* t.racer wrote:
> I live in San Diego (USA) and have seen vegan restaurants with GREAT
> FOOD go belly up. From my observations, I am of the opinion that the
> owners go wrong by trying to do it all themselves, failing to
> delegate.

They go belly up because they cater to a tiny niche rather than to
a base wide enough to generate a profit and keep them in business. The
only way a vegan restaurant can stay in business is to be in an
area with a larger-than-average population of vegans and/or
vegetarians.

> Think about it logically,

You're incapable of logical thought.

> if veganism is to promote
> kindness and health,

It isn't. At it's core, veganism is misanthropic.

> then why would a vegan restaurant owner want to
> exploit its few workers or cheap out and fail to hire the necessary
> workers?

Exploitation? How many vegans are there in the US? Vegans are a tiny
subset of the 4% who call themselves vegetarian.

> I think you should let the workers run the restaurant and
> share the profits.

Socialist delusions. That's why you'd never survive in business. It's
one thing to get input, another to turn your business model over to
wide-eyed zealots whose lack of skills whittle down their job
opportunities -- like doing menial tasks in a "vegan" restaurant.

> Then, as long as the food is good, it will for
> sure thrive.

Non sequitur. A business thrives when its profits exceed its costs,
and that includes the cost of its labor.

> The vegan restaurants I've seen bite the dust didn't
> lack for customers.

Neither have meat restaurants, dummy.

> The owners just couldn't stay open regularly
> because they were short staffed.

The problem is with their whole business model, not simply their
employment practices.

> Once people show up for dinner to a
> closed restaurant, they feel burned, and will stop going.

They'll also stop going when veganism loses its luster and they
eat normally and sensibly again.

> Then the restaurant dies.

Restaurants die when the costs of doing business exceed the
revenue the business generates. Or when said revenues fail to rise
significantly over the costs. No matter how many employees they
hire and how much they pay them, they still have to generate more
money than they spend.

You also have a very short-sighted view of the cost of labor, not
to mention an ambitious approach to giving control to low-skilled
workers. It doesn't merely cost a restaurant minimum wage to
hire someone. The cost of a $15k employee is closer to $25k for
an employer once you add up: actual salary, FICA/social security
contributions, worker's comp (high in food industry), training
costs, hiring costs (ads, time to interview and check out
applications, etc.), state payroll taxes, holidays, etc.

Here's a page with a sample of what an employee actually costs.
http://www.employ-solutions.com/RealCosts.asp

I'm sure you can find other similar information online, or from
even your own employer.

> Your restaurant must keep regular hours so the
> customers will always know when to show up.

It's the other way around. Your business should be open when
customers are most likely to need your goods and services.

> To keep those hours you
> need plenty of happy well compensated workers.

No, you don't. I know of restaurants that open only for a lunch
service and a dinner service. They get by with small staffs in
the kitchen and smaller staffs in the service area.

> I know I wouldn't work
> in a restaurant unless I was paid my fair share of the profits.

Your agreed-to wage IS your fair share of the profits, retard.

> Don't expect people to work for TIPS only or minimum wage.

Why not? I've had friends, especially in college, who worked for
tips only. They did very well and only had to work a couple busy
nights a week.

> Your
> restaurant's theme will contradict itself (be kind to animals, but
> bleed your workers dry?)

No, it can only afford to pay people so much because customers like
you will be repelled by the prices they'd have to charge to do
business your way.

> Sure, big chains like McDeath can stay in
> business while exploiting its workers,