What You Need To Know When Opening A Pop-Up Restaurant

So, you have a passion for cooking and giving the people what they want, great! That’s the best place to start. In fact, you love it so much that you feel you’re ready to set up shop on your own – even better! But, now you need to think about the logistics of the situation and how you’re going to start your own. You need to get a robust plan in place, before you let your pipedream run away with you. If you would like more information about how we can help you set up your accounts and prepare to run a pop-up restaurant take a look at our restaurant page for more detailed information.

Unique Location

Let’s start with where you’re going to be based. It would be ideal if you could operate 5 minutes away from home and miss the commute. It would also be great if you had minimal overheads and a constant stream of customers queueing out of the door – but let’s start small. First of all you need to ensure that you choose a unique Location.

There’s no point setting up in an area that’s already over infiltrated with competition. Choose a place that’s got a good level of footfall, near offices and other shops and also far enough away from the other eateries for you to be people’s ‘go-to’ food venue

Find a gap in the market and own it. If you’re a niche eatery then people will have a reason to talk about you and consequently want to try your food out for themselves.

Partnerships & Social Media

Once you’ve decided where your strengths lie and where you’re going to be based, you need to create an online following. After all, if nobody knows that you exist how can you expect them to find you?

You could start off by rallying up some local support – approach the local newspapers to get a PR feature with your launch date and vital info about your food. Once you’ve had the feature, get your friends and family to share the news amongst each other and on social media. This way it’s sure spread like wildfire in your local community.

Also, in order to strengthen your online collateral, you will need to tap into social media channels, as well as having a clean cut, easy to understand website. This online element of your strategy should ideally be set up pre-launch, so that you already have ‘ready to use’ platforms to promote your food and location.

Logistics and Legislation

Whilst the idea of handing your notice in and spreading your wings to pursue your own dream is all kinds of exciting, let’s not forget the serious side of the decision you’re about the make – the law.

You mustn’t neglect to factor in the laws surrounding restaurants when putting together your business plan. Yes, it’s probably not to most exciting part of the process, but it is absolutely crucial. Pop-ups have to comply to the same standards as established stationary restaurants. The same rules apply to all aspects of the business, from the health and safety to your bookkeeping and business accounts.

Hiring an accountant can help you understand your responsibilities and save you money in the long run. Here at  Alexander & Co we specialise in all things pop-up restaurant, so if you need to find out more then visit our website here, or simply give us a call on 0161 832 4841.    

The most important thing to remember is to have fun! Whilst we advise you to be sensible with your expenditure during the first few months of setting up, don’t be too strict on yourself.

You need to be prepared for change and embrace the learning curve that comes with running your own business. Pop-up restaurants are dynamic and your branding should be too, so being well adjusted and used to change is essential. Work hard, play hard and enjoy your job. That is the dream after all!