How to Validate a Restaurant Idea (Before Signing the Lease)
Restaurants have a legendary failure rate. This post walks through the validation steps that separate survivable concepts from expensive lessons — before you sign a 5-year commercial lease.
Key points covered in this post
- Menu economics: food cost percentage as the leading indicator
- Location scoring: foot traffic, comparables, lease terms
- Concept-market fit: 12+ conversations with target diners
- Capital adequacy: opening costs plus 9-12 months of operating buffer
- Operator readiness: the honest experience gap most first-timers ignore
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