The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, commonly referred to as “ObamaCare,” contains some provisions that affect restaurant owners. Reaching further than elementary health codes like requiring your chef to wear a disposable chef's toque, the new requirements relate to nutritional transparency and employee health insurance. The act primarily touches food service establishments comprising more than twenty locations of the same business name. These eateries must provide restaurant nutrition facts such as calorie counts in writing and on a menu display. Many restaurant owners will also need to provide basic health coverage within a particular price range to their employees. A digital menu offers support for the first requirement, and the National Restaurant Association can help with the second.

Restaurant Nutrition Facts and Menu Display

Keeping nutritional information readily available while ensuring that it remains perfectly current and precise may seem intimidating. This is where a digital menu display becomes invaluable. Although restaurant owners also will need to supply written material describing the nutritional content of menu items, a digital menu naturally facilitates menu display updates. Some versions even allow for online modifications whenever prices, menu offerings, or restaurant nutrition facts change. A digital menu also provides benefits concerning advertising. If your restaurant serves more healthful fare than the competition, this fact will become more readily apparent as a result of the Act. The digital menu display gives distinct exposure to this edge. Pictures are prime marketing material as well. Take full advantage of your commercial kitchen equipment to make impeccable ...continue reading

So many professional chefs dream of opening their own restaurants, and many more probably would if financing a restaurant were not such an issue. Knowing how to find, approach, and follow up with prospective restaurant investors gives you a distinct advantage over many would-be industry rivals. A professional, can-do attitude and a well-written restaurant business plan will serve you well in this endeavor.

Find Investors and Write a Restaurant Business Plan

In order to approach investors, you need to be able to find them in the first place. Join entrepreneur and other business associations to make connections with potential investors. Even if no suitable investors turn out to belong to the group, other members can point you in the right direction. You may want to avoid competition by posing your inquiries to businesspeople in relevant fields who are not necessarily chefs. Hotel owners, for instance, are likely to know investors who might be interested in restaurant investment. Friends, relatives, co-workers, and customers who can vouch for you make valuable references and may be in a position to contribute an investment. Your dedication, talent, and work ethic will be less of a question in their eyes than a stranger’s if you have done your job correctly thus far. Once you find one or more investors with whom to meet, write a business plan. Make it as detailed as possible so that you know exactly what you need and what you can offer your investors before you meet with them. Pay special attention to how much you will need to spend on professional kitchen equipment and a lease or down payment for a space. If you can, hire a professional to help you write the business plan and to ...continue reading