Restaurant Menu Covers, Nutritional Information and Liquor Licenses, Oh My!

When you are planning on opening a new restaurant, it is important to plan for all of your business expenses as well as you can. That way there are no surprises, and if you have asked for funding, you will not have to worry about not having accounted for everything you would need money for. From restaurant menu covers to liquor licenses, the expenses of starting and running a restaurant can sneak up on you.

The cost of starting a business is much different than the day-to-day expenses of running it, and this is where many people get tripped up. Remember, you will have to buy everything you will need to run the business all at once. Here are a few things you may not have thought about that you will need:

Restaurant Menu Covers

Chances are, you have thought a lot about what will be on the menu, but not necessarily how it will look or how you will protect it. The layout of your menu is important, as a professional decision creates visual appeal while ensuring everything makes sense and is easy for your customers to skim. But why put all that money into designing an attractive menu if it's just going to get ruined the first time someone sets their water glass down on it?

Instead of having to reprint menus all the time, or (gasp!) settle for tacky laminating that has to be redone every time you change the menu, invest in restaurant menu covers. These handy covers will make sure your printed menus last as long as you want them to, but still allow you to swap them out whenever you change prices or food options.

Nutritional Information

Depending on local laws, you may be required to provide your customers with nutritional information if they ask for it. (Perhaps you may choose to do this on your own because it is part of your restaurant's health-conscious image.) If you are hiring someone to plan your menu for you, don't forget that you will also need to include in your estimates of their pay the time it takes to figure out the nutritional information for each item on the menu.

Even if you don't hire someone to do this for you, it may take you or your chef some time to figure this information out for every meal or side. Don't underestimate or overlook the importance of this responsibility. If nutrition facts are required by local ordinance, you may find yourself fined for not providing them; or at the very least, you may find that you turn off customers who must know certain information for diet or health reasons.

Liquor Licenses

If you plan on serving liquor, you will also need to get a liquor license. Often the owners of new restaurants overlook this detail, either because they think they don't need to serve liquor or simply because they have forgotten about the license. But don't underestimate people's desire to drink! These days, the best brunch places commonly have liquor licenses because mimosas and bloody marys are such popular brunch drinks. Coffee and tea shops even offer alcoholic beverages sometimes.

Keep in mind that restaurant menu covers, nutritional information and liquor licenses are just a few of the expenses you may not think of when you are planning the financial aspect of starting a new restaurant. As you write your business plan, be sure to spend a lot of time on this, cross-checking how-to books and doing your research online to ensure that you don't overlook any of the necessary expenses.