Buying a restaurant or building your own? Pros and Cons

When you choose to become a Kitchen Manager, there is one decision you need to make first: to buy or to build your restaurant. Some people prefer buying an already existing establishment to skip some steps. Others choose to embark on the process of kitchen construction. It all really depends on a number of things such as your overall goal with the restaurant, your budget, timescale, and personal design preferences. So, which one fits you best? Let’s check out the differences.

Buy a restaurant?

Let’s start with the bad and the ugly. Already constructed restaurant establishments need to be thoroughly analyzed before purchasing. There might be financial or legal constraints that come attached with it. You should ask some important questions: Why is the restaurant for sale? Are there any tax problems or legal issues? What’s the state of the establishment? Does it need to be refurbished? Are you planning on buying an already existing franchise? These questions can guide you in finding out any potential problems you might face from the start. Furthermore, buying an already existing establishment may limit you in your creative freedom or require significantly more work to fit the existing location to your own standards. 

So what about the advantages? Buying an existing restaurant can be a great way to fulfill your dream of being a restaurant owner. You skip the time of getting a restaurant off the ground. As with buying a restaurant franchise, you gain instant name recognition and a built-in customer base. You don’t have to build a business plan and menu from scratch. 

Or build?

The downside of building your restaurant is, of course, time. Time to make your idea come to life, to get the right people, to build the establishment. Knowing what you want is not an easy task. Probably having a clear view of what you want to build is the trickiest task of building your own restaurant. Also, other disadvantages can include, but not limited to, dealing with constructors, architects, interior designers. You should also bear in mind this is going to be an investment.

However, when you build your restaurant, you have the chance to give it your own identity, the identity of your brand. It may sound cliché, but giving it your own spirit does make the difference and the customer can tell whether it’s just another brand or if it is your own. Plus, knowing that the investment might well be the same when buying an already fabricated restaurant might just give you the chance for your ideas to flourish. 

If that is the case, Protech is here to give you a hand. ProTech Construction crews & supervisors are some of the best in the industry capable of managing all phases of construction, ensuring you will be open for business on time and on-budget.

Since 1984, ProTech Commercial Construction has built commercial restaurants for Houston’s finest establishments across the State of Texas. If this is your first Restaurant Construction Project, don’t hesitate and contact us for further information!