How To Open Your

Restaurant In 8
Weeks
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by elly suliana
 CONTENTS

page
Introduction 4
Step 1: Why do you want to open a restaurant? 10
Step 2: Decide on the type of restaurant 15
Step 3: Decide on the target market 19
Step 4: Create A Menu 23
Step 5 : Choose a Name and Signboard Design 30
Step 6: Find the right location 34
• Location based on the demographic profile.
• Shopping Mall, Shoplot or Stand-alone
Building?
• Visibility, Traffic Flow, Accessibility and
Immediate Neighbour
Step 7: Form A Company 45
• Private Limited / Sendirian Berhad
• Sole Proprietorship / Enterprise
Step 8: Apply for Licenses 50
Step 9: Make A Business Plan 56
Step 10: Open A Bank Account 68
Step 11: Renovation 72
Step 12: Hire and Train Your Staffs 80
Step 13: Source For Suppliers 91
Step 14: Purchase Equipment and Furniture 96

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Step 15: Purchase Food, Beverages and Supplies 108
Step 16: Make Operating Procedures 112
Step 17: Fine Tune Menu, Price and Food Tasting 139
Step 18: Soft Opening 143
Step 19: Promotion 146
Summary 154
Schedule for 8 Weeks 158
Appendix 1 : Opening Checklist 160
Appendix 2 : Customer Feedback Form 162

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INTRODUCTION
I came from a family who loves food. My grandfather
owned a successful Chinese Restaurant in Bandung,
Indonesia. My grandmother and my father were the
cooks. Although my father loved to cook too, he chose
not to continue my grandfather’s business. He said
restaurant business was too tough for him. He decided
to venture into jewellery business instead and very
happy with his decision.

I inherited my father’s and my grandmother’s passions

for cooking. I love cooking and I am a food addict. I
enjoy trying out different recipes, browsing for the
freshest ingredients in wet markets or just gliding
through supermarket isles just to see what’s new in the
market. When I was 9 years old, I used to drag my
father to supermarkets instead of toy shops. I would
ask him to teach me how to grill a perfect steak, how
to make home-made noodles, how to steam a chicken,
etc. He passed me a lot of his secret recipes and tips.

Now I love cooking for my family and friends, serving

them soto, couscous, fillet mignon, roast beef, sweet
and sour fish and other dishes that I feel like cooking
on that day. A lot of times they told me that I should
open my own restaurant.

I firmly believe that being able to cook doesn’t mean

one can operate a restaurant successfully. Restaurant
operation is more than having a good cook. It involves
a lot of planning, human resource management,

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marketing, financial management and a lot of hard
work.

My first experience in the industry was when I was in

college. As I was finishing my MBA in San Diego, I did
a small catering business, cooking and delivering Asian
food for Indonesian students daily. During that time I
learned the importance of planning, proper hygiene,
food costing, food temperature, delivery, proper
storage of food and marketing. I also understood why
my father left the restaurant business. It is a very
tough and tiring business albeit a rewarding one.
Holiday season means extra work. I got burn marks on
my skin, rough fingers, pimples, and racoon eyes with
huge eye bags. I had to keep band aids all the time.

As much as I enjoyed the heat, the cooking, the smell

of fried garlic, and the satisfaction of seeing people
burp after wolfing down my cooking, I told myself that
I would never get involved in food industry again. I was
convinced that it is not for a girl like me. I then
worked as an accountant in various industries for 10
years.

Although I worked as an accountant, the love for food

has never left me. I contemplated on having my own
restaurant. But when I thought about the long hours,
the heat, the lack of holiday, I just shut it off.

Until one day I worked as an accountant in an F&B

company. Although my job title was an accountant, I
had to do more than just inputting numbers into the

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worksheet. When the sales person was sick, I had to
answer calls and made proposals and quotations for
functions and weddings. When the restaurant manager
was sick, I had to open, manage and close the
restaurant. A lot of times I would sit with the chefs to
compose tantalizing menus. When the kitchen chillers
or ovens were broken, I had to call some technicians to
fix them before the restaurant opened.

I also handled all the purchases in the companies, from

vegetables, meats, take away boxes, napkins to flower
arrangements. I also needed to understand liquor,
wine, cigar, different cuts of beef, varieties of Chinese
herbs and Asian spices to calculate food costing and
pricing. While most accountant would be pissed doing
those extra works, I really enjoyed it. The company
grew from having just 3 outlets to 6 outlets, operating
cafes, a fine dining restaurant, and a bar.

I met a lot of people who wanted to open their own

restaurants but didn’t know where to start. This book
will provide a step-by-step guide to opening a
restaurant in Malaysia. However most of the things
covered in this book are applicable to opening a
restaurant anywhere in the world. The only thing that
may differ is the licensing.

Opening a restaurant is not easy but sustaining a

profitable restaurant in the long term is another battle.
It takes dedication and hard work but you will earn a
sweet reward and tremendous satisfaction.

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Very often I met restaurant owners who put a lot of
attention on the food but neglect financial calculation
and marketing. I also met owners who scrutinize the
restaurant design but forget the importance of service
and food quality.

A beautiful restaurant serving delicious food and

generates a lot of sales doesn’t guarantee a profitable
business. Without a good financial management, the
restaurant may actually lose money.

There are 5 important elements that are required to

survive in the highly competitive food industry.

Your restaurant must have:

1. Great, distinctive food and beverages that keep

customer coming back
2. A good location with a comfortable dining area
3. Excellent customer service
4. Accurate and strong financial management
5. Aggressive marketing and promotion campaigns.

If you are an owner who knows how to do marketing

but don’t know how to cook, hire good chefs. If you can
cook but can’t stand numbers, hire a good accountant.

Remember : don’t do everything yourself. Hire

professionals who have proven track records.

As an owner of a restaurant, your job should not be

confined to cooking or tending the cash register only.
Your job is to manage the restaurant and bring in
businesses so that the money invested generates

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profit. You have to remember that it is a business, not
a hobby nor a charity, so profit should be your main
goal.

An owner should be the head of the restaurant where

its employees can rely on. He/she must be in control
of the whole restaurant operation and always be the
emotional and spiritual leader of the company.

I am not going to scare you or talk you out of

becoming a restaurant owner. I just want you to know
what it takes to run a restaurant and what to prepare
so you won’t lose your money in the business.

If time is not your priority, I suggest you get some

experiences working in few restaurants. You should
not care about the position. Your intention is to learn.
Be a cook, a waiter, a busboy, a cashier, an accountant
or anything.

During your employment you observe, learn and

absorb everything you experience there. Understand
the business and know it by heart. It also helps you
see whether the business is the right one for you.
There is nothing that can beat the values of
experience.

This book does not intend to teach you all the tricks-of-
the-trades of running a restaurant. You will pick that up
over time. No two restaurants are the same and you
will know what is best for yours. What it intends to do
is to assist you in getting started in setting up your
restaurant and put a system in place for a smooth and
sustainable operation. I have included some tips that
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you may find useful. For your easy reference, I
highlighted key-take-away points at the end of each
chapter.

I hope you will benefit from this book and I wish you
success in your venture.

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 STEP 1:

WHY DO YOU WANT TO OPEN A

RESTAURANT?

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Why do I put this question as the 1st step? Because I
have seen a lot of people opening restaurants for the
wrong reasons.

I met restaurant owners who opened their restaurants

because:

1. They cook very nice dishes and their friends and

relatives told them they should open restaurants.

2. They think restaurant businesses are easy to

manage.

3. They think that their mothers are great cooks and

they want people to taste their mothers’ cooking.

4. They have special sauces that can transform plain

chicken wings into something that customers will
get addicted to.

5. They saw a very successful Chinese restaurant

nearby and think that they should open one too.

6. They think they want to introduce food from some

foreign countries to the area.

7. They have worked in restaurants as chefs and they

should open their own restaurants.

8. Their families and friends love to eat out and they

should open restaurants for them.

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 9. They retired from their corporate jobs and want to
enjoy the retirement by opening restaurants.

Let me tell you why you need more solid reasons than
the reasons above:

1. Being able to cook for friends and relatives doesn’t

mean one can OPERATE restaurants. Even if you
have worked as a chef before, have you really run
the whole restaurant? Restaurant operation is
more than cooking. It is about managing the
kitchen, managing the daily operation, managing
the staff, doing promotion and financial
management. So if you know how to cook, you
only know one element. You need to know more
than cooking to run a successful restaurant.

2. Your mother is a great cook. Do you think your

mother has the energy to cook 7 days a week
including public holiday? Can she delegate? Is she
capable of managing a full kitchen? Can she cook
for a full house of 50 people without compromising
the quality and speed?

3. You want to introduce food from a foreign country.

Do you think the people are ready to embrace the
new taste? How are you going to get your supplies
and ingredients?

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 4. You are retired and you want to spend your
retirement by operating a restaurant. Are you
sure you want to work 7 days a week 365 days a
year including public holidays in your retirement
days? Restaurants make money on public holidays
and festive seasons thus you can’t afford to close
during those times.

Again, I am not trying to discourage you from opening

your own restaurant. I just want you to open it for the
right reasons.

The more solid reasons for opening a restaurant are:

1. You love the energy of making money.

2. You love food.

3. You get satisfaction from seeing people happy with

your products and services.

4. You are very passionate about restaurant life.

5. You are ready to work very hard 7 days a week

including public holiday.

6. You are ready to learn and experience everything

about restaurant business, from kitchen

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 management, floor operation, financial
management and marketing/promotion.

7. You agree that your restaurant is not just a hobby.

It is a business to make profit. Although you love
the business very much, without profit, it will be
difficult to sustain the business in the long run.

OK... Now if you are certain that you want to open a

restaurant, the next step is to decide on the type of
restaurant you want to open.

Key take-away points:

✓A restaurant is a business.
✓ Like any other business, it requires
hard work and all the right elements
in place to be profitable.
✓ Be aware of your purpose and open
your restaurant for the right reasons.

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 STEP 2:

DECIDE ON THE TYPE OF RESTAURANT.

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When deciding on the type of restaurant you want to
open, please think about the food and ambiance.
Food and ambiance go hand-in-hand in creating a
pleasurable dining experience.

Below are some of the types of restaurants:

1. Fast Food Outlet

2. Casual Dining
3. Buffet
4. Fine Dining
5. Ethnic Restaurant
6. Specialty Restaurant

1. Fast Food Outlet

Fast Food Outlet is very popular in the urban area. This

concept attracts customers by its speed and
convenience. Fast Food Outlet adopts the concept of
self-service. Popular Fast Food Outlets are usually
chain restaurants based on franchise such as
McDonald’s, Burger King, KFC and Subway.

2. Casual Dining

Casual Dining serves reasonably-priced food with laid-

back atmosphere. While Fast Food is self-service,
Casual Dining provides table service with waiters.

This type of dining usually attracts group diners such

as families with children.

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3. Buffet

By definition, buffet is a system where diners help

themselves with food that is spread on tables in public
area.

Advantages of Buffet System are:

• Very useful in serving large number of people

because the food is pre-cooked.
• Diners are offered varieties of food.
• Diners can see and inspect the food before
selecting them.

A typical Buffet System in Malaysia is Mixed Rice (Nasi

Campur) where diners choose their food from the
spread and pay according to what they take. Another
type of Buffet is the fixed price buffet. It is usually
offered at restaurants and hotels. A customer pays a
fixed price and he/she can eat all he/she wants.

4. Fine Dining

Just as the name implies, a Fine Dining Restaurant

serves fine quality food with excellent service and very
upscale ambiance. Due to its higher price, fine dining
is not the place where customers visit very often. It is
usually reserved for special occasions.

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5. Ethnic Restaurant

Ethnic restaurant serves a specific type of food based

on a country or ethnicity, such as Chinese Food, Malay
Food, Indian Food, Japanese Food, etc. When
venturing into ethnic restaurant, the menu, decor and
name should relate to that particular ethnic. Ethnic
Restaurant setting can be anything from Fast Food,
Casual Dining to Fine Dining.

6. Specialty Restaurant

While Ethnic Restaurant menu is set based on a specific

country, specialty restaurant is set based on the type
of food. Examples of Specialty Restaurant are Seafood
Restaurant, Steak House, Vegetarian Restaurant or
Kopitiam. The menus of Specialty Restaurants are very
specific.

Key take-away points:

✓ Decide on the type of restaurant to open.
✓ The food and ambiance must match the
restaurant type.

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 STEP 3:
DECIDE ON THE TARGET MARKET

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Who is your target market?

In a multi-racial country like Malaysia you have to

target your customers based on Race, Age and Income
Group.

• Race

Having 3 major ethnic groups in Malaysia means you

have to target your market accurately. You decide
whether your target is Malay, Chinese, Indian,
Foreigners, or all races.

If you cater for Malay/Muslim population, regardless

of what type of food you want to sell, it is very
important to have Halal food.

There is a misconception that Halal means No Pork.

Halal is more than No Pork. The meat must be
slaughtered according to Islamic way. Chicken, beef,
mutton or lamb is non-halal if it is not slaughtered
this way. Halal meat suppliers must have Halal
Certificates.

As a Halal restaurant, you cannot serve alcohol in

your premise. It is wise to apply for Halal
Certification from Jakim before you open your
restaurant.

You can submit your application online to

[Link] An officer will usually
contact you and make a physical inspection of your
premise.
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Although most Muslims only dine at Halal
restaurants, some do not mind dining in restaurants
that serve alcohol, provided all the meats are halal.
In this case, your restaurant should be classified as
“Pork Free” or “No-Pork” not “Halal”.

Similarly, if you cater for Indian customers, whom

mostly are of Hindu faith, you cannot serve beef.

If you cater for Indian and Chinese communities, you

should have some Vegetarian dishes in your menus
because your customers may come with siblings and
relatives who are vegetarians.

• Age

You have to decide which age group you are

targeting. People above 50 years old may not be
buying your hot dogs and hamburgers because they
are less exposed to fast food. They still prefer their
Asian/traditional food. Younger population are more
adventurous in trying new food.

Health factor also plays important role in targeting

your customers. Elderly customers tend to be more
careful with what they eat thus cholesterol-laden-
food may not be appropriate for them.

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 • Income

Now that you know the type of food you want to

serve, you have a rough idea on how to price your
menu and decide on who can afford to dine at your
restaurant. What is the income level of your target
market? Will they purchase the kind of food you will
be serving?

Once you know this, it will be easier to find the right

location for your restaurant and decide on the pricing.

Key take-away points:

✓ Select your target market.
✓ Food, service and price must cater to
your target market.

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 STEP 4 :
CREATE A MENU

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Before you create your menu, decide who will do the
cooking. Will you be the chef? If yes, then you can
create your own menu. If you are not going to be the
chef, it is wise to hire a chef before creating your
menu.

Why? Because the chef that you hire will create menus
based on his/her expertise. If you created a menu that
consisted dishes that the chef has never heard off
before, the final result may not be as per your
expectation.

Discuss with your chef on the type of food you want to

sell and let him elaborate further on the menu. Have
the chef to make a demo cooking on all the dishes for
you to try.

Your chef has to know how to source for the

ingredients. The menu should not consist of too many
food items with seasonal ingredients. 90% of your
ingredients must be available all year long.

