Feedback on businesses closing

Hello all,

Just want to see some of your insight on why the restaurant business has such a short lifespan in Dumaguete? Is it the quality, the customer service, the costs, location or all the above???

Any opinion you may have will be taken into consideration...Thanks in advance...

 

All of the above

 

totally disagree..

the old Casablanca is the best example that location and price does not matter at all when quality is given.

Most restaurants which fail have usually a owner who has no clue about running a business. Just they can cook a good curry in a home-kitchen after 3 days of shopping and preparation does not qualify them to throw out 30 to 50 quality dishes in 2 hours dinner time day by day by day

and that's where the failure starts... arriving here and thinking about a great business idea without ever looking at the market.
Than a lot of promotion before opening, a rather medicore grand opening and after 1 month going back to the own country for a few weeks, leaving everything in local hands. (4 days and each dish tastes like adovo).

the main-reson why they fail is definitely the "cluelessness" about running a business in a field they never did before and a country they don't know either.

 

You basically described our game plan. O-|

 

I think Rhoody just saved you thousands of dollars. Gotta be worth a beer at least! :-)

A 'game' plan doesn't really sound like a detailed business plan where you have done all the research into the market, requirements, and if the services you plan to offer are what people want and need, - to an extent that you can make a viable living from it.

There's an important question: is the business just going to be something to keep you busy because your not the sitting around type of guy? Or is the business to be you sole/main source of income from which you need to survive?

Restaurants are notoriously difficult to be successful with, even if you are the best chef or best manager.

Good luck in whatever you do, but I would stay clear of the restaurant business.

 

The restaurants I see fail here seem to do so because the food is simplistic and taste like the rest of the food here which ranges from "bad" to "terrible"

How did a country with such strong Chinese and Spanish influences go so completely wrong on their cuisine?

 

Manza, good points. I crave for a good Thai curry or a Kung Pao chicken or some good tapas.

 

Rhoody, I owe you one...I actually did my homework, start up costs, marketing strategies, demographics, etc...It was in a 17 page company profile that I sent my brother in law to look over last month...But of course it is different when you basically get all info from websites rather than getting the feel of being there and accumulating info...So it is good to hear from locals...I have another proposal which took about 25 ppg of research, but this one is family oriented entertainment center....Did another on a sports bar & grill only 9 ppg and centered on one word, KARAOKE...In any case, I'll be there May 26 for a month to do more research....Lol

 

Do you think its the quality of the ingredients (local) or lack of knowledge on cooking? If they were imported from Manila would this improve the food there? Would you go to a resto with bad customer service, but outstanding food? Very interesting point you brought up...

 

now that's funny, I accidentally made a screen-shot of last nights dream...

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however, one factor which is hard to calculate for whatever business is the real bad local working attitude and total carelessness. I saw local top-cooks working 2 years with high standards. Got "stolen" from a new start-up place (20 PHP) more a day, and produced after 2 weeks there the exact same dish they were cooking before perfectly in a way that it can basically be considered as food-poisoning. of course that business closed down pretty fast and the "cook" begged at his old place to be rehired, just to get his @ss kicked out.

that is only one out of many examples. I can tell you endless stories of different business sectors, many from own experiences. At the end all comes down to controlling and training as 90% of the simple tasks are just forgotten after 2 off days.

And that controller need to be one who comes from that business or is trained abroad. A local friend/relative will not work out.

Those experiences are based on businesses trying to to reach the foreign market here. If your potential clients are locals, totally different rules apply.