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Quick-service restaurants are growing. And the major factors driving their growth are globalization, affordable pricing, and convenience. As per research by Custom Market Insights, the market size of Quick-service restaurants, or QSR, is expected to reach $454.3 billion by 2030. This expected growth has made QSR restaurants a popular business option for entrepreneurs and small business owners.
While the growth may seem promising, what leads to the success of a QSR is thoughtful planning and launch fueled with a powerful concept. Now, the question that arises is where you should start.
This is where this article can guide you. It will walk you through the process of starting a QSR quickly.
A Quick service restaurant is a casual dining restaurant that emphasizes quick food service. QSR restaurants generally have fast services, a casual atmosphere, limited seating, and a focused menu. The most popular and common QSRs in the US are Taco Bell, Panera Bread, Mc Donalds, and many more.
Quick-service restaurants come in various sizes. Small kiosks and major chain establishments offer limited seating, drive-thru windows, and takeaway options. However, one thing is always expected for all QRSs— speed and convenience. They make it easier for customers to purchase.
More and more customers are leaning toward QSRs. They are popular for their quick turnaround times, allowing customers to order, receive their food, and eat relatively quickly compared to traditional sit-down restaurants.
If you want to start a QSR in 2024, here is the process you need to know:
The location of your quick-service restaurant is one of the most critical factors that can determine its success or failure. Since these restaurants are meant to provide quick meal options, customers usually prefer restaurants that are easily accessible.
You should consider a location with higher foot traffic, such as busy streets and markets. It increases your restaurant's visibility and expands your customer base. Also, quick-service restaurants don't require ample parking space since customers need faster delivery and turnover.
Additionally, You might have noticed McDonald’s, Burger King, and KFC are always near each other. It is so because QSRs perform better when they are open near competitors. If you open a QSR that sells pizza nearby to one that serves tacos, you can get their customers, too, as they are willing to try new food.
Other factors to keep in mind when selecting the location of the QSR are as follows:
Before starting a QSR, it is crucial to consider the upfront cost of opening your restaurant to make an informed decision. The costs of opening the QSR include the following:
Other factors, like the restaurant size, location, business requirements, insurance, and legal fees, can impact the cost of opening your quick-service restaurant.
The next step is to secure financing. You can use your personal savings, grants, and investors. You can also secure the funds through restaurant financing if you need more investment.
Restaurant financing makes it easy to borrow money to start, expand, reimburse, and support your business. Some of the most popular ways by which you can get financing for your QSR are as follows:
Also, you must compare and evaluate the financing options based on the approval process and timeline, the lender's reputation, the need for collateral, repayment duration, and the interest rate. Evaluating these factors will help you choose the right lender for your quick-service restaurant and ensure you get maximum financing at minimal interest rates.
QSRs face the strongest health and safety regulations to ensure food quality. Thus, as a quick-service restaurant owner, you must meet compliance requirements and have up-to-date permits, licenses, and insurance.
Some of the most essential licenses and permits that you must possess are as follows:
You should also check if you need additional licenses and permits in your city to avoid penalties and meet compliance with local laws.
The next step to set up a QSR is to plan the menu. If you are opening a franchise, then this is the most straightforward job. If opening your first quick-service restaurant, you must carefully develop your menu.
Menus are an essential part of the customer experience and your restaurant's selling point; thus, you should take time to develop your menu. To make the menu, follow the following steps:
Your menu management can be completely centralized and automated with software like OneHubPOS, where you can upload bulk menus from Excel or create and update them in real time across stores.
The staff of the QSR is its backbone. Hence, getting the right talent is a must. To begin hiring, you must create clear, concise job descriptions for different restaurants. You must highlight the job title and description to get the right talent. Once you have a suitable job description, you should look for staff via online portals, referrals, social networking platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook, and hiring agencies.
After hiring the right candidates, you must train the staff about your brand and their duties. To train them, you should provide a training manual that can act as a starting point for them. You must provide shadow and cross-training and educate them on food safety and cooking.
Remember an important step - to educate the employees about the technology so that they can work effectively. Also, free courses or live classes are essential to honing their soft skills and communication skills.
The marketing strategy for your business should start with setting goals, identifying the right marketing practices for your business, and determining the budget.
Target your audience through a mix of online and offline marketing. The popular way to target your audience via offline marketing is through mouth-of-words, hoarding, local advertisement, and pamphlets.
On the other hand, you can create your brand online presence by greeting your QSR page on social media channels like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok. You can select the right platform based on your target audience.
We recommend listing your business on Yelp and Google My Business and asking your customers to drop their reviews to increase your restaurant's reach. Also, you can get a website for your restaurant to increase the brand visibility.
Kitchen equipment is one of the major components of the expense of opening a quick-service restaurant. You must prepare a list of necessary equipment while preparing your business plan.
While starting a QSR, you will need the grill, fryers, refrigerator, mixer, convection oven, preparation tables, cutting board, knives, fry pans, utensils, dishwasher, and food storage equipment. You may also require other equipment based on the food you sell.
You can procure this equipment from a supplier or even lease it from companies like North Star Leasing, Cater Renting, Rental Plus, etc. Leasing is a more cost-effective approach as it can reduce your substantial investment. You can instead pay monthly rent for the kitchen equipment.
A self-service kiosk is a touchscreen that allows customers to place orders without needing staff. You can easily integrate these kiosks in smaller spaces without compromising customer experience.
Customers can quickly order food, pay, get real-time menu updates, check the dish's availability, and save themselves from long lines. This, in turn, makes the customer experience better and frees up the staff's time, who can work on other tasks and cater to customers more effectively.
Once you have completed all the steps mentioned above, you are ready to launch your quick-service restaurant. Make sure to create buzz about the QSR before opening it. You can do this through solid marketing, opening discounts, and brand advertisement.
The QSR restaurants are constantly increasing and will continue to increase. Thus, it is the right time to start one. By following the steps mentioned above, you can start your QSR, but what matters is the right execution of the steps with the right technology to meet your end goals.
Investing in the right technology in the initial phase of the restaurant can streamline restaurant operations. Solutions like OneHubPOS help optimize your restaurant operations by providing a user-friendly POS system. We offer various features and benefits, enabling you to make real-time menu modifications, pricing, and ordering on a single screen.
Contact us today to learn more!
Sahana is a seasoned GTM leader with a passion for building startups. She excels in crafting GTM strategies for tech products, driving revenue growth.
