It is difficult to believe I haven’t written a post in over a week. The week is like a whirlwind that never stopped
. To detail all that has occurred will take several posts to explain the details and activities that lead up to the opening day photo on the right.
Besides the holiday immediately after receiving our restaurant license, many of the suppliers were not delivering on their scheduled days. To complicate matters even further, both sister restaurants had about tens days of exceptionally high sales.
Fortunately we were prepared to hire and train employees, test menu items and get the doors open.
A day by day log and activity detail will be posted soon. Right now our exclusive goals are to work out the “kinks” that always creep up on you on opening day.
This past week or more has been a whirlwind of progress (finally). Here is a list of achievements;
- With the exception of the fan on the roof, the hood is in. It passed inspection and the fireproof duct work is completed.
- The fireproof tenant separation ceiling is up, taped and “mudded”. Waiting for inspection tomorrow, Monday, December 8, 2008.
- The electrical circuits are run and passed the rough-in inspection. The wall electrical inspection, which allows us to close all walls, should be inspected Monday.
- All walls are drywalled on one side and waiting for the electrical inspection to cover other side.
- As of last night a crew was completing some floor tile work in customer visible areas.
The items above may not seem like a big move forward, but you must consider we are dealing with 1800 square feet of space. That means when the restaurant contractors put the ceilings, tile and electrical into the location, the contractors are covering front to back.
This week should complete 90% of the rough-in construction. We have a schedule that looks like this:
- Monday - get electrical inspection. Begin covering rest of walls. Starting ceiling grid for drop-in ceiling tiles. Get final inspection on fireproofed ceiling separation. Order and construction of all counter tops.
- Tuesday - Complete wall covering and drywall mudding and taping after screw inspection. Complete drop-in ceiling. Install data wiring for POS system, phone and cable.
- Wednesday - Finish office space to begin putting up shelving, work space and computer locations. Start kitchen and bathroom floor tile. Grid system for ceiling complete for electrician to begin installing lighting.
- Thursday - Complete office and storeroom. Finish all flooring. Finish all electrical. Do wall finishing with primer and “knockdown” coat. Install FRP in kitchen. Plumber to starting final connections including gas piping. Wi-fi system in office.
- Friday - Paint walls final teal color and install wood beadboard. Start scheduling delivery of restaurant booths and equipment for following week.
- Saturday - Install baseboard. All counters installed. Office completed and operating with filing shelving and accounting computer. Start decorative shelving and finish work for interior.
- Sunday - Have restaurant cleaning crew come in and do complete cleaning before booths and equipment start arriving following week. Install video security system.
While all of the above work deals primarily with construction, during the coming week we will also;
- Order all remaining restaurant equipment to be purchased by Wednesday. Remember we have already purchased a lot of the kitchen equipment as we found bargains.
- Place a smallwares order for delivery early the following week.
- Purchase stainless shelving and install Friday or Saturday in kitchen.
- Schedule delivery and setup of POS system, beverage machines and cleaning system installation.
- Complete menu and testing. Start working on inventory initial order.
- Start interviewing potential employees late in the week. Process to continue until open.
- Complete forms and all filing and background office system.
If we have any chance to open before year end, next week will be the determining factor.
By this date, the restaurant should have been open. After negotiating an acceptable lease in July, no one could anticipate the delays we have experienced along the way. Each delay moved our opening date and now we are on a fast track to cram 60 days of work into five weeks. We will see if that works.
In order to get open before the end of the year, here is the plan and actions necessary:
- The contractor must overlap tradesmen to the point they may be in each other’s way. It’s rare to have plumbers, electricians and HVAC people working on the same days. They will complain, but they aren’t paying the bills.
- The contractor must think thirty days in advance. What materials may have a lead time that need to be ordered now?
As the restaurant owner, here is the list of things that need to be scheduled based on the contractors estimated times;
- Schedule installation and programming for POS equipment in three weeks.
- Schedule beverage installation in four weeks. They need up to 30 days to have equipment necessary.
- Booths are built. We plan to have the front of the house completed sooner than the back of the house. Booths delivered in three weeks.
- Since we are leasing the dish machine, we are scheduling their installation in three weeks.
- Most of the restaurant equipment is available locally. Much of it has been purchased. Equipment dealers are holding the equipment for immediate delivery. However, there are certain smallwares that we will order in quantity that must be ordered now to make certain there are no backorders. That includes things like plates, special pattern silverware, tablewares and any printed materials.
- Shirts, logo imprinted attire and promotional materials need to be ordered. Some have 30 day lead times.
- Our marketing plan begins thirty days from the restaurant opening date. That means next week we need to finalize the plan and start the promotions. We will post the entire marketing plan on the blog at that time.
- Beginning the week after Thanksgiving, we will begin accepting employment applications. A sign will go up. While we already have many applications, we will need to over staff to cull out the people who can’t do the job or don’t have the skills we thought they had.
- By the end of next week, we will begin draft menu’s to create inventory lists, recipe books and prep sheets for staff. Our primary food supplier(s) must be notified and confirm inventory for particular needs are in stock,
- Cleaning and sanitation equipment and supplies must be in place at least a week before scheduled opening. The restaurant will require a lot of daily maintenance due to the construction process as the opening date approaches.
- In two weeks cable, phone, security and Internet access lines must be installed in the areas we need them. Cabling is a prelude to POS, wi-fi and computer equipment being installed.
As a financial note, our accountant has notified us that it is imperative we get the restaurant open prior to the end of the year. There are about $30,000 of investment tax credits available this year that most likely won’t be in place next year. We can only hope we are ready to bake cookies for Santa Claus!