When creating menu with your chef, keep in mind that

menu creation goes hand in hand with the type of food
you want to serve.

Be specific. Don’t sell everything.

Even if you or your chefs can cook everything from Roti

Canai to Thai Green Curry to Steak, it doesn’t mean
your restaurant should have Roti Canai and Thai Green
Curry in the menu.

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People often make mistake by thinking that customers
will be happier if there are more varieties in the menu.
Varieties is important but be specific on the type of
food you want to sell.

If you want to open a “Mamak” shop, have a lot of

varieties of Naans, Rotis, Curries, Mee goreng and Nasi
goreng, but not Pizza, Chicken Chop or Tom Yum.

I had been to a “Mamak” restaurant near my house

that sold Pizza and Pasta. True enough, after 6 months
they stopped selling Pizza and Pasta because very few
people actually ordered those dishes in a “Mamak”
shop. Now they are stuck with the Wood-fire Oven and
cans of tomato sauces and cheeses.

If you go to an Indian restaurant and see Chicken Chop

and Tom Yum Koong in the menu, would you order
those? What is your impression of the restaurant?
Even if the Tom Yum Koong is probably good, but the
first thing that come to mind is this restaurant is not
serious about its food. I usually call it a “confused
restaurant”. Nobody likes to spend his/her money on
anything confused.

Another important element in the menu creation is how

to price your dishes. A professional chef usually knows
how to calculate the food cost for each item on the
menu.

While each type of restaurant has different benchmarks

on pricing, the average food cost should be around
30% of the selling price. The 70% margin is needed to

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cover your operation cost (rental, salary, electricity,
etc)

For example: if your grilled chicken cost is RM3.00

(including sauces, trimmings and everything on the
plate), you should sell the grilled chicken for RM9.00.

Being a multicultural country, there are a lot of

Malaysians who don’t eat beef. We also have a
substantial vegetarian population. Having that in mind,
you should have few vegetarian and beef-free items in
your menus.

Don’t forget to keep the little ones in mind when

creating menus. As a mother, I choose restaurants
that have kid’s meals on their menus.

Children don’t eat spicy food and they can’t finish adult
portion. Unless you operate a bar, fine dining or adult-
only restaurant, do have few kid’s meals in the menu.

You can actually make higher margin on kid’s meals

because most of them are simple dishes with fewer
ingredients.

Another important element in creating a menu is the

descriptions of each dish. You should provide clear
detailed explanations on your menus. This will ease
your customers to decide on their food. It also
expedites taking orders for your waiters especially
during a full house.

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Another effective method is to have a pictured menu.
This is especially for ethnic food where the customers
are not familiar with the native names of the food.
Pictures and descriptions will provide the customers
with some ideas of how the food is like. In general
people are more attracted to pictures than words. Nice
pictures not only make ordering faster but also
promoting your food.

A detailed menu will save waiters from spending longer

time explaining the menus to customers. It will make
them work faster and more efficiently.

By working fast and efficiently, you can afford to have

fewer waiters. Having fewer waiters will reduce your
overhead and eventually increase your profit.

I eat out a lot and very often I have a waiter stand on

my side to explain few dishes in the menu.

Spend some time and money to make a nice looking

menu. Your menu is part of your image. If possible,
hire a graphic designer to make a nice layout that will
make your customers interested to try everything on
the menu.

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A few examples of “confusing menu” vs “clear menu”:

Name Description Why I got How it should

of the confused be explained
dish
Kungfu Deep fried home- What kind of sauce is Deep fried home-
Tofu made tofu with chef’s sauce? Is it made tofu drizzled
chef’s sauce spicy? Is it soy sauce with chef’s sweet
or peanut sauce? chilli sauce and
topped with toasted
sesame seeds
Mapo Tofu with minced Is the tofu fried or Spicy stewed tofu
Tofu chicken stewed or stuffed with minced chicken.
with minced chicken?
Fatush Arabic Salad What’s inside the Chopped lettuce and
salad? What kind of tomato with sliced
dressing? olives topped with
fried crispy pita
bread. Served with
tangy lemon
dressing.
BBQ Grilled chicken How many pieces in 6 pieces of marinated
chicken wings one portion? chicken wings grilled
wing to perfection.
Mee Special Fried What’s inside? Does Stir fried yellow
goreng Noodle it have seafood? noodle with duck egg,
Special Does it have fresh water prawns
vegetable? Why so and assorted
special? vegetables.

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 Recommendation:

✓ Remember that your menu is your sales

kit. It is made TO SELL your food and
beverages, not only to inform what you
sell.
✓ Make sure your menu is proof-read before
printing. No misspelled word.
✓ If you put pictures on the menu, make
sure the foods served look like the
pictures.
✓ Menu covers have to be water resistant.
Clean your Menu booklets regularly.

Key take-away points:

✓ Decide with your chef what you want to

sell.
✓ Your menu must be descriptive and
specific.
✓ Use pictures if it helps to describe the
dish.

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 STEP 5:
CHOOSE A NAME
AND
SIGNBOARD DESIGN

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 The type of food you plan to serve should reflect
in the name of your restaurant. If you plan to
serve ethnic food (Chinese, Indian, Malay,
Mexican, American, etc) choose a name that is
associated with it. For example: Don’t name
your restaurant “Giovanni” if you are serving
Chinese food. You should also avoid naming
your restaurant “Olive” if you plan to serve
Malay food because none of Malay cooking uses
olive.

Basic guidelines in naming your restaurant:

o Reflect the type of food you serve

o Easy to remember
o Easy pronunciation
o Does not contain more than 3 words

Your signboard also plays an important role in

attracting your customers.

Key points in designing the signboard:

1. Your signboard should be clear.

2. Use BIG letters and SIMPLE readable

FONT. It is difficult to see a restaurant

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 sign using this kind of font, especially when people
are driving or walking.

3. Your signboard should explain what you

sell.
I find a lot of confused restaurant owners
who advertise their restaurants as “Western
Food” with Tom Yam and Chicken Chop
side-by-side on the menu.

Another common mistake is “Islam Food”.

What is Islam Food? Is it Arabic food? Iranian
Food? Indian Food? Malay Food? People get
confused. Your signboard should reflect the
type or restaurant you want to operate.
Certain fonts create certain ambiance. If
possible, hire a graphic designer to do it.

4. Your signboard has to be visible at night.

Put lights around the signboard or have a
lighted signboard. If you choose to have a
lighted signboard, make sure all the lights
on the letters are ON.

Have you seen this kind of lighted signboard?

SEAFOOD RESTAURANT

You don’t want your signboard to look like

that!

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 Recommendations!
If budget is very tight, hire students
from art school like Lim Kok Wing
University, The One College, or
Multimedia University.

I use the service from

[Link] for most of my
design needs. I love it very much as I
can hire a great designer for as low as
U$5.00. You can click (or copy and
paste) this link to sign up for free:
[Link]

Key take-away points:

✓ Choose a restaurant name that suit the
type of food you want to sell.
✓ The name should be simple and easy
to remember
✓ Have a clear sign board that describe
your restaurant.
✓ Your signboard should be visible at all
time.

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 STEP 6:

FIND THE RIGHT LOCATION

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Once you know what type of food you want to sell,
your target customers and the type of restaurant to
open, the next step is to find the right location.
Identifying the best location for your restaurant is very
tricky.

In the world of real estate, the foremost important

factor is location. The second most important factor is
location. The third most important factor is also
location. It sounds very cliché but it applies to
restaurant business as well. Let me explain to you
why.

First Step: Location based on the demographic of

the area.

Find the right area according to the type of food you

want to sell. You don’t want to sell Wantan Mee with
Roast Pork in an area where the population is 95%
Muslim. Likewise, you should not open a fine-dining
restaurant in a low income area.

Remember that 95% of your customers will come from

within a radius of 10 km of your location.

When you scout around for the perfect location, the

first thing to ask is: Do the people in the area need
your type of restaurant?

Do your research on the demographic. Spend a few

days circling the area you are interested in. Look at
the houses, go to the malls in the area, look at the cars

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parked in the area, talk to the people in the park or if
possible, talk to a real estate agent. It will give you
some indications of the earning power, racial mix and
age group of the area.

Beware of the newly developed housing area. Unless

you have a lot of cash that can give you long holding
power, it is wiser to open your business in a more
mature area with ready market.

It is very important to have large target

population in the area to support your restaurant.

Second Step: Shopping mall, shoplot or stand-

alone building?

Now that you have found the area, think about where
your target customers usually go to eat? What kind of
ambiance your customers would enjoy? Can your
monthly sales cover the rental of the particular
location?

If you plan to open a restaurant in a mall:

1. Do a survey on the mall.

a. How old is the mall? Does it still attract

visitors? Are the facilities maintained properly?

b. How is the patronage of the mall? Is it

crowded everyday or only on weekends? Is it

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 crowded only during lunch hours or only at
nights or throughout the day?

c. How is the turnover of food-outlet there? Do

they change tenants very often? If they do,
you might want to reconsider opening your
shop there. If so many restaurants failed in
that mall, what are the chances that yours will
be successful there?

d. Is there frequent promotion on the mall? Talk

to the current tenants to find out.

e. How is the security? This is important

because as a food outlet, you may be dealing
with a lot of cash every day. You need a place
where you can take out cash from the premise
safely.

f. Do they have banks inside the mall? It will

ease your operation in banking your daily
sales and getting small coins or change.

g. Do they have sufficient loading/unloading

area? Check if the area is clean because it will
affect the quality of your perishables. Imagine
loading your fresh vegetable in a smelly filthy
area full of roaches. Some of the roaches may
end up in your premise.

37 How To Open Your Restaurant in 8 Weeks

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2. Check the “Maintenance Fee”. Most malls charge
Maintenance Fee in addition to rent. Make sure to
include this in your budget.

3. Request the customer’s profile from mall

operators. Who are the majority of the visitors?
a. What income group?
b. Age range?
c. Working individuals or families?
d. Does it match your target market?

4. Read the Rules and regulations of the mall. Is

cooking allowed in the premise? If yes, do they
have sufficient exhaust system? How often the
garbage collectors collect and clean the dust bins?
This is important to keep your premise clean.

5. Who are the other restaurant operators? Do they

serve the same type of food? It would be
ridiculous if you open a Steak House when you
know the mall already has 5 Steak House
operators there.

If you plan to operate in a shoplot:

Check your immediate neighbour. What are they

selling? Are they clean? If the shops adjacent to
your lot are not clean, their rats and roaches will
travel to your premise and make it as their homes
too.

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Check the parking: Are there enough parking? The
very common cause of failure for restaurants located
in a shoplot is the lack of parking space. If the whole
parking bays are occupied by the tenants and their
staffs and not enough space for customers, you may
want to reconsider about operating from that
location.

No matter how good your restaurant is, if the

customers can’t park their cars to reach your
restaurant, nobody can come and dine at your
restaurant.

The only exception to this rule is if the shoplot is

surrounded by offices where your target customers
are located. If it is within walking distance, then
your customers can walk to your restaurant. In this
case, the lack of parking space is forgivable.

Check the back alley: is the area clean and spacious

enough for loading/unloading? You will need this as
supplier delivery area. You don’t want your suppliers
to come through the front door bringing fish and
vegetables while customers enjoying their meals.

If you plan to operate in a stand-alone building:

Check the legalities. Is it legal to open a restaurant

there? In Malaysia, some areas are assigned for
residential, some for agriculture and some for
factories.

39 How To Open Your Restaurant in 8 Weeks

[Link]
If you open your restaurant in a residential area
(without being aware that you can’t open a business
in the premise), you are taking a risk of being closed
down by the municipality and lose all your
investment. You can check the status of your
premise from the local municipality.

The fact that there is a restaurant already operated

near that area doesn’t guarantee that the area is
designated for commercial.

Again, check the parking. Does it have enough

parking bays?

Check the building condition. How is the plumbing

and wiring? Do you need to make extensive
renovation? Get a contractor to assess the place and
ask him to give you the quotation on renovation.

If you plan to rent the building, don’t spend

excessively on the renovation because one day when
you decide to move, you will lose the money you
spent on renovation.

Check the size of the building. Is the size suitable?

Can your kitchen handle the capacity?

Get a pest control to check the building for white

ants. Since pest control for white ants can be costly,
you should get the landlord to treat the white ants
problem before signing any rental agreement.

40 How To Open Your Restaurant in 8 Weeks

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Third Step : Visibility, Traffic Flow, Accessibility
and Immediate Neighbour

Now that you have decided on the location (Step 1)

and the premise (Step 2) the next step is to select
which part of the premise to locate your restaurant.
You should choose the area based on:

1. Visibility

Your restaurant has to be visible from as many

angles as possible. Don’t let any tree or pole or
building obstruct your sign boards.

Your visibility will increase your chances of

having more walk-ins. Corner lot is the most
visible location. If you notice, most McDonald’s
outlets are located at corners.

Your signboard plays an important role in

increasing your visibility.

Place the signboard where people can see clearly

from all angles.

2. Traffic Flow

If you choose to open your restaurant in a mall,

check the traffic flow in relation to the escalator
and elevator. It helps to have your premise very
close to the escalator because it will increase the
visibility.
41 How To Open Your Restaurant in 8 Weeks
[Link]
 If your restaurant is in a shoplot, check if cars
can pass thru. If possible, find a location close to
the main entrance, near the parking area and
facing the main road.

If your restaurant is in a stand-alone building,

make sure it’s not a dead-end where no car can
pass thru.

3. Accessibility

Have you ever experience this: You see a

restaurant, you know where it is but you don’t
know how to get there because the roads
leading to that place is complicated?

Your restaurant should be easily accessible from

major highways, major streets and has multiple
entry points.

If you operate in a shoplot, always operate

your restaurant on the Ground Floor of the
shoplot. Unless your restaurant is already very
famous and people are willing to go to the end
of the world to eat at your place, having your
restaurant on the 2nd floor of a shoplot is the
first unwelcome sign. But if you are already
operating a famous successful restaurant, why
are you reading this book?

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4. Your immediate neighbour

It is good if you can find a location near an

already famous restaurant. It serves as your
free advertisement. However do not compete
with them by serving the same food.
Alternatively you can also open your restaurant
in a place where there are a lot of other
successful restaurants.

Location 3 : 2nd
floor near the
escalator

Location 2 : IOI
Mall

Location 1 :
Puchong - based
on demographic.

Recommendation:

No matter which location you choose, your

total rental expense should be no more than
10% - 15% of your targeted monthly sales.

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 Key take-away points:
✓ Choose a location based on your target
market.
✓ Do a lot of surveys and researches
before deciding on the location.
✓ Your premise must have good visibility
and easy access.

44 How To Open Your Restaurant in 8 Weeks

[Link]
 STEP 7:

FORM A COMPANY

45 How To Open Your Restaurant in 8 Weeks

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Once you decide on the type of food and the location,
the next step is to form a company. It can be a Private
Limited (Sendirian Berhad – Sdn Bhd) or a Sole
Proprietorship. I advise you to form a Private Limited
company (Sdn Bhd) to limit your liabilities. Avoid
making any personal guarantee if you can. Should
your business fail, you will lose your investment in that
company but you will still be able to keep your other
personal assets. Your dream might be shattered but
not your life.

