

 The second time we went back to Google, we found WebWarehouse.  We made a phone call and spoke to Alan about our requirements, and he took the time to listen to what we wanted, and understand our needs.  Within fifteen minutes of our call ending, Alan had emailed me with his contact details and information on the different services that WebWarehouse had to offer.  In addition, he asked us to provide a “wish list” of any requirements we had, other than simply storage, such as racking, mezzanine flooring and material handling equipment.

 Within 24 hours, Alan had emailed me details of half a dozen suitable storage units in the area, and had arranged for us to view four of these premises on the same day, two days  later.  We were given a guided tour of each of the units, and shown the pros and cons of how each building would work with our list of requirements.  We shortlisted two warehouses, and the following day Alan provided us with a list of pricing options for each building.  The pricing options had easy to understand breakdowns, with an extra price list for each of our “wish list” items.  WebWarehouse  was even able to provide assistance with our move.

 Alan contacted us periodically, both before and after the move.  WebWarehouse now provides us with one invoice each month.  This invoice covers the rental of the warehouse, plus the maintenance, rates and utility bills. 

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/customer-service-articles/the-pitfalls-of-using-a-regular-agent-1290997.html