How to Start a restaurant/cafe in Pakistan?
I have divided this article into steps. It would have been an injustice to compress all the steps under one article and would have convoluted the reader as well.
(Step 1)
Once in your lifetime, you must have considered opening an eatery and making millions out of the venture on the first day of your start. You must have minimized the effort behind a restaurant by claiming to make better food at home. It always sounded the easiest business of all to consider but you couldn't be farther away from the truth.
Debunking Myths
Myths around the restaurant businesses revolve around certain assumptions. All these assumptions have a base ground build around 2 misconceptions, the business is really easy and it's comparatively cheaper to start and the returns are good as well. However, these assumptions are true but with one condition in mind, which is time. It's a common misconception that people always focus on individuals standing upon the podium and miss out on the number of participants lost and time invested to reach that podium. Bundu Khan started from a roadside Kiosk but remained there for quite a long time. They didn’t make profits in their initial years. The same goes for nearly every food business today we deem to be a success. Our common mistake is that we read chapter 10 as chapter 1 of most food businesses. Jhonny and Jugnu wasn’t a success from day one and many may deem to know Jhonny and Jugnu from its inception but in reality, what we know as today of Jhonny and Jugnu was a second attempt at it. Fibbi took 1.5 years of experimentation to reach the height it did today. Along the way, many outlets closed and many had resurfaced.
Mostly in Pakistan, all the industrialists are demonized as greedy individuals who stepped upon others to reach success. The most riches to rags stories heard in Pakistan are related to the food industry. One more thing to add is that the people always shed a good light upon these businesses and show them as vulnerable entities that have organically grown into our culture and society's fabric. This industry has employed a good amount of our population. However, in reality, the food industry has exploited the low wage rate and extensively used child labor to maximize its profits. The food giants in our industry have never reinvested in the industry to innovate and grow. Let alone Karachi has enough food diversity as compared to any country around the world. However, we’ve never seen a brand grow out of the bounds of Pakistan, let alone grow nationwide. The reason being, we didn't evolve out thinking along the way and were comfortable with malpractices of the industry. There is a multitude of factors that held us back but one of the greatest contributors is this. Despite all these realities, the food business has a cloak that makes it look rosy. At the end of the day, it's your labor who bears the heat and gives you unrealistic profits. This cloak has made this business a virtue in our society rather than a means of earning. In reality, you have to be harsh and a miser to a successful restauranter in Pakistan.