Sole Proprietor Business

To form a sole proprietor business, you only need to

bring your Identification Card to any of Suruhanjaya
Syarikat Malaysia (SSM) branches and register. Only
Malaysian Citizens or Permanent Residents are allowed
to register a Sole Proprietor Business. Registration for
Sole Proprietor Business is very easy. You just need to
bring an Identification Card and choose a business or
trade name. You can also use your name as the
business name. The SSM will then check if there is
another business using the same name. If somebody
else is using the same name, you need to submit other
name.

You can go to [Link] , the government

website of Suruhanjaya Syarikat Malaysia to get more
information on the business formation in Malaysia.

46 How To Open Your Restaurant in 8 Weeks

[Link]
Private Limited Company

To form a Private Limited Company (Sendirian Berhad)

the first thing you need to do is to find a Malaysian
company secretary who will register your business.

Please note that you should only appoint a company

secretary that is either a member of a professional
organization prescribed by Minister of Domestic Trade
Cooperative and Consumerism or a licensed individual
(by the Companies Commission of Malaysia-SSM). The
company secretary should have its principal resided
within Malaysia.

Before 2017, the company secretary would furnish

you with:

• Form 9: The Certificate of the Incorporation of

Private Company
• Form 24:The Certificate of Allotment of shares
• Form 49:The Certificate of Registration of
Directors, Managers and Company Secretary

However, the government made an amendment to the

Company Act in 2016 and simplified the whole
registration of a Sendirian Berhad company.

Starting in 2017, you will only need Form 14 to apply

for company registration. Form 14 combines all
information from the previous Form 9,24 and 49.

It contains details on:

• company’s date of incorporations

• type of business
47 How To Open Your Restaurant in 8 Weeks
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 • registered address of the company
• registration numbers
• the shareholders details (name, IC, address, date
of births and emails)
• the particulars of directors (name, IC, address,
date of births and emails)

Form 14 requires applicant to specify MSIC code of the

business. MSIC stands for Malaysian Standard
Industrial Classification. MISC code is a 5-digit code
representing the type of business you will be operating.
You can check the MISC code at:
[Link]

To qualify for a Sendirian Berhad company, your

company must have:

• A minimum of 2 shareholders and no more than

20.
• A minimum of 2 directors whose residences are
within Malaysia (foreigners are eligible as long as
you have legal Malaysia residencies).
• A minimum Paid-up Capital ofRM2.

Another option is to purchase a company “of-the-

shelf”. This refers to a newly pre-registered company
that is for sale. It is faster. Your Company Secretary
can advise you on this option.

If you are a foreigner, contact a Company Secretary for

their advice on what kind of entity is suitable for you
and let them arrange the documentations. Foreigners
are allowed to have 100% ownership with a limitation

48 How To Open Your Restaurant in 8 Weeks

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on the Paid-up Capital if the company plans to employ
foreign workers.

A company whose shareholders are 100% foreigners

can only employ foreign workers if the Paid-up Capital
is more than RM1 million.

This rule is valid when this book is written. However

the ruling may change so you should always check with
your Company Secretary regarding new regulations on
foreign owned company.

Key take-away points:

✓ Choose the right type of company, sole
proprietor or private limited company, for
your business.
✓ Engaged the service of a qualified
Company Secretary to assist you.
✓ A foreign owned company requires a
minimum Paid-up Capital of RM1 million
to employ foreigners.

49 How To Open Your Restaurant in 8 Weeks

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 STEP 8:

APPLY FOR LICENSES

50 How To Open Your Restaurant in 8 Weeks

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There are several licenses you need to obtain before
you start your business in Malaysia. You must go to
the local municipal office to obtain the licenses. For
example, if your restaurant is in Kuala Lumpur, you go
to Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur or DBKL
([Link]) and if you are in Petaling Jaya, you
go to Majlis Bandaraya Petaling Jaya or MBPJ
([Link]). You can download the necessary
forms from the respective websites, bring the required
documents and apply personally to your local municipal
office.

My advice is: please make a visit to the municipal office

and ask for their current list. DON’T rely entirely on
the list on their website as sometimes it may be
outdated.

Licenses needed:

1. Operating/Business License:
Get a specific license to operate a restaurant
business. You will have to categorize what kind of
restaurant you plan to open, whether it is a cafe, a
bar, a bistro, etc. As a guide, here is a list of
documents needed for you to apply for a
Restaurant Business License :

a. Photocopy of the applicant's identity card,

based on the name listed on Forms 14.

51 How To Open Your Restaurant in 8 Weeks

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 b. Passport-sized photograph of the applicant.

c. A copy of the company's M&A and Forms 14.

d. A copy of either the tenancy agreement or the

sale and purchase agreement of the
company's business premise.

e. A copy of the Certificate of Fitness (CF) of the

company's business premise.

f. A copy of the Fire Department's support letter.

g. A copy of the location plan of the company's

business premise.

h. Two pieces of the business premise’s

photographs from the outside and 2 pieces
from the inside. All 4 photographs have to be
taken from different angles.

i. A photograph showing the location of the

company's signboard.

j. Samples of the signboard indicating its design

and colours.

k. Photocopy of proofs of Thypoid Injection for

everyone working in your restaurant, including

52 How To Open Your Restaurant in 8 Weeks

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 you. You can go to any clinic and get this
injection.

The list above is true at the time of writing but it

may change from time to time and may differ for
each municipality.

2. Signboard License:
Although you have a Business License, it doesn’t
mean you can put up your signboard. You should
apply Signboard License together with Business
License at your municipal office because it will take
about 3-4 weeks to process. The documents
required for Signboard License are similar to those
for the Business License. The only addition is the
measurement of the Signboard.

Both Business License and Signboard License are

valid for 1 (one) year. Please ensure to renew the
licenses one month in advance by bringing:

• Current valid licenses

• A copy of Approved Building Plan or
Renovation Plan (when applicable) from the
Land Office.

Failure to renew those licenses will incur fines of

up to RM2,000.

For DBKL (Kuala Lumpur), you can apply both

business license and signboard license together by
filling in “BORANG KOMPOSIT – PERMOHONAN
LESEN PREMISE DAN LESEN IKLAN PAPAN TANDA”
53 How To Open Your Restaurant in 8 Weeks
[Link]
 Make sure you have the right measurements of the
premise and the signboard before applying.

3. Alcohol License:
If you plan to sell alcohol you will need to apply for
Alcohol License from the municipal office. The
Alcohol License will only be issued once you obtain
the Restaurant Business License.

4. Music License:
If you plan to play music in your premise, you
need to get a license from Music Rights Malaysia.
Go to the websites, [Link] for
details on fees and coverage.

5. Halal Certificate :
If you want to have your restaurant certified Halal,
apply to Jabatan Kebajikan Agama Islam (JAKIM).
Visit [Link] for the details.

If you don’t want to go around town applying for the

numerous licenses, you can actually use an agent to
apply for your licenses. Your company secretary will
probably be able to do it for you. Of course, you will
incur additional cost but if you are too busy and can’t
understand Bahasa Malaysia, I advise you to engage an
agent as some of the forms are printed only in Bahasa
Malaysia.

54 How To Open Your Restaurant in 8 Weeks

[Link]
 Key take-away points:
✓ You need a business and a signboard
license to open a restaurant.
✓ You can obtain these licenses at your
municipal office.
✓ There are other licenses and certifications
that you may require such as alcohol
license, halal certificate and MRM license.

55 How To Open Your Restaurant in 8 Weeks

[Link]
 STEP 9:

MAKE A BUSINESS PLAN

56 How To Open Your Restaurant in 8 Weeks

[Link]
Most people think that a business plan is needed only
when one wants to apply for a bank loan. Wrong..!
You need a solid business plan before you start a
business to give you a clear picture on what you need
and what to do.

If you don’t plan to obtain bank loan, you need A

SIMPLE BUT REALISTIC Business Plan for you to know
how much money you need, how you will manage your
restaurant and what kind of marketing and promotion
you need to do.

Most people get scared when they are faced with a task
of making a business plan thus avoiding it altogether.
But it is very important to do it. Treat is as your
schedule and diary for the 6-months trip to the
restaurant world. I will guide you to make the simplest
business plan.

Now that you know the type of food, the location and
the size of your restaurant, you should be able to plan
how many people you need to hire, what kind of
renovation you will need, what kind of equipment to
buy, how much the rental is and how much money you
have in hand to do this business.

Step 1: Set a budget for Renovation

I will start from the budget for renovation. Set a

budget for renovation and try to stick to the budget as
much as possible.

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Get SEVERAL contractors to see your place and ask
them to give you some quotations. It is important to
get contractors who have experiences in renovating
restaurants. Go and see the restaurants that they
have built/renovated. Talk to the owners. It will give
you some idea on their expertise and quality of
renovation works.

If your contractor doesn’t have the experience in

renovating a restaurant, you might end up having gas
leaks, improper drainage, poor kitchen ventilation, or
even worse... smoky and smelly dining room.

Now that you get the quotation on the amount to spent

on renovation, write it down.(How about engaging
restaurant decorator? Any tips?)

Step 2: How much to spend on purchases of

Equipment, Furniture, Uniforms, Cuttleries,
Plates, Pots and Pans

To serve your kind of food, decide on the type of

equipment you need. Keep in mind that restaurant
equipment is heavy duty and you should never use
household appliances bought from the regular
department store because they won’t last.

If you have a budget constraint and not operating a

fine dining restaurants, buy used equipment, furniture,
plates, cutleries, pots and pans.

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Industrial chillers, freezers, stainless steel kitchen
working table, woks, pots and pans last very long thus
you can scout for used items.

Look at local newspapers or magazines on “business for

sale” advertisements and buy from them. However,
carefully inspect the working condition of the used
items before you purchase. Make sure they are well
maintained.

There is a possibility to save some money if the

premise you choose used to be a restaurant. The
previous tenant may have left thousands of ringgit
worth of kitchen equipment there. The landlord may
increase the rental with the attached equipment but
you can always negotiate.

Remember, it is cheaper and easier for the landlord to

rent the space to a new restaurant owner than having
to take out all the kitchen equipment and rent the
space to a furniture shop.

Few things that you should buy new: Gas Stoves,

Ovens, Microwaves and Mixer. You need new gas
stoves because you need your supplier to install the
stoves, set up the gas piping and service it regularly.
If you buy used, the total cost which include hiring a
separate contractor to do the inspection and
installation may be more.

Ovens, microwaves and food processors/blenders are

very prone to abuse. You don’t know how the previous
operators used and maintained these equipment.

59 How To Open Your Restaurant in 8 Weeks

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The price difference of buying used and new
microwaves, ovens and food processors/blenders are
not that big compared to having to repair them when
they are not in good working condition.

Many suppliers will offer free equipment as incentives

to use their products.

Coffee suppliers usually give coffee machines on loan if

you buy their coffee beans for a certain amount every
month. Ice cream, soft drink and wine suppliers
usually provide chillers, freezers and glasses for free.
They will also provide free maintenance and service for
the equipment.

The 2 steps above are necessary to know how much

your Start Up Cost is. After calculating the Start Up
Cost, you will need to make a Cashflow Projection
based on your estimation on monthly operating cost.

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An example of Start Up Cost worksheet should be
something like this:
No Descriptions # of unit Cost per unit Amount
1 Renovation : include Air Conditionings, lightings, etc 50,000
2 Deposit Payments:
- Rental 10,000
- Electricity 2,000
- Water 100
- Telephone 500
3 Purchases of Equipment
- Chiller 2 2,000 4,000
- Freezer 2 2,000 4,000
- Gas Stove : 6 burner 1 8,000 8,000
- Microwave 1 500 500
- Oven 1 2,500 2,500
- Stainless steel working counter 4 1,000 4,000
- Pots 6 80 480
- Pans 10 80 800
- Knives 10 30 300
- Plates 50 10 500
- Glasses 50 2 100
- Spoons (dinner, dessert and teaspoon) 60 2 120
- Forks (dinner and dessert) 60 2 120
4 Purchases of Cash Register Machine 6,000
5 Design and make Signboard 5,000
6 Purchases of Furniture:
- Tables 10 300 3,000
- Chairs 40 150 6,000
- Sofas 3 400 1,200
- Coffee Tables 2 50 100

7 Purchases of Supplies:
- Napkins 1 box 200 200
- Cleaning liquid 5 drums 80 400
- Take away boxes 1 box 50 50
- Tissues 1 box 50 50
- Straws 1 box 50 50
- Menus 30 sets 20 600
- Name Cards 2 box 50 100
- Captain’s Order 50 20 1,000
8 Legal Fees and Licenses:
- Company Formation 5,000
- Operating Business License 500
- Alcohol License 800
- MACP 500
- PPM 500
9 Advertisement for hiring staffs 2,000
10 Chef and Staff Uniforms 11x3 sets 60 1,980
TOTAL START UP 123,050

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Now that you have made the worksheet for Start Up
Cost, the next thing you need to do is to make
estimation on your Monthly Operating Cost. Ideally
you should have cash reserves for at least 6 months
operation regardless whether or not your business is
doing well. As a new restaurant, sales are usually low
during the first two months but it will pick up once you
have your marketing and promotion running.

In restaurant business, one of your biggest expenditure

is Human Resources Expenses. Because of this, you
should start your projection on Staff Cost. Study the
industry on the average salaries and benefits for your
staff in your area. Once you know this, write it down on
the business plan. You will need to plan your operating
hours before you decide on staffing.

In Malaysia, employers are required to pay overtime

charges when an employee works more than 8 hours a
day. The overtime rate is 1.5x the normal hourly rate.
If your restaurant opens in a mall which requires every
shop to open from 10am – 10pm, it is wise to have an
extra staff for “shift system”. Having an extra staff
may be cheaper than having few staffs who are
required to work 12 hours a day because of the costlier
overtime.

Please remember when you make projection of salary,

you should include overtime, EPF (Employees Provident
Fund), SOCSO (Social Security Organization), EIS and
any allowance in the amount.
62 How To Open Your Restaurant in 8 Weeks
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No Descriptions Qty Monthly Salary Amount
1 Kitchen:
•Executive Chef 1 5,000 5,000
•Cooks 3 2,000 6,000
•Cleaners 1 1,000 1,000

2 Floor:
•Manager 1 5,000
•Waiters 4 8,000
•Bartender 1 2,500
3 Administrative Support
•Accountant cum Human Resources 1 3,000

TOTAL MONTHLY STAFF COST 30,500

After calculating the Staff Cost, you will need to make a

projection on Purchases of your Food and Beverages
based on your Menu. You can make your projection
weekly or monthly.

