O.T. Investment Broker?

[tkav1980]

I'm looking to see of anyone on here is or knows an Investment broker who deals with resturants. I am doing my own independant research to find one, but if i could give my business to someone from the board it would be my pleasure to do so.
Thank you.

 

[bulldog21]

what you looking to do invest in restaurant stocks or open a restaurant??

 

[dooduu2]

As a restaurant owner myself i would tell you to steer clear unless you willing to loose some money very few restaurants make it past the first few years... And you ar egoing to probably live their...

 

[Dave_19]

I'm looking to see of anyone on here is or knows an Investment broker who deals with resturants. I am doing my own independant research to find one, but if i could give my business to someone from the board it would be my pleasure to do so.
Thank you.

Why restaurants? What kind of $ do you have to play with, I have done great with EFT's if you ever want to share Ideas you can shoot me a PM. Certain Sectors of the market are finally ready to make a short term recovery, there is $ to be made.

 

[hiddenbelow]

He is looking for a investor for his "Business" is what I got from his post...

So I believe he is looking for a Angel Investor or some VC firm to talk with.

 

[jawbreakerkid]

I just had a client ask me to raise debt for him on a restaurant venture. I advised him to change his plans and sell the asset that he planned on building out to see his dream through.

You have to have deep pockets to make this happen, you have to be able to capitalize the project through the slow times. If you are seeking outside funds and don't have restaurant experience, probably not a good time to go to the market for investors.

 

[tkav1980]

heres the dilema. lets say i wanted to open up a resturant down the street from my house. i could come up with enough working capitol on my own for about a years worth of running it. but my partner and i( we both work for the same company. I am the G.M. and he is the V.P. of operations) are looking into casino space, which, costs exponentially more. The profits are huge and the failure rate is not as large as in other areas, in a casino its only about 50%, not bad for a resturant. the biggest expense will be rent, we are looking at $32 per Sq. Ft. per month. And to top it all off we are using a verry different business model where the investors and executive chef have us bought out with in 7 years so we can be opening , and selling hopefully several at a time once the first one begins to run in the black. This way of running restaurants was first pioneered by Steven Starr (i used to work for him, just google him tofind out more) and now he owns 17 in philly, 2 in atlantic city, and 3 in NYC. this idea is not set in stone as i am just begining my research but id like to talk to someone who knows alittle more about this. Again thank you for all your help.

 

[aesop]

the biggest expense will be rent, we are looking at $32 per Sq. Ft. per month.

 

[tkav1980]

Rent

I know, its insane in a casino. But Carmine's in the Quarter in the tropicana is grossing $100k on a weekend, and at the moment it costs about $70k a week to keep the doors open. so you can see what a huge expence it is to operate inside of a major casino. However, after doing the research on the market id like to open in it does have the best chance for success and Major profitability. Remember in the restaurent business a 50% success rate(ONLY LOCATED INSIDE OF A CASINO, and only in the atlantic city market as far as my research has shown) the chance for success and profit is huge. Keep in mind that the earliest that one of the new properties will be opening in is 3 years and i am in the begining stages of my research and planning. There is a ton of diversity on this board and a TON of really smart guys and girls on here, and since you are all always so helpful with everything i figured why not ask around here. On a side note, when i do open, believe me the first thing id want to do is invite everyone from the board to come in so i can return the favor to everyone who has helped me so much since ive joined here.

 

[tkav1980]

If im wrong on any of this, feel free to beat me up alittle bit(especially you other guys in the business) this is stuff that I HAVE TO LEARN.

 

[TooPowerful4u]

If im wrong on any of this, feel free to beat me up alittle bit(especially you other guys in the business) this is stuff that I HAVE TO LEARN.

as do we all....you sure as heck arent the only one listeing and learning more than bodybuilding on this board

 

[aesop]

If im wrong on any of this, feel free to beat me up alittle bit(especially you other guys in the business) this is stuff that I HAVE TO LEARN.

Sounds like you are on your way. What you have to be ok with, like others have said, is devoting your life to the business while it is in its opening stages. A good percentage of people that work in the restaurant biz have drug problems and will try to rob you blind. You have to be there like a hawk watching things and making sure the numbers are running how they are supposed to. It sounds like it is going to be a big operation, I would focus a lot on loss prevention and trying to get management that you can trust and will treat the business like their own. If you have lax management that puts up with employees throwing out free meals and drinks to their friends, and stealing where they can find ways, much of your profit will walk out the door.

 

[tkav1980]

Sounds like you are on your way. What you have to be ok with, like others have said, is devoting your life to the business while it is in its opening stages. A good percentage of people that work in the restaurant biz have drug problems and will try to rob you blind. You have to be there like a hawk watching things and making sure the numbers are running how they are supposed to. It sounds like it is going to be a big operation, I would focus a lot on loss prevention and trying to get management that you can trust and will treat the business like their own. If you have lax management that puts up with employees throwing out free meals and drinks to their friends, and stealing where they can find ways, much of your profit will walk out the door.

Believe me i know. just a month ago i had a bartender who went out ang got something like 20 newspapers with one of our cupons in it. he would present the check to the customer, take payment, then come to me with the cupon to recieve the discount, and pocket the remainder. needless to say i had to let him go even though he has been here for 10 years.

 

[hiddenbelow]

If you have the business plan laid out and are sure you really want to do this....
Send me a PM once you have all the figures in order and I will at the least depending on the quality of your idea get you phone numbers. If it looks promising I will get you a few scheduled meetings with firms.

I am not sure what kind of interest rate you are hoping for as it probably will be a little higher than you originally thought.

I know a few VC's who enjoy throwing around money to aspiring people who's head is on their shoulders.

Is the space you are looking at in the Revel Entertainment building to open in 2010?

Just remember though trying to secure funds is no different than prepping for a show you must have all your shit together. It takes a good amount of time and it sucks for the most part. But the day you are in the room signing the papers its a beautiful thing.

 

[Kaiser]

Starr is one of the best restaurant businessmen around. As you probably know from working for him, he's a shrewd fucker that has owed plenty of money to different people. His restaurants always work. There's an addtion to this which you will have to think about. Are you going to serve alcohol? He makes a shit load of money off of alcohol, and from I heard it has carried him many times. You know as well as I do his Martinis are almost all around $20-22 a piece, which is one hell of a mark up. If you answered the question about alcohol, forgive me, as I didnt have time to read the whole thread. BTW Buddakan is still one of my favorites.

 

[tkav1980]

if i open inside of a casino they have a licens that works similar to a class C broad licens in new jersey. bottom line is if i get the space in the casino i dont need a liq. licens!...how cool is that...lol..thats one of the reasons the rent is so high, theyre charging a premium for services other than just the location.

 

[pesty4077]

I open 3 busineses with much sucess B-4 collaspe of market. I also manage a restaurant. I can tell you that the restaurant business is one of the hardest. That operating expense right now(32 per sq ft.) is just too much in today's economy. I would do some more research and wait about 2-3 years for the market to go back up. My business was generating a million a year, now 1/4 that(gross)