Just a simple example, I will use a monthly projection:

No Descriptions Daily Monthly Price Amount
Qty Qty per
unit
(RM)
1 Food:
•Chicken 5 kg 150 6.00 900
•Beef 5 kg 150 20.00 3,000
•Seafood 10 kg 300 20.00 6,000
•Vegetable & Fruits 10 kg 300 5.00 1,500
•Sauces 15 10.00 150
•Eggs 60 nos 1800 0.30 540
•Rice and noodles 10 kg 300 1.90 570
10 L 300 3.00 900
•Cooking Oil
200
•Spices

2 Beverages:
•Soft Drinks 50 cans 1,500 1.00 1,500
•Juices 4 tubs 120 10.00 1,200
•Coffee and Tea 2 kg 60 2.00 120
•Milk 10 tins 300 2.50 750
•Sugar 5 kg 150 2.20 330
•Ice Cubes 5 packs 150 1.70 255

TOTAL MONTHLY PURCHASES 17,915

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 Once you know the Staff Cost, Food and Beverage
Cost, other monthly recurring cost such as Rental,
Utilities and Supplies, you can basically make a simple
Business Plan to know how much capital you need to
put up. Remember again, you have to have at least 6
months holding power without relying on sales.

Here is the sample of the Financial Projection of the

Business Plan:

MONTH Start 1 2 3 4 5 6 TOTAL

Up
Start Up Capital 123,050 123,050
Monthly Expenses:
• Rental Exp 5,000 5,000 5,000 5,000 5,000 5,000 30,000
• Staff Cost 30,000 30,000 30,000 30,000 30,000 30,000 180,000
• Electricity 3,000 3,000 3,000 3,000 3,000 3,000 18,000
• Telephone & 400 400 400 400 400 400 2,400
Internet
• Water 50 50 50 50 50 50 300
• Restaurant 200 200 200 200 200 200 1,200
Supplies
• Kitchen Supplies 200 200 200 200 200 200 1,200
200 200 200 200 200 200 1,200
• Pest Control
20 20 20 20 20 20 120
• Bank Charges
200 200 200 200 200 200 1,200
• Others 200 200 200 200 200 200 1,200
• Promotion Exp

TOTAL 39,470 39,470 39,470 39,470 39,470 39,470 359,870

FOOD & BEVERAGES 17,915 17,915 17,915 17,915 17,915 17,915 107,490
PURCHASES
TOTAL CASH TO BE 123,050 57,385 57,385 57,385 57,385 57,385 57,385 467,360
RESERVED

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The above figures are only for illustration purpose, the
real costs in the market may differ based on the
location and the type of restaurant you want to open.

Sales Target

Now that you know approximately how much your

monthly expenses are, you can set monthly target
sales. The average industry percentage for Cost of
Goods Sold (CoGS) or Food & Beverages Cost is 30%.
If your CoGS is 30%, it means your margin is 70%

To calculate your minimum monthly sales: Monthly

expenses / Margin.

In the case above :

39,470/70% = 56,386

You need to have at least RM56,386 sales per month to

cover your monthly expenses of RM39,470.

If you can’t achieve sales of RM56,386 you are

definitely running at a CASH LOSS.

To prove that you have the right calculation : multiply

your margin by the monthly targeted sales.

70% x 56,386 = 39,470

To get a real profit, you should incorporate depreciation

cost of your renovation, equipment and furniture. In a
non-accounting words, depreciation simply means
spreading the Start Up Cost into 5 or 10 years
(depending on the years allowed by the Tax
Department).
65 How To Open Your Restaurant in 8 Weeks
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You can ask your accountant to calculate the
depreciation expenses per month to be incorporated
into your monthly expenses so that you know your real
profit or loss.

Provide Sufficient Buffer:

Earlier on in this Chapter I suggested for a cash

reserves of at least 6 months. The reason I want you to
have 6 months cash reserve is because a lot of
restaurant owners are overly optimistic in their sales
projection and relying on the sales to cover their
operating expenses. When the sales can’t cover the
expenses, they will stagger in their payments to
suppliers, causing suppliers stop delivering the goods.
When your suppliers stop delivering the goods, you will
have to buy your raw materials by cash at retail shops.

You should avoid this situation because:

1. By buying retail, you pay more for your ingredients

thus increasing your food cost
2. By buying cash, you can’t roll your cash, sending
you further into cash problems
3. By buying retail, you will waste your time because
you have to go to the supermarket (instead of
having suppliers deliver your products to your
restaurant) and you will incur additional
transportation cost.

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 Key take-away points:
✓ Business plan is a MUST.
✓ Determine what is your capital cost and
operating cost.
✓ Once you know your monthly operating
cost, you can figure out your sales target.
✓ Provide sufficient cash buffer, at least 6-
months, to cover for your early operating
cash flow requirement.

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 STEP 10:

OPEN A BANK ACCOUNT

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So now that you know how much capital you need to
have, gather your finance resources and put it in the
company’s bank account.

From now on, you should record every expenses and

purchases and pay from that bank account. Do not
withdraw any cash for personal use. You have to
separate the cash for company and cash for personal
use. Every single expenditure must have an attached
receipt and properly recorded, no matter how small it
is.

Your accounting record starts now.

I can’t emphasize enough on this because very often I

meet owners who don’t keep proper financial record,
blurring personal expenses with company expenses.

Sometimes people open company bank accounts too

late. Owners usually use their personal money to buy
things for the restaurants. If the owners are discipline
and organized, it won’t pose too much problems but I
encountered a lot of owners who lost receipts and
didn’t keep track of the spending diligently. It is a loss
for the owner because when the accountant does the
reporting or tax submission, tax deductions only
applicable to expenses that are accompanied by
receipts.

You can swear on your holly book or your mother’s

grave that you had spent RM2,000 for printing the
napkins but without any receipt, the tax department
will never recognize that as an expense.

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When opening a bank account, there are a few things
to consider:

• Location: get the closest bank to the restaurant

• Service: Inquire if the bank provides small

changes. Some do but there are few who don’t.
You will need loose coins and small changes
regularly and it is important that your bank offers
this service.

• Credit Card and Debit Card machine: inquire on

credit/debit card machines.

- How much is the commission rate?

- Do they charge rentals on the machine?
- How long is the settlement?
- Can you view the transaction online?

Average bank charges 1.6%-2% commission for

Visa and Mastercard. American Express usually
charges 3% - 3.75% commission.

If you have large monthly transactions, usually

banks will abolish the rental charge.

When you apply for credit card machines, please ask

for portable machines. Starting in 2017, customers
need to input PIN numbers into the machine. By
having portable machines, you can bring the machines
to the table when customers settle the bills. This will

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ease the whole payment process as your customers
don’t need to go to the cashier counter and pay there.

You will also need to ask for a minimum of 2 machines.

I have encountered malfunctioned machines numerous
times. If you have more than 1 machine, your
operation will not be disrupted when one of the
machines is broken.

Key take-away points:

✓ Open a bank account and keep
proper records on company
expenses.
✓ DO NOT mix personal and company
expenses.
✓ When selecting a bank, consider the
location and services provided.
✓ Ask for a minimum of 2 portable
credit card machines.

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 STEP 11:

RENOVATION

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CONSTRUCTIONS OF THE PREMISE

It is not easy to find reliable contractors in Malaysia. I

had several bad experiences with contractors. Some
work very slow that I had to delay opening the
restaurant and some work fast but then I found
leakages and cracked walls after just a few months.

Once you start your operation, you can’t afford to close

the premise for another renovation. You will lose your
sales and your customers.

You have to find reliable contractors who are

experienced in doing renovation for restaurants.
Renovation for a house differs significantly from
renovation for a restaurant because of the piping,
drainage and wiring requirement.

Recommendation:

Build a Grease Trap in the kitchen to prevent future

problem of clogged drains and overflowed toilets.
Contractors without restaurant experiences usually
ignore this.

It is better if you can get a contractor that is referred

by their previous client. Always check out their
previous renovations and see if you like their
renovations.

Every contractor has different standard and style.

Make sure you find one who can understand what you
need and what you want.
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 Recommendation:

If your restaurant is big and housed in a stand-alone

building, please consider to build a separate restroom
for staffs.

You don’t want your guests to bump into your cleaners,

cooks and waiters in the restroom, especially when
your staffs’ uniforms are stained with oil, sauces and
blood.

It may sound like a no-brainer but I saw a few

restaurant owners made mistakes of not having a
storeroom and a loading area in the premise.

I saw few restaurants store their boxes of soft-drink,

juices and napkins on the floor of the dining room. No
matter how nice your furniture and restaurant layout is
but if your customers see all those stored items, the
mood will change.

If you don’t have a proper loading area, you will be

forced to let your suppliers use the same entrance with
the guests. I remember once I had to open a door for
supplier carrying sacks of flour into a restaurant. Since
the door was small, I ended up getting some flour on
my black dress. It killed my dining mood right away.

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Renovation time is the most crucial element in
determining when you can start your business. Ideally
your renovation shouldn’t be more than 2 months.

You should negotiate with your landlord to give

at least one month free rental for renovation.
Most landlords will agree to give you a grace period for
renovation but if you don’t ask, they will keep quiet.

Recommendation:

1. Use durable and easy to clean materials.

2. Pay attention to the layout.
➢ Customer toilet should not be
located next to your kitchen.
➢ Place the store room near the
kitchen, not within dining area.
➢ Paint your interior with washable
paints for easy cleaning.

AMBIANCE

Ambiance is very important to create a pleasurable

dining experience. Creating ambiance doesn’t need a
big budget. If you are in doubt, hire a professional
Restaurant Interior Designer. You can also visit a few
successful restaurants that have similar concept like

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yours and get some ideas on how to design your
restaurant.

When thinking about the ambiance, ask yourself: Do I

want to serve my food in casual environment or fine-
dining?

Imagine this: You go into a restaurant with modern

black and white wall and red chairs. The interior design
is minimalist and all tables are draped with white crisp
table cloths. Then when you open the menu, you see :
Nasi Padprik, Mutton Curry, Chicken Chop, Tom yum
and Mee Goreng. How is your mood?

Not only your ambiance should be compatible with your

food but it also has to match with the food prices. If
you sell food that costs below RM10, the place
shouldn’t look “too expensive”. Your target customers
will shy away from your premise thinking that your
restaurant might be expensive. On the other hand,
others who see your beautiful expensive-looking
restaurant will drop by and be disappointed when the
menu is not as “refined” as expected.

Last year I went to this restaurant that has tropical

wooden doors with Malay carving. The signboard
looked very rustic, made of wood. It doesn’t say what
kind of food they are serving. The signboard only
listed the name of the restaurant. When I entered the
restaurant, I saw the seats and tables were Indonesian
style teak draped with batiks. But when I opened the
menu, I was surprised because the menu was nothing

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close to Malay or Indonesian food. They serve Iranian
food. It was not a pleasant surprise at all.

Your furniture will play an important role in creating the

ambiance of your dining room. Use furniture that
matches the type of food you serve and the ambiance
you desire.

Arrangements of chairs and tables in the dining area

determine the ambiance of your dining room. Play
around with the arrangements to get the desired feel.

If you are not sure about the arrangements, you can

always visit and observe other successful restaurants
similar to your concept or hire a good interior designer.

No matter what your ambiance is, it is important to

keep your premise clean and free of pest at all times.
Toilets should always be clean and flushable. You
should check the toilets almost every half-an-hour to
see if it’s clean. If not, clean it.

Most dirty toilets in Malaysia are not only caused by the

lazy janitors but by improper usage of customers.
While you can’t control how the customers use toilets,
you can keep it clean by cleaning it more frequently.
Make sure the plumbing is in good order all the time.

Very often I went to nice restaurants to find that their

toilets couldn’t flush properly, there was no tissue
paper on sight and the liquid hand soap is useless (too
watery because the owner wants to save money by
diluting the soap with water).

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Another thing you need to pay attention to is the smell
of your restaurant. Make sure you have a good
ventilation system in the kitchen so your dining area
will not smell like your kitchen or worse... smell like
your toilet!! Customers hate to have their body smell
like food when they come out from restaurants and of
course, who enjoy eating in a smelly restaurant?

Play music that is appropriate for your restaurant.

Don’t play rock music in a family-friendly restaurant.
You have to decide on the music to be played in the
restaurant.

Recommendation!

Don’t allow your staffs to select the music played in the

restaurant based on their preference.

I once went to a nice cafe serving delicious sandwiches.

I stopped going there because I couldn’t stand the loud
heavy metal music played by the waiters when the
owner was not around.

Another thing that can ruin your ambiance: owner’s

family members lingering around in the dining area,
together with their screaming kids sitting on the dining
table. You may think that this is not happening but I
had experienced it several times. The nice ambiance
was ruined.

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You may be operating a small “warong”, not a fine
dining restaurant but your dining room is a place to
serve your customers. It is not your living room.

Imagine this: One sunny day a customer is having his

lunch, a bowl of hot and spicy Tom Yum soup, in your
“warong”. Then your 4-year-old niece started
screaming and crying on the table next to your
customer’s. Do you think he can appreciate his rich
delicious soup? Will he ever come back? What will he
remember about your “warong”? Is it the delicious Tom
Yum Soup or the screaming kid?

Key take-away points:

✓ Find an experience contractor specialising
in restaurant renovation.
✓ Pay special attention to the piping,
drainage and wiring.
✓ Think of an ambiance that suits your
restaurant’s concept when decorating.
✓ Music selection should enhance the
restaurant’s ambiance.

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 STEP 12:

HIRE AND TRAIN YOUR STAFFS

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Before you start hiring, you have to decide on your role
in the restaurant. Apart from being an owner, are you
going to cook too? Or will you be the Restaurant
Manager?

When deciding on what your role will be in the

restaurant, I need you to consider these few hard
facts:

• You can always hire a good chef.

• You can always hire a restaurant manager to
oversee your daily operation.
• You can always hire a cashier and implement a
good system to collect your sales.
• You can always hire someone to design and make
your restaurant looks pretty.
• You can always hire someone to greet your
customers and make them happy.

BUT you won’t get anyone who has the same

dedication as you do to work super hard in managing
and marketing the restaurant.

Since you put your money and soul into opening your
restaurant, your main role is to bring in businesses
to the restaurant. You should be the strategist,
the manager who oversees the whole operation
of kitchen, floor and office, and the person who is
responsible for bringing in the profit.

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Hiring Kitchen Staff

Scenario 1: Owner is the Chef/Cook

If you are an experienced chef who aspire to have

your own restaurant, then you will know how many
people you need in your kitchen, what qualifications
they need to have, where to hire, how much to pay,
etc.

But if you are an excellent cook but have no working

experience in restaurant kitchen, I strongly advise you
to hire an Executive Chef who will oversee the whole
kitchen operation.

Chef and Cook are not the same.

A Chef should not only be able to cook but should also

be able to create menu, plan for inventory, calculate
food costing, manage the team in the kitchen and
control everything coming in and going out from the
kitchen. He/She is the Kitchen Manager who oversees
everything about Food and Kitchen operation.

Cooking for a family is a totally different process from

cooking for a restaurant. There are a lot of
preparations and planning that a trained and
experienced chef needs to do. I am emphasizing the
word “EXPERIENCED” because as the head of your
kitchen, your chef will need to act spontaneously when
things go wrong. No amount of textbooks or degrees
can replace experiences when it comes to operating a
restaurant kitchen. When I mean experienced, please
remember, the experience should correspond with the
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type of food you are going to serve. If you are opening
a Chinese restaurant, don’t hire a Chinese chef whose
experiences are in a Western restaurant. Being a
Chinese doesn’t mean one is good in cooking Chinese
Food.

Once you hire the Executive Chef, you can ask him to
assemble a kitchen team. Have a detailed discussion
on the menu, the number of people, the qualifications
and the salary. Let him do the interview. You will need
to be by his side during the process as a close
observer.

Scenario 2: Owner is the Restaurant Manager

If you have no knowledge in cooking at all and your

idea of having a restaurant is just by managing it, I
advise you to hire an Executive Chef who can be with
you for a long time.

Imagine this: 1 year into operation, you get a lot of

customers, they are happy with the food served in your
restaurant.... then your chef suddenly leaves you.
Your line cooks don’t know what to do and customers
expect the same food with the same taste.

This is a very common problem faced by a lot of

restaurant owners who have no idea about cooking or
kitchen operation. A lot of them ended up hiring new
chefs and having different kind of food. Some survive
but a lot of them don’t.

To have your chef stays with you for a long time, there
is one option you may want to consider: make him a
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co-owner of your business. If you like him and he
brings in good business for the company, give a small
share in your company in addition to his monthly
salary. Have a clause in the employment contract that
after a certain period he will have certain percentage of
ownership. The ownership should be limited to profit
sharing not decision making. You can also add a clause
that makes the ownership forfeited if he resigns from
the company.

Kitchen Staff Training

A lot of Malaysian employers employ foreigners in the

kitchen because of their availabilities and lower
salaries. While it is OK to employ them, do understand
that they come from different backgrounds. They may
have never heard or eaten the food that you are
selling. It’s the responsibility of the Executive Chef to
train all kitchen staff properly.

Cleanliness is a big issue in the kitchen. Clean the

kitchen after lunch hours and before the restaurant
closes. Never leave a kitchen dirty overnight.

No food should be left on the counters, everything

should be put inside chillers, freezers or cabinets. If
you have to have your spices and sauces on the chef
counters, make sure they are stored in tightly closed
containers. The smell of uncovered food will attract
unwanted rodents and insects.

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If you are a professional chef, you don’t need to read
this part. However if you have never been a cook in a
restaurant and plan to cook now, please buy a lot of
storage containers to store all your spices and flour.
I’ve seen so many restaurant kitchens without labelled
containers to store their dry ingredients. All spices and
flour are stored in the original plastic wrapper, tied with
rubber bands. This situation creates havoc during busy
time because some of them will spill and the odour
from different spices will mix.

It looks like a small thing but it makes a big difference

in the service level and the cleanliness of the premise.

Recommendation:

By having spices and flour stored in labelled

containers, the cooks can easily locate the spices and
flour when they need them fast thus speeding up the
food delivery.

It also eases the process of monthly stock take. You

must be wondering: stock take? Yes...!!

A lot of restaurants fail to do monthly stock take. You

have to do it diligently because your stock may be the
one that drains your cash.

You must keep and check your inventory every month

in order to:

• Calculate your Cost of Goods Sold.

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 • Keep appropriate inventory level so it won’t be
over or under supplied.
• Know if your staff has been stealing from you.
• Monitor the price fluctuation of raw materials.

Hiring Floor Staff

The Floor Staff usually consists of a manager, several

waiters, a receptionist and one or more bus boys
(cleaners). Since they will be responsible in giving
pleasant dining experiences to your customers, you
have to hire people who CAN SERVE, who LIKE TO
SERVE, who CAN SELL your menus and who CAN
COMMUNICATE WELL. I am so fed up with waiters
who think that their jobs are just giving menus, taking
orders, giving the bills and making sure the customers
don’t walk away without paying.

Living in Malaysia we can’t afford to hire waiters and

receptionist who can’t speak proper English and Bahasa
Malaysia. I have a lot of unpleasant dining experiences
where the waiters couldn’t speak nor understand either
English or Bahasa Malaysia. They gave me blank looks
when I asked them how many chicken strips in one
portion. A lot of times they sent me wrong orders.
When I told them I didn’t order this but another dish,
they got confused, took the plates back to the kitchen
and started to argue with kitchen staff.

The lack of basic communication skills in English and

Bahasa Malaysia will increase your food wastages.

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There will be a lot of wrong orders and customers
complaints.

A lot of customers refuse to pay when they are not

happy with the food served. This will hurt your profit in
the long run.

Hire experienced floor staff. You won’t have the luxury

of time to train them on every detail because you will
be busy with a million things you need to do when
opening your restaurant.

If you can’t hire experienced waiters, at least you have

to hire experienced manager who has worked in
similar establishment like yours.

A restaurant manager who has experiences in a cafe

will not have the required experience to run a fine
dining restaurant. The standard of table setting,
customer greetings, grooming and serving will be very
different.

Vice versa, a manager who has experiences in fine

dining restaurant will go berserks when he/she needs
to manage food-court operation that has customers
and waiters with totally different behaviours.

Tips on hiring floor staff:

Again, your waiters should be fluent in English and

Bahasa Malaysia. If you open a Chinese Restaurant,
your waiters should be able to speak Mandarin or
Cantonese fluently (or Hokkien and other Chinese
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dialect). Indian restaurants should have waiters who
can speak Tamil or other Indian dialects.

Your waiters should be the type who are ready to smile

anytime and willing to learn.

If you have no time or expertise in training your staff,

you can consider hiring a trainer. With the current
technology, you can find numerous videos on waiter
training. You can watch them together with your staff
and explain the importance of good customer service.

Hiring Administrative Staff

Unless you are an accountant or someone who knows

about financial reporting, you may want to hire an
accountant. You need an accountant, not only to
prepare payments and liaising with the bank but also to
manage the company’s finance.

Your accountant should be able to make a monthly

report that shows you the REAL financial situation of
your restaurant.

He/she should be able to tell you when you are

overstock, when your cost of goods sold (CoGS) is too
high, when there is an unidentified spending, and when
there is potential shortfall in your cashflow.

He/she should also understand the importance of doing

monthly “Stock/Inventory Check”. Without proper
monthly Stock Check, you will not know if your

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employee is stealing some meats from your kitchen or
some bottles of wine from your wine chiller.

While you can’t expect your accountant to be a person

in charge of Human Resources, he/she can assist you
in preparing the monthly payroll. You should be the
one who is in charge of the Human Resources (HR).
HR is more than just paying salary. It involves
trainings, staff motivational program, staff loyalty, etc.
Your staff should be more loyal to you than to their
direct supervisor or their manager.

Ideally, you should get an experienced accountant who

has done works in the F&B industry. Financial report is
very important to sustain the business. If your
accountant can’t advise you on your cost, you will be
walking in the dark to the death of your business.

You must control your Food Cost and Operational Cost

tightly. Even if you have great sales figures, if you
don’t control your cost, you can kiss your restaurant
goodbye sooner than you thought.

If you can’t afford to have a full-time accountant, you

can hire a part timer or engage with a public
accounting firm that provides this service. Again, it is
very important to have someone who is experienced in
F&B.

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 Key take-away points:
✓ Know your role in the restaurant.
✓ Try to get experienced staff to minimise
time spent on supervision.
✓ Engage the service of an accountant to
provide you with an accurate finance and
operation report.

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 STEP 13:

SOURCE FOR SUPPLIERS

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You will need reliable suppliers to operate your
restaurant smoothly. I have few bad experiences with
suppliers who didn’t deliver the goods on time, making
me driving around in Kuala Lumpur traffic jam, going
to a few shops to get the supplies for a function for 100
pax.

Based on my previous experiences, reliable suppliers

had reliable sales people who would personally deliver
my goods if the truck driver fell sick or had an
emergency vehicle breakdown. The sales people will
deliver my goods, rain or shine, even on weekends.
Build a good relationship with your suppliers and their
sales people.

I used to give the sales people some drinks when they

dropped by to pick up their payments. That small
gesture has helped me in getting excellent service.
Very often they sent me goods using their own cars
after working hours because my orders were below the
minimum amount for delivery (some suppliers have
minimum orders for delivery) or when the chefs needed
to get some items urgently on weekends and there was
no lorry driver on duty

Your relationship should be a win-win situation. You

get your goods, the sales people get their commissions
and their bosses get the profits.

Below are categories of suppliers that you may need:

• Food Suppliers.
• Beverages Suppliers.

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 • A Printer: to print your menus, captain orders,
name cards, payment vouchers and placemat
(optional).
• Supplier for napkins, tissue, and toilet paper.
• Supplier for Uniforms, safety shoes and table.
cloths. Uniform is very important to your image.
• Supplier for take away boxes, straws, plastic bags,
aluminium foils, plastic wrap, gloves and chef hats.
• Supplier for plates, bowls, cutleries, glasses, woks,
pots and pans.
• Supplier for kitchen equipment such as chillers,
freezers, dishwashing machine, stoves and ovens.
• Supplier for cleaning supplies such as dish washing
liquid, floor cleaner, glass cleaner, grease cutter
and insect repellent liquid.

Recommendation:
Always have more than one supplier for each category
for price comparison, product qualities and service
reliability.

Avoid paying cash to suppliers unless you get

good discount. Most suppliers will give you at least
14 – 30 days credit period. After 6 months operation,
you should even negotiate for 45 days credit. This is
interest free financing.

Most suppliers will be happy to provide you with credit

period but on one condition: pay them on time. Once

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you pay them late, words will spread around among
the suppliers and before you know it, one by one of
your suppliers will pull out, stop supplying you unless
you pay them cash.

However it is time consuming to prepare cheques

based on the suppliers’ invoice dates because you get
invoices almost everyday. You don’t want to write
cheques everyday. What I always do: set a date for
suppliers to pick up their cheques. I tell my suppliers
that I only prepare cheques every 10th of the month.

For example: I issue cheques for all invoices I receive

in September on the 10th of October. My suppliers can
only pick up their payments after the 10th every month.
It saves time and provides certainty for both the
accountant and the suppliers.

Starting in January 2018, banks increased their fees for

every transaction using cheque. I recommend you to
sign up for internet banking and pay your suppliers by
bank transfer instead of cheques. It will save you time
and money. But make sure you have the email
addresses of all your suppliers. You need the email
addresses for the bank to send the transfer
notifications.

You don’t want to pay cash for your purchases because

in business, CASHFLOW is very important. You may
have high profit in your book but if you don’t have
cash, your operation will be disrupted. You will need to
reserve your cash to pay for employees salaries,

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utilities and rent because you won’t get any credit for
those.

If your restaurant is located close to a hypermarket

that sells goods at very cheap prices you can consider
buying from the hypermarket using credit cards. I
learned this from a friend who operates a restaurant
near my house. It is a brilliant idea because by using
credit card, you can still get the 20-day credit.

The only thing you need to do is to be discipline in

paying full amount on time. You have to pay in full
ALL THE TIME to avoid the high interest and financial
charges. Using credit cards also give you credit card
points that can be used to buy other things.

Key take-away points:

✓ Have several suppliers to ensure price
competitiveness, product quality and
reliability.
✓ Maximise on the credit terms but pay your
suppliers on time.
✓ If you buy from Hypermarket, payment by
credit card may provide you with up to 20
days of interest-free credit.

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 STEP 14:

PURCHASE EQUIPMENT AND

FURNITURE

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Now that you have found your suppliers and negotiated
for the payment terms, it’s time to negotiate on the
free items.

Tips:

Don’t buy anything until you talk with all your suppliers
on the FREE gifts and sponsorships.

While I will give you the list of things to buy in the later
pages, below I am listing THINGS YOU SHOULDN’T
BUY:

1. Don’t buy Chest Freezer.

Ask your ice cream supplier to supply the freezer

for you. Trust me, they will supply because I had
lots of free freezers from them. That’s a saving of
RM700 a piece.

2. Don’t buy Wine and Soft drink Chillers.

Ask from your wine supplier and soft drink

supplier. I guarantee they will supply you the
chillers. That’s a RM4,000 saving!

3. Don’t buy Canopy for your al-fresco dining.

Ask beer or coffee suppliers to sponsor it. They do

give away canopies to their clients, ONLY WHEN
THE CLIENTS ASK. That is a saving of at least
RM2,000.

4. Don’t buy Coffee Machine from department

store or electrical shop.

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 Contact your coffee supplier. Ask them what kind
of deal they can give you on the coffee machine if
you buy coffee beans exclusively from them. Most
likely you will pay at least 30% off from the price
at electrical shops. Not only will you save money,
the company will also provide regular servicing for
a small fee.

5. Don’t buy Wine Glasses either.

Ask your wine suppliers to sponsor them. A good

wine glass will cost you around RM60 per glass. If
the supplier sponsors 12 glasses, you have already
saved RM720.

6. Don’t buy Beer Glasses and Coasters.

Your beer supplier will be happy to supply those to

you. All you need to do is ASK.

7. Don’t buy OPEN and CLOSED sign.

Your credit card company will give it to you for

free.

8. Don’t buy Coffee Cups and Tea Cups

Ask your coffee and tea suppliers to sponsor the

cups. As long as you sell their brands exclusively,
they will give them for free. Another RM1,000
saved..!!

9. If you plan on selling cigarettes, don’t make

Cigarette Cabinet.

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 Ask the supplier to make the cigarette cabinets for
you. That is a saving of at least RM2,000.

Didn’t I tell you that you will definitely save thousands

of ringgit by buying my book? All you have to do is
ASK. Don’t be shy to ask.

Yes, it sounds too good to be true that you are getting

all those free items but you really have to trust me on
this. It’s a common practice in F&B industry.

Now I am listing the things YOU NEED TO BUY:

1. Restaurant Equipment

[Link] of Sales System (POS)

Buy a locally-made system that has a proven track

record for more than 5 years. Don’t bother to buy
imported system because the local ones are as
good and cheaper. Local POS system usually
provides faster service because the technicians are
readily available. Ask for reference and go to the
restaurants that use their system. Talk to the
owners and get some feedback.

It is important to get a POS system that has

excellent after sales service because you don’t
want your system to be malfunctioned when you
have a full house diner and you can’t call anybody.
A good system should have a 24-hour hotline
service.

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 If you don’t plan on staying in the restaurant from
open until closed everyday, you may want to
consider a slightly expensive system that allows
connections between floor, kitchen and office.
This system will decrease the risk of fraud.

It allows orders to be directly sent to the Kitchen

Printer once they are inputted in the Cash Register
POS. Kitchen only prepares food specified on the
printer print out.

This system will prevent misunderstanding

between the waiters and the kitchen thus
decreasing your wastage. Since all orders have to
be inputted into the system, you get paid for all
food delivered out from the kitchen. At the end of
the day you can tally the orders inputted in the
system and the food that goes out from the
kitchen.

A good POS system will also tell you what item is

selling well and what is not selling without having
to disturb your executive chef.

[Link] System

Depending on the type of restaurant, you may

need a decent sound system to create a nice
ambiance. There is no need to get expensive high-
end sound system unless you plan on having live
music in the premise. A simple system such as an
Ipod and some loud speakers will be enough.

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[Link] (Close-Circuit-Television)

CCTV is useful in monitoring your restaurant when

you are away. You can connect the CCTV to the
internet so that you can see what’s happening in
the restaurant even when you are away.

When you install CCTV, make sure you are the

only one who can access the back-end. Your staff
shouldn’t be able to modify, delete, monitor or
change the setting.

Place the CCTV cameras near the cashier, kitchen,

store room, entrance, loading area and the dining
room.

Make sure you use and maintain the CCTV properly

and your staff should know that you are
monitoring them. What’s the use of having CCTV
if you don’t monitor it?

[Link], Silverwares, Placemat

While you can get your beer mugs from your beer
suppliers, you will still need to buy glasses for
your juices, water and soft drinks. Your suppliers
will not give you free glasses for this. One thing
you should remember in buying glasses: buy good
quality thicker glasses that don’t break easily.
Cheaper glasses tend to chip and break easily.
You can’t expect your servers to be delicate in
handling the glasses all the time, especially when
there are a lot of customers.

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[Link]

Furniture can be expensive so it is nice if you can

get good quality second hand furniture. If the used
tables have some scratches, you can cover them
with nice table cloths.

Since Malaysian often dine in groups, square tables

are more appropriate than round tables. You can
combine several square tables to accommodate a
larger group. However if you are opening a
Chinese Restaurant, round tables with lazy-susans
are still preferred.

Buy furniture that is functional. Although whites

can look very elegant, avoid buying white chairs
with white upholstery that will show the tiniest
stains. If you must have whites, get them with
materials that can be cleaned and wiped easily.

Not only your furniture should be durable, easy to

clean and nice, it should also be comfortable.
Some restaurants have beautiful furniture but they
are very uncomfortable to sit on.

Remember: eating is not only about food but also

about the whole dining experience. Your delicious
food may not taste that nice when your guests
can’t sit comfortably, having to bend their backs
on chairs with low tables.

You should also have some baby chairs available

for your customers. Malaysians bring their babies
to restaurants and they do need baby chairs that
102 How To Open Your Restaurant in 8 Weeks
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 can hold their babies safely while they savour their
meals. Be careful when buying baby chairs. Safety
should be the main concern. Get some sturdy,
easy to clean chairs that can accommodate babies
and toddlers. IKEA sells decent baby chairs at
reasonable prices.

2. Kitchen Equipment

[Link]

Use professional heavy duty stoves in your

kitchen. I saw some restaurants that use domestic
stoves in their kitchens. The regular stoves that
we use at home are not meant to be used for
heavy duty. They are not designed for high
capacity and durability.

I won’t recommend buying used stoves because

you will need proper gas installation for your
stove. If you buy used from a closed-down
restaurant, most probably you can’t find anyone
who is willing to install the whole stove for you.
Unless you really know how to do it, don’t try to
install it yourself. Your kitchen may explode..!

[Link] Freezers and Chillers

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 While you can get your chest freezer from your ice
cream supplier, never store your meat together
with your ice cream. You still need to buy
commercial freezers and chillers to store your
meats and vegetables.

Freezers and chillers can be expensive so it is good

if you can find used freezers and chillers.

You can find used freezers and chillers in the

classified section of your newspaper under
“Business for Sale”. Almost everyday I see
advertisements on Restaurant for Sale in The Star
Newspaper. You may want to contact them and
see if they sell the equipment.

However you should know the prices of new

equipment before you go there so you can
negotiate the price. Bargain for at least 50%
cheaper than buying new equipment.

[Link] Counter and Deep Sink

You will need stainless steel working counters

for your chefs to work on. Freezer suppliers usually
sell this item too. For hygienic reason, I
recommend the working counters made of
stainless steel.

Don’t use wood. Wood absorbs moisture and

breeds germs. I know it sounds silly but I did find
a restaurant with a nice wooden working counter

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 in the kitchen. I really wanted to tell the owner
that he needed to change the countertop but I
kept quiet when I saw his whole kitchen. The
whole kitchen was very nice but looked like it was
made for a house, not for a restaurant. I was sure
he spent so much money on the granite countertop
near the sink. It is not cost effective. Who would
install a granite counter top in a restaurant..??
Obviously it is someone who has never been to a
real restaurant’s kitchen.

Stainless steel working counter is very durable so

you can buy them second hand too.

[Link] and Microwave

While you can buy a normal microwave oven from

your electrical shop, never use domestic oven for
your kitchen. Buy commercial oven that is durable
and can accommodate large quantity of food.

[Link] machine

Depending on the size of your restaurant, you may

or may not need a dishwashing machine. If your
restaurant capacity is above 80 pax, I would
recommend you buy a dishwashing machine. It will
help you save time and money in the long run.
You will need to hire at least 2 cleaners to wash
your dishes and pots/pans during peak hours.

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 After one year, hiring 2 cleaners will definitely cost
more than a dishwashing machine. Additionally,
your cleaners may chip or break some of your
glasses or plates during washing. You may incur
additional replacement cost.

When you source for dishwashing machine, ask for

after-sales service. Dishwashing machines need to
be serviced regularly to maintain their
performance. If the suppliers don’t provide after-
sales-service, don’t buy from them and find
another supplier who does.

[Link], pans, woks, plates, bowls and

cutleries

The type of pots, pans, woks, plates and cutleries

depend on your menu. You can purchase all of
those items used. The performance of used woks
or pans may not differ too much than the new
ones. Unless the plates are chipped, your
customers will not notice that they are used.
Again, look at the classified section of your daily
newspaper under “restaurant for sale” sign.

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 Recommendation:

When buying dishes:

✓ Your serving plates, bowls, and glasses

should correspond to the type of restaurant
and the type of food you want to serve.
✓ If you have children menu, consider on
getting cute plastic plates, cups and
cutleries. Not only it will stand the abuse
but it will also make the little customers
happy.

Key take-away points:

✓ You can get some items free from your
suppliers.
✓ Buy equipment that is designed for
restaurant use.
✓ To save cost, you may buy used items.
✓ Consider the after sales service.

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 STEP 15:

PURCHASE FOOD, BEVERAGES AND

SUPPLIES

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Since this is going to be your first time dealing with
your suppliers, it is wise to ask for product samples
from your suppliers. Compare the quality and price of
similar products from one supplier to another.

If your suppliers don’t give samples, buy a small

quantity from them and use it in your menu. Test
whether it is appropriate for your dish.

To save cost, you should buy food and beverage

supplies in “restaurant size”, not in small bottles like
those sold in supermarket. Some brands do not have
restaurant sizes but you may always substitute with
other brands. For example: if you are using Del Monte
Tomato Sauce but you can’t find it in big size, you may
want to try other brands. The taste definitely will not
be the same but you can try several brands and use
one that taste very close to Del Monte.

By this time you will need to start buying non-

perishable items and stock them nicely in the store.

You have to pay attention to how your goods are

stored in the store room:

a) Keep them away from direct sunlight and heat.

Sunlight and heat can shorten the shelf lives of
your food.

b) Have a separate section for food and non-food

items to prevent cross contamination.

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 c) Group your items: group all sauces in one place,
spices in one place, flours in other place, etc. This
grouping will ease the cooks to find what they
need and the accountant to do the stock take.
Label your shelves and make sure that the same
items are stored in the same place. Again, this one
will ease the cooks to find what they need.

d) If you change the original packaging, make sure

you label the container. For example: after you
open a bag of fish curry powder, you can’t store
the left-over in its original foil bag packaging. You
will need to transfer them to a food container.
Label the food container for fish curry powder and
make sure any replenishment is stored in that
same container. Don’t store your salt in a
container previously used to store curry powder.
The smell of certain spices will stay even after you
wash the containers.

Your inventory records start now. Your accountant

should write down all purchases.

Recommendation:

Always check the expiration dates on every

delivery. ALL THE TIME.

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 Key take-away points:
✓ Do shop around for product quality and
price.
✓ Buy “restaurant size” to save cost.
✓ Store and label your items accordingly.

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 STEP 16:

MAKE OPERATING PROCEDURES

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A lot of small and medium size companies neglect
setting up general company rules, regulations and
procedures. They think that a small company doesn’t
need complicated rules or procedures. Owners usually
“assume” that employees will understand.

Misunderstanding usually happens when employees

start taking Medical Leaves very often and disrupting
the operations. Owners can’t do anything because the
employees furnish them with Medical Certificate (MC)
issued by the clinic.

While we can’t expect our employees to be healthy all

the time, we can prevent them from abusing MC. It’s
an open secret that we can “buy” MC from clinics as
low as RM20. You can prevent this by limiting MC to 14
days a year. If the staff is sick more than 14 days,
then his/her annual leaves will be deducted or
something like that.

Set some rules and regulations for your company

BEFORE you start hiring and opening the restaurant.
The rules and regulations should be put in employment
agreement. Refer to the Malaysian Labour Law
Regulations for further details on the basic salary,
minimum annual leaves, etc.

You should also design some operating procedures to

control the quality of your ingredients, to prevent
thefts, to smoothen the operation, to control cost and
to provide excellent customer service.

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Start with at least 3 sets of procedures:

1. General Procedures
2. Kitchen Procedures
3. Floor Procedures

1. General Procedures

• Operating Hours

Restaurant Operating hours is a very important

element in generating sales and controlling
expenses.

When you operate in a shopping mall, you have to

follow the operating hours of the mall. Most
shopping malls open from 10am – 10pm for 365
days a year. Malls usually don’t allow any
flexibility in operating hours because it will disrupt
the whole operations.

However when you operate in shoplots or stand

alone buildings, you can decide your operation
hours.

Set your operation hours based on:

• Your Location

If your restaurant is located in an office or

business area, you might consider closing it on
Sundays when no one will be in the area. Your

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 operating hours should also follow the operating
hours of the offices. You may want to consider
opening for breakfast. And since most
employees leave after 6pm, you may want to
close earlier than 10pm.

• Your Type of Restaurant

If you operate a bistro with bar you may want to

start your operation from 6pm onwards.

By controlling your Operating Hours, you can save

cost on overtime and utility bills.

One of the most important elements regarding

Operating Hours is to ALWAYS OPEN your
restaurant consistently.

I encountered several restaurants whose owners

open the restaurants as and when “they please”.
Sometimes they closed on Mondays and
sometimes they closed on Sundays because the
owners have to attend family affairs
(weddings/birthday parties). Sometimes they
opened until 9pm but another time when I went
there they closed at 7pm. Another very common
mistake: Closed on 1st Monday (or any other day)
and 3rd Monday of the month. Your customer won’t
keep track.

When the sign on your restaurant door says :

Open everyday from 12noon – 10pm, ALWAYS

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 OPEN your door during that time although all the
food is finished.

Inconsistency in operation hours will drive your

customers away because:

• They will never remember which day your

restaurant closes. Your customers will be
confused and may decide not to go to your
restaurant for being afraid of
disappointment.
• Customers will feel that you are not serious
in operating your restaurant.
• Customers will feel angry after wasting time
driving and looking for parking space only
to find that the restaurant is closed. It
shows that YOU DON’T CARE about your
customers.

• Human Resources Procedures

Your company has to have a set of Human

Resources Procedures about annual leaves,
medical leaves, condition of overtime, uniforms,
salary payments, confidentiality, etc. Make sure
your staff knows about this procedures when they
start their employment.

• Financial Procedures

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 Set a standard payment system to prevent fraud
and to ease your operation. For example:

o Only cashier can have access to the cash

register
o Cashier should deposit the cash sales within
24 hours after closing (except on weekends)
o All cash purchases have to be approved by the
manager.
o All purchases above certain amount should be
paid by cheques.

Design a procedure that is functional and easy to

follow. Avoid unnecessary bureaucracy.

2. Kitchen Procedures

Basic procedures for the kitchen:

• Purchasing and Receiving of supplies

While your kitchen can have 5-6 cooks, purchasing

request should only be done by 1 person, usually
the Executive Chef. This procedure is needed to
prevent unnecessary repeat order and to prevent
fraud.

Record all your purchases. Print the Purchase Order

(PO) for every purchase the company makes.

Fax the PO to the suppliers. I don’t advise ordering

by phone unless it is an emergency.

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When the goods are delivered the next day, the
person who receives the goods must check the
correspondent PO. Items in the PO should match the
items on Delivery Order from suppliers.

PURCHASING PROCEDURES

EXECUTIVE CHEF OR SUPPLIER

PURCHASING

Issue and Sign

Fax
Purchase Order Purchase Order

FILE

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Why do we need PO form?

- To prevent abuse and misunderstanding

between the kitchen and the supplier.

I have experienced several occasions where

suppliers sent different goods and/or different
quantity from what I ordered. Since I had the
proofs (faxed POs), the suppliers couldn’t argue
on the wrong deliveries.

- To ease the kitchen operation. If the

Chef/Purchasing person can’t come to work the
next day, other person can receive the goods
based on what he/she has written in the PO
form.

- To keep records on purchases thus preventing

redundancy or unnecessary repeat orders.

• Food Handling

Kitchen staffs should know and understand why

different foods are handled differently.

Basic food handling guide:

o Don’t leave perishable items at room

temperature for more than 2 hours.

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 o Wrap meats and poultry separately and
securely to prevent contamination.

o Store meats and poultry separately from

vegetables and fruits.

o Always wash hands with soap before and after

handling food.

o Clean and sanitise cutting boards, utensils and

countertops every day.

o Don’t leave any uncovered food unattended.

Spices, flours and sauces may not spoil easily
but if you leave the containers open, even
slightly open, you are inviting roaches to come
and make the containers their home.

o Always wrap your food tightly before storing

them inside the freezer to prevent “freezer
burn”. Once your food gets “freezer burn”,
you should throw them away because the
taste will be significantly affected.

• Food Preparation

Customers hate to wait for their food. Ideally you

should serve the food within 15 minutes after the
customer orders.

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 The maximum tolerable time is 30 minutes. If
your customers can’t get their foods after 30
minutes, you have to be ready to see them walk
out from your restaurant and spread the bad news

And if customers come in a group, everybody

should get their foods at the same time.

Speed is very important when serving hungry

crowds. How to provide fast service?

The secret is in the preparation. Proper

preparation is important. The chef not only needs
to have proper preparation of the food but also
preparation of the work station and inventory.

The work station in your kitchen has to be

organized, well stocked and it has everything it
needs in its place, including the ingredients, the
pots and pans, the knives, the towels, the tissue
papers, the seasonings, etc. Everything should be
within the chefs’ reach.

There are 3 major stages of food preparation that

your kitchen must have:

1. Basic Preparation

This refers to peeling and chopping the onions,

chillies, washing vegetables, cleaning the fish,
preparing sauces, cutting chicken parts and
other less glamorous tasks. This process has to
be done continuously every day.
121 How To Open Your Restaurant in 8 Weeks
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 Always have cleaned fish, chopped onions,
ready-made sauces, portioned chicken, etc
ready at all time. Store the “prep-ingredients”
properly in chillers or freezers. Please watch the
temperature of chillers and freezers. Make sure
you have the right temperature and technique in
storing the ingredients. For example: cut apples
should be dipped into salt water or splashed with
lemon juice to prevent discolouration, some
vegetables shouldn’t be stored in temperature
below 5 degrees Celcius and should be kept in
high humidity, some can be frozen, etc.

2. Preparation

At this stage you need to pre-cook things that

require more than 15 minutes to cook.
For example: If you have Pasta dishes in the
menu, pre-cook the pasta until it’s half-cooked
then store them pre-portioned.

You can’t start cooking your pasta only when

you receive the order. If you get 5 orders of
pasta, it will take more than 15 minutes to have
it cooked al-dente. If you have half-cooked
pasta ready, you will need just a few minutes to
cook the whole dish.

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 If you serve Chinese or Malay or Indian Food,
this is the time where you start making your
sauces, your broths and your stews.

3. The Final Cooking

Grilling, stir-frying, deep-frying and braising can

be done during this stage. The final cooking
should be fast and can complete within 15
minutes.

The Executive Chefs must inspect every food

that comes out from the kitchen to ensure
consistency in quality.

• Cooking Procedure

Cooking Procedure also determines the speed of food

served to your customers.

Imagine this:

You brought your family to a restaurant, ordering

different dish for each member of the family. After
half an hour, your kids got their food but not you and
your wife. Your kids ate while you waited for your
food. Your food only arrived after your kids finished
their food. And your wife's food arrived just before
you finished the main course.

Or:

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You went to a Chinese Restaurant and ordered Soup,
Steamed Fish, Fried Chicken, Garlic Broccoli and
Steamed Rice. After waiting for 15 minutes, the
Fried Chicken arrived. Nothing else. Five minutes
after that you are served the Soup and Steamed
Rice. You started eating. The Steamed Fish and
Broccoli only arrived after you finished the rice, fried
chicken and soup.

Or:

You went to a packed restaurant. After waiting for

15 minutes finally you get a table. While waiting you
noticed that most of the tables were occupied but no
food served on it. People were waiting for their food.
Then you ordered your food. Your food was served
10 minutes after ordering while other customers who
had placed their orders before you didn’t even have
their food. All eyes were on you.

I have experienced the occasions above numerous

times.

The above scenarios can be prevented by having the

right procedure.

Every kitchen has its own cooking procedures

depending on what type of food they serve. Cooking
procedures for restaurants serving Western Food
differs from those serving Chinese Food or Indian
Food.

An experienced Executive Chefs will know what kinds

of procedures are suitable for his/her kitchen.
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However if you have no experience in any restaurant
kitchen and plan to cook in your restaurant now, you
can refer to the guidelines below.

Kitchen and Beverage department prepare the foods

and drinks based on the Order Sheet, usually called
Captain Order, written by the waiters. So the first
step starts with the waiter.

Waiters need to write the order CLEARLY.

Waiters need to write food and beverages in separate

sections of the Captain Order.

CORRECT WRONG

ORDER ORDER
TABLE NO: 9
TABLE NO: 9

FOOD
2 Assam Laksa 1 Assam Laksa
1 Chicken Boxing 1 Chicken Boxing
2 Char Kuey Teow 2 Orange Juice
2 Char Kuey Teow
1 Ice Lemon Tea
1 Assam Laksa
BEVERAGES
2 Orange Juice
1 Ice Lemon Tea

Ideally Captain Order should have 3 copies: 1 copy

for the kitchen, 1 copy for the beverage counter, 1
copy for the cashier.

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 Print your Captain Order using coloured papers to
distinguish which copy belongs to which
department. For example: The 1st copy for Kitchen
is printed on white paper, 2nd copy for Beverage
Counter is printed on blue paper and the 3rd copy
for Cashier is printed on yellow paper. By doing
this, waiters will know which department has not
received the Captain Order.

This procedure is also useful to prevent havoc

when one department loses its copy of Captain
Order. Since there are 3 copies of Captain Order,
when one loses its copy, one can borrow other
department’s copy thus eliminating the needs to
ask customers again on what they have ordered.

ORDERING PROCEDURE 1
WAITER KITCHEN BEVERAGE CASHIER
COUNTER

Copy 3 Copy 3
Copy 2
ORDER Copy 1 Copy 2
TABLE NO : 9
FOOD
2 Aasam Laksa Copy 1
1 Chicken
Boxing
2 Char Kuey
Teow
BEVERAGES
2 Orange Juices
1 Ice Lemon

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Another option: you can have two copies but there is a
tear-off section where you can separate the orders for
kitchen and for the beverage section.

ORDERING PROCEDURE 2

WAITER KITCHEN BEVERAGE CASHIER

COUNTER

Copy 2 Copy 2
ORDER
Copy 1 Copy 1 TABLE NO : 9
ORDER ORDER
FOOD
TABLE NO : 9 TABLE NO : 9
2 Aasam Laksa
FOOD FOOD
1 Chicken
2 Aasam Laksa 2 Aasam Laksa
Boxing
1 Chicken 1 Chicken
2 Char Kuey
Boxing Boxing
Teow
2 Char Kuey 2 Char Kuey
TABLE NO : 9
Teow Teow
BEVERAGES
TABLE NO : 9 Copy 1 2 Orange Juices
BEVERAGES TABLE NO : 9 1 Ice Lemon
2 Orange Juices BEVERAGES Tea
1 Ice Lemon 2 Orange
Tea Juices
1 Ice Lemon
Tea

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Now that each department has received its Captain
Order, they have to prepare the orders:

o Based on the Sequence on which order is

received first.
o Based on the Table Number NOT the Type of
Food or Drinks.

For example:

Kitchen receives order

@ 7.45pm @ 7.50pm @ 7.52pm

TABLE 1 TABLE 2 TABLE 3
• 2 Assam • 1 Chicken • 2 Char Kuey
Laksa Boxing Tew
• 1 Chicken • 6 Char Kuey • 2 Assam
Boxing Teow Laksa
• 2 Char Kuey
Teow

The Kitchen should cook ALL the food from TABLE

1 first before moving to TABLE 2 then to TABLE 3.

A lot of inexperienced cooks will cook Char Kuey

Teow for TABLE 1, 2 and 3 at the same time when
they see the orders. Cooking 10 portions of the
Char Kuey Teow will take longer time. Because of

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 this, diners who order Char Kuey Teow at TABLE 1
will get their food much later than their peers who
order Assam Laksa and Chicken Boxing.

While Cooking Procedures for every kitchen are

different, I list down 2 samples of the most
common Cooking Procedures below:

Sample 1: Suitable for casual dining restaurant

serving Asian Food

In this procedure, the person who receives order is

the person who will prepare the ingredients for
each order. That person is usually called Food
Handler. Depends on the size of the restaurant, a
kitchen can have 1 or more Food Handlers.

The process flow is like this:

Food Handler
Food Handler prepares
Food Handler
takes "pegs" ingredients for
receives Captain
based on the each order and
Orders from put it in
how many
Waiters individual
dishes ordered
container.

Line Cooks cook Pass the

based on the PORTIONED
Pass the Cooked
ingredients ingredients to Line
Dishes to the
provided. When a Cooks. Each
serving counter
dish is ready, the container has a
to be picked up
cooks plate them peg with table
by Food Runner
and clip back the number written on
pegs on the plate it.

Food Runner serves

the dish based on
the table numbers
written on the pegs

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Let’s take the previous example and apply it using this
procedure:

@ 7.45pm @ 7.50pm @ 7.52pm

TABLE 1 TABLE 2 TABLE 3
• 2 Assam • 1 Chicken • 2 Char Kuey
Laksa Boxing Tew
• 1 Chicken • 6 Char Kuey • 2 Assam
Boxing Teow Laksa
• 2 Char Kuey
Teow

Food Handler will prepare ingredients for orders from Table 1 :

Container 1:
Ingredients
for Assam Container 2:
Laksa Ingredients
for Assam
Laksa

Container 3:
Ingredients for
Chicken Boxing

Container 4:
Ingredients
Container 5: for Char
Ingredients Kuey Teow
for Char
Kuey Teow

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The Food Handler will then pass the PORTIONED
ingredients to Line Cooks.

Line Cook 1 :
Cooking 2
portions of Char
Kuey Teow

Food Handler
passes the
PORTIONED
ingredients to
Line Cooks
Line Cook 3 :
Line Cook 2:
Cooking 1
Cooking 2
Portion of
portions of
Chicken
Assam Laksa
Boxing

After passing the ingredients for Table 1 to the Line

Cooks, the Food Handler prepares ingredients for
orders from Table 2. He/she will prepare 1 container
for 1 portion of Chicken Boxing ingredients and 6
containers for 6 portions of Char Kuey Teow.

The process is repeated for every order received.

By doing this, all dishes ordered by Table 1 are cooked

and served at the same time. Followed by orders from
Table 2 and Table 3 respectively.

Sample 2: suitable for restaurants serving both Asian

and Western food.

In this particular procedure the kitchen is usually

divided into several departments:
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 • Western Kitchen
• Asian Kitchen
• Dessert

Note on Western Kitchen: In larger restaurant

operation, sometimes each kitchen is further
divided into Hot and Cold kitchen.

Hot kitchen handles food that need to be cooked.

Frying, grilling, sautéing, braising and baking fall
under this category.

Cold kitchen usually handles appetizers and salad.

The example of common kitchen organization

chart:

Executive
Chef

Western Asian Dessert /

Kitchen Kitchen Pastry

Hot Cold
Kitchen Kitchen

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 An example of kitchen flow in a restaurant serving
western food is explained below:

Incoming Orders (all come at the same time):

Table 6 Table 7 Table 10

•1 Potato Skin •2 Caesar Salad •1 Aragula Salad

•1 Roast Chicken •1 Mushroom Soup •1 Cream of Tomato
•1 Seafood Platter •1 Roast Chicken Soup
•1 BBQ Ribs •1 Rib Eye Steak •2 Penne with Scallop
•1 Lasagna •1 Prawn Linguini
•2 Tiramisu
•1 Chocolate Lava Cake

EXECUTIVE
CHEF

HOT KITCHEN COLD KITCHEN DESSERTS

& APPETIZERS
2 Tiramisu
Grill & Fry
2 Caesar Salad 1 Chocolate
1 Aragula Salad Lava Cake
1 Potato Skin
1 Mushroom
2 Roast
Soup
Chicken
1 Cream of
1 Seafood
Tomato Soup
Platter
Pasta 1 BBQ Ribs
Station 2 Rib Eye
1 Lasagna Steak
1 Prawn Linguini
1 Penne with
Scallop

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 When orders received by the kitchen, all of them
are passed to the Executive Chef.

The Executive Chef will “Fire” the order (shout the

orders to the cooks).

Every department will know which dish they need

to cook and cook them right away.

In this case, the line cooks don’t need to know

which dishes are ordered from which tables. They
just cook based on what the Executive Chef
orders.

Once the dishes are cooked, they are passed to

the Executive Chef who will inspect and put last
touch ups on the dishes. He/She will then group
the dishes based on Table Number.

The Executive Chef will decide when the dishes are

ready to be delivered to the tables. Table runners
or waiters are not allowed to deliver any food
without the Chef’s instruction.

An experienced chef will deliver appetizers, salad

and soup first. Although the BBQ Ribs might be
ready before the appetizers, the main dishes have
to wait on the Chef Station until all appetizers,
salads and soups are delivered and consumed.

This procedure ensures everyone who sits in the

same table gets their food at the same time and in
the right sequence.

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3. Floor Procedure

Your Floor Staff is your restaurant’s representative.

They can be your biggest assets but they can also be
your worst liabilities.

There are a few simple procedures that will help your

floor staffs provide good service to customers.

• Grooming

Your waiters should look clean, well presented with

well kept hair and wear crisp uniforms.

Have them gargle with mouthwash before starting

their shifts to prevent bad breath.

Provide deodorants to be used whenever they are on

the job to prevent foul body odors.

• Greetings

The management should decide on how the waiters

have to greet the customers, whether it is “Good
Evening” or “Welcome to Restaurant xxx”. I know it
sounds silly to have to tell your waiters about how to
greet customers but believe me, if you don’t tell
them what to say, they probably don’t say it.

A sample of greeting procedure:

When a group of customers walk in:

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 1. Say Good Morning or Good Evening with a
smile.
2. Ask if they have any prior reservation. If yes,
ask them under whose name and check with
the reception. If no reservation, ask how many
people in the group and find space for them.
3. Ask them whether they prefer smoking or non-
smoking area.
4. If you see a family with kids, ask them if they
need baby chairs.
5. Accompany them to their seats.
6. Provide the customers with menus. Everybody
has to have a menu.
7. Leave the customers for 3-5 minutes and come
back to take orders.
8. Give suggestions on today’s special.
9. Write down the orders.
10. Repeat the orders to see if it’s correct.
11. Submit orders to the cashier/ kitchen/
beverage.
12. Pick up and deliver beverages within 5 minutes
after ordering.
13. After 10 minutes, check if the customers have
their food. If not, check with the kitchen.
14. Serve appetizers first.
15. Serve main courses.
16. Refill drinks (if applicable).
17. After 10 minutes, ask customers if they need
anything else.
18. Clear tables when customers finish eating

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 19. Offer desserts or coffee or tea
20. Make sure bill settlement is fast.
21. When customers leave, walk them out and say,
“Thank you, please come again.”

You would be surprised to see how many waiters in

Malaysia who don’t do the things above. Most of
them don’t. You don’t need to operate a big, fancy
and expensive restaurant to provide good service.

I firmly believe that every restaurant should

provide good customer service.

• Table Setting

Your waiters should clean tables and chairs

immediately after customers leave the table. Never
have dirty tables left idle for more than 5 minutes.

Tips:
✓ Never assume your waiters know how to
clean properly. Everybody has different
standard on the meaning of “clean”.
✓ Always clean tables with clean cloths.
✓ Wipe tables until they are dry
✓ Clean underneath tables and chairs.
Sometimes children accidently drop food on
the floor.

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 Key take-away points:
✓ Create a set of Standard Operating
Procedures suitable for your restaurant.
✓ Make sure the procedures are functional
and easily understood by the staff.
✓ Every restaurant has different operating
procedures based on the location and type
of food it sells.
✓ Procedures are nothing without
implementation.

I know most of you are not from F&B background and

creating procedures for restaurant operation may be
too much to handle.

I bought an ebook on how to provide excellent service

in restaurant business. It comes with many proven
procedures and forms that can be used right away. If
you are interested, you can check it out by copy and
paste this link on the internet: How to Improve Dining
Room Service by Richard Saporito

I found the ebook really informative with a lot of useful

templates and guides. You can customize the forms
and templates based on your requirement.

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 STEP 17:

FINE TUNE MENU, PRICE AND FOOD

TASTING

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Now that you have your equipment and your staffs, it’s
time to “test” your menu, service and the POS system.

In Appendix 1, I list down the checklist that will guide

you when you open your door for the first time.

During this time, you can invite close friends and

relatives to try and dine in your restaurant. Ask them
to make comments on the whole dining experience.

Get a feedback form on food, service and ambiance. (I

attach the feedback form samples in Appendix 2). Tell
them to be honest in writing the comments.

At this time you don’t need nice words. You need harsh
critics and nothing but the truth. And of course, don’t
ask them to write their names on the feedback forms.

Most importantly, no one in your restaurant should feel

offended by the feedback. You need as many
feedbacks as possible to improve.

What you should do during this testing exercise:

1. Try everything on the menu. Is the taste good? Is

the temperature correct? Is the presentation good?
Is the portion enough? Are the ingredients fresh?

2. Write down the delivery time from ordering until

the food is served.

3. Test your staffs’ knowledge on the menu.

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 4. Observe the cleanliness of the area. Do you see
food left on the floor? Are there flies in the
restaurant? Is the toilet clean? Does the dining
room smell nice?

5. Observe how your staffs serve your customers. Do

they greet the customers? Do they respond well to
customers’ inquiries? Do they smile? Do they clear
the tables and dirty plates quickly? Do they know
how to take reservation? Do they say thank you?

6. Observe the ambiance. Is the lighting too dark? Is

the music too loud? Is the air conditioner too cold?

7. Observe the table setting. Do your staffs know

what to put on the tables? Do they know where
the baby chairs are? Do they know how to combine
tables? Is the table arrangement disturbing the
traffic flow of your food runner?

8. Test the POS System. Can the cashier operate it in

an efficient manner? Can the cashier operate credit
card machine? Can he/she void a transaction? Is
the supplier’s 24-hour hotline really responding
your call? Does the system have everything on the
menu?

You will need to do this exercise for about 1 week to

fine-tune the operation. Don’t hesitate to alter your
menu if you find ones that are not nice.

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You should print your menu only when you are 100%
certain with the menu.

During this exercise, always remember that dining out

is more than just eating. It is a whole experience of
savouring delectable meals, enjoying the company and
having a good time. It should be a feast of all your
customers’ 5 senses.

Key take-away points:

✓ Do a test run on your restaurant. Get
feedback from your customers.
✓ During this period, pay attention on the
quality of food, service, and procedures.
✓ Fine tune your operation during this period.

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 STEP 18:

SOFT OPENING

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Why Soft Opening NOT Grand Opening? You don’t
need a grand opening because it is expensive and
won’t guarantee the success of your restaurant.

Open your restaurant only when you are completely

ready.

Remember this:

YOU DON’T HAVE A SECOND CHANCE TO

MAKE THE FIRST IMPRESSION.

Once a customer leaves your place unhappy, the words

will spread like a bad cholera.

Get your checklist ready and re-do it again.

During this Soft Opening, further fine-tune your menu

and operation. As an owner, make time to talk to your
customers. Ask for their feedback. You can also use
the same Feedback Form and reward customers who fill
in the forms with some free items or discount for their
next visit.

This period is very critical because you will get curious

customers who want to “check out” the new place.
Impress them as much as possible with your delectable
dish, excellent service and pleasant dining experience.

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You can even give them Free Dessert or Appetizer as
opening promotion. Remember, a Free Dessert is still
much cheaper than having a Grand Opening.

Remember to put “Soft Opening” or “Soft Launching”

on the door or tables. Doing so will make the
customers more forgiving and understanding when
hickups happen.

Key take-away points:

✓ Only open your restaurant when you are
completely ready, not half ready or almost
ready.
✓ Try your best to impress your customers
during the Soft Opening period by giving
the best food and excellent services.

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 STEP 19:

PROMOTION

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Promote your restaurant BEFORE AND AFTER it opens.
Promotion should never stops even if your
restaurant is doing well. You need to continuously
“reminding and enticing” your customers to come to
your restaurant over and over again.

Big chain restaurants like Mc Donald’s, Burger King,

Starbucks, Kentucky Fried Chicken have been
promoting and advertising their products continuously
since the day they opened despite of their already
successful operations.

One thing to remember in promotion: Promote your

restaurant to your target market. There is no point for
you to send flyers to the whole Malay neighbourhood
when your restaurant is serving pork. You will just
waste your papers, time and money.

Marketing and Promotion Tools

1. Website

With the current internet age, you can’t afford not to

have a website for your restaurant. Your website is not
only to INFORM your customers but also TO SELL your
restaurant. Get a website designer who knows
marketing. If you can’t afford to have a website, at
least you have to have a Facebook Business Page.
Please use proper grammar and avoid harsh language.

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Key must have points in your website/facebook page:

1. Sample of your menu.

Your prospective customers may hear about your

restaurant from their friends but unsure about
what kind of food you are serving and whether or
not they can afford it. It is also important to
inform your customers whether your restaurant is
Halal, No-Pork or Vegetarian friendly. Put prices on
the menu so the potential customers know what to
expect.

2. Pictures.

Put a lot of NICE pictures of your dining area, food

and beverages. If you can’t take nice pictures,
hire a good photographer. Your pictures should
make your viewers salivate..!! Please don’t put
personal pictures or pictures of your families or
personal friends which are unrelated to the
business. This is your business page, not social
page.

3. Location Map

Put full address with phone numbers, email

address and location map of your restaurant. With
the widely used GPS, you may even want to put
your GPS location grid. You can even advertise
with Google to get your location pinned by Google
Map.

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 4. Action Button

Have a button where your customers can take

action without leaving your website. Your
customers should be able to contact you by
clicking a button in your website or send message
thru facebook. A lot of websites require customers
to make phone calls if they want to inquire or
make reservation. Put the automatic “call” button
on the website or facebook page.

Don’t make your customers write down or

memorize your phone numbers. They won’t do it
unless they are very keen on trying your
restaurant.

You will save their and your time by letting your

customers send their inquiries online or call you by
a click of a button.

5. Special Online Deal

You can give discounts or vouchers when

customers make online reservation. By doing this
you can track the effectiveness of your website.

What you must avoid in your website:

• Flash pictures

While flash pictures look attractive in the website,

they prevent customers to access your websites

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 from ipads, iphones and smart phones. Currently,
most people surf the web from their smart phones
and tablets. You want everyone to be able to view
your website. Flash pictures take longer time to
download.

• Customer Comments

Do not allow customers to publish their comments

publicly in your website. If they have some
complaints, let them send the complaints through
the “contact button”. It will give you the
opportunity to reply and act on it. You don’t want
to publicise negative comments about your
restaurant in your own website. It also protects
you from sabotage by competitors.

2. Food Bloggers

You may want to invite famous food bloggers to dine

in your restaurants and make reviews. They play
significant roles in promoting or/and damaging
restaurants. Note of caution, make sure that your
restaurant is ready before you do so. Do some
researches on the credibility of the food bloggers.
There are quite a few unethical bloggers who would
bring their entire families and friends for free meals.

3. Flyers

Print and distribute flyers within 1-5 km radius of

your restaurants with discount coupon attached.

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 Your flyers should be in colour with lots of pictures to
attract new customers. Always put a location map,
full address, phone numbers, website address and
whether or not your restaurant is halal on the flyers.

4. Food and Lifestyle magazines

Instead of advertising in just regular magazines, you

can advertise in magazines that specialize in Food
and Lifestyle such as Flavours, Wine and Dine, Time
Out KL, etc or the community circulations. Since
they have fewer subscribers, the advertising rates
are usually cheaper. Don’t be fooled by fewer
subscribers. Although their subscribers are not as
many as regular magazines, their readers are real
foodies who are constantly looking for new places to
eat. They are your perfect targets.

5. Internet Group Discounts

There are a few companies that buy group discounts

from restaurants and offer them to retail customers
by emails. Customers usually get 30-70% discounts
from the retail prices by purchasing from those
companies.

Since your restaurant is new, you can get exposures

from this kind of offer. While you may not get the
margin you want by offering huge discounts, you can
treat the discounts as your marketing expenses in

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 lieu of printing brochures or advertising in
magazines. This coupon system allows you to track
the effectiveness of its advertising. In addition to
that, you only “spend your marketing budget” when
the customers dine in your restaurant.

6. Delivery Services

Although restaurant delivery services like FoodPanda,

GrabFood and Honestbee charge between 28-35% of
the food prices, they provide good platforms to
introduce your new restaurant. Put attractive
pictures on your page and offer free delivery charges
to attract new customers. The 35% commissions
paid to the delivery companies are considered cheap
compared to printing flyers and advertising on
magazines.

What you shouldn’t do in Advertising:

1. Newspaper Advertising

Unless you have several branches all over town,

don’t bother advertising in the local newspaper or
radio. Newspaper advertising is very expensive and
too broad. It doesn’t point directly to your target
market.

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2. Distributing 5-10% discount vouchers

Don’t bother having a discount of 10% or less. Most

people are not intrigued by 10%. You should at least
give a 20% discount, if not more.

Key take-away points:

✓ Promotion should never stop.
✓ Promote your restaurant to your target
market.
✓ Explore several types of advertising.

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 SUMMARY

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To summarize all the points above, below is an 8-week
schedule that you can follow to prepare for your
opening. This 8-week time frame is an ideal time
frame whereby you can get a good contractor to
complete your renovation on time. Your renovation is
one of the elements that can drag your opening from 8
weeks to 5-6 months.

Make sure you don’t spend too much time on

renovation because most landlords only give a
maximum of 2 months free rental. If you delay your
opening more than 8 weeks, you will need to pay rental
on your unopened restaurant.

Some works can run concurrently during renovation.

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 WORK SCHEDULE
TIME TASKS
1ST WEEK 1. Decide on the Type of Restaurant
(day 1 -7) 2. Sourcing for the Location
3. Make a Business Plan
4. Form a Company
5. Find contractors for renovation and discuss about the design
you want
2nd WEEK 6. Finalizing on the renovation design and cost
(day 8-14) 7. Design a sign board
3rd WEEK 8. Obtain all necessary documents from your Company
(day 14-21) Secretary on company formation. You should get your Form
9, 24 and 49 by now.
9. Sign Tenancy Agreeement
10. Start Renovation
11. Open a Bank Account
12. Sign Board is ready
13. Starts Hiring Process
4th WEEK 14. Menu Creation
(day 22-28) 15. Get Thypoid Injections
16. Apply for Business License
17. Apply for Signboard License (Take Picture of the signboard)
18. Apply for Alcohol License (optional)
19. Apply for Halal License (optional)
5th WEEK 20. Apply for Music License
(day 29-36) 21. Apply for Telephone lines, Internet, Electricity, Water, and
Credit Card Facilities
22. Sourcing for Suppliers
6th WEEK 23. Executive Chef and Restaurant Manager should already be
(day 36-42) hired
24. Meeting with Suppliers, get quotations and compare prices
25. Negotiation for free items
26. Purchase Orders of Furniture, Kitchen Equipment, CCTV,
Sound System and POS system
27. Design Table/Restaurant Layout
7thWEEK 28. Renovation should be completed
(day 43-50) 29. Test all wiring and plumbing
30. Purchases of Kitchen and Restaurant Supplies (incl.
uniforms, plates, glasses, cutleries, plastic bags, containers,
tissue, etc)
31. Food testing

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 32. All Staff should be hired and get thypoid injections.
33. Staff Training
34. Delivery of Furniture, Kitchen Equipment, CCTV, Sound
System and POS System
35. Testing of POS System, Kitchen Equipment, CCTV and
Sound System
36. Restaurant Layout Should be finalized
37. Ordering of Food and Beverages
38. Promotion Plan should be ready
39. Installation of Credit Card Machines
8th WEEK 40. Cleaning and Pest Control treatment
(day 51-59) 41. Testing of Food and Service
42. Fine Tuning and printing menus
43. Promotion starts
END OF 8th WEEK OPEN THE DOOR TO PUBLIC
(DAY 60)

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 8 WEEK
SCHEDULE

* Renovation complete
* Obtains documents * Test wiring and
from Company plumbing
Secretary * Purchases of Supplies
* Decide on the Type * Sign Tenancy * Food Testing
of Restaurant Agreement * All staff hired. Start
* Sourcing for Location * Start Renovation
* Apply for Telephone Trainig
* Make a Business * Open a Bank
Lines, Electricity, * Order Food and
Plan Account
Water and Credit Card Beverages
* Form a Company * Sign Board should be
facilities * Promotion
* Sourcing for ready
* Sourcing for * Installation of Credit
Contractors and * Start Hiring Process
suppliers Card machine
discuss the design

Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8

* Finalizing on
Renovation * Executive Chef
* Menu Creation
Design and Restaurant * Cleanng &
* Get Thypoid
* Revise Manager should be Pest Control
Injections
Financial Plan hired * Fine Tuning &
* Apply for
based on final * Negotiation with * Printing
Licenses
cost of Suppliers Menus
renovation * Ordering Furniture * Final Testing
* Design & Equipment on Food and
Signboard * Design Table Service
Layout * Open

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CLOSURE
I hope this book will ease your journey into opening
your own restaurant. Although a lot of things in this
book applicable to opening restaurants in Malaysia, I
believe the knowledge can also be applied in other
countries. Wherever you want to open your
restaurant, you should always remember the 5
elements. If you forget about it now, please go back
and re-read the book.

Good Luck and Enjoy the adventure...!!

PS: Before you start your 8-week schedule, get a

break.... go on a vacation and do whatever you want to
do first. Once you start your restaurant, you can
forget about vacation at least for the next 1 year. You
will need abundant energy and full concentration to
start this exciting journey.

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 APPENDIX 1

OPENING CHECK LIST

NO TASKS READY? REMARKS

1 BUILDING
• Clearing renovation debris
• Garbage site
• Telephone/internet lines
• Electricity lines
• All lights are functioning with spare
light bulbs
• Parking arrangement
• Sewage treatment
• Pest control treatment
• Air Conditioning Units
• Doors and locks
• Toilet
• Smoke Detectors
• Sprinkler System
• Curtains and blinds
• Decorations: paintings, flowers,
posters, etc.
• Signboard and signage (opening hours,
toilet, open/close)

2 Floor Area
• Tables and chairs are in sufficient
quantity
• Layout of table and chair
• Cleaned glasses, cups, silverwares,
plates
• Captain Orders, Table mats.
• Credit card machines (cover, paper and
stickers)
• Captain Orders, Stationeries
• Sets of keys for manager, owner, chefs.
• Staff uniforms
• Table cloths (optional)
• Tissue, napkins, toothpicks, straws,
take away boxes.
• Condiments on tables (salt, pepper,
sauces, saucers)
• Menus

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 • Toilet supplies (soap, tissues, sanitary
bins)
• Point of Sales system
• First Aid Kit
• Janitorial supplies
• Telephone/Fax machine
• Staff Lockers
• Licenses (copied, framed and displayed)

3 Kitchen
• Equipment
• Supplies (plastic wraps, towels, foils,
containers, soap, dust bins, etc)
• Cutleries and plates
• Pots and Pans
• Working counters
• First Aid Kit
• Kitchen Printer (optional)
• Weight scale
• Food supplies
• Safety shoes and mats
• Fire Extinguisher
• Captain Bell
• Stationeries
• Staff Lockers
• Kitchen Manual
4 Back Office
• Company Procedures
• Employment Contracts
• Organization Chart
• Bank Account, Cheque Books
• Rental Agreement
• Suppliers List
• Accounting
• Licenses
• Purchase Order forms, Payment
Vouchers, Petty Cash vouchers.
• Stationeries
• Kitchen Manual
• Floor Manual

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 APPENDIX 2

CUSTOMER FEEDBACK FORM

To serve you better, please complete the following

feedback form. Please check selections

Need Average Good Comments

Improvement
1 Food Portion
2 Food Taste
3 Food Presentation
4 Variety of Food
5 Value for money
6 Freshness of
ingredients
7 Variety of Beverages
8 Taste of Beverages
9 Ambiance
10 Speed of Food
Delivery
11 Bill settlement
12 Staff knowledge and
friendliness

Other comments:.....................................................

.............................................................................

Do you wish us to contact you? If yes please fill in:

Name:..................................................

Email address:.......................................

Phone number:......................................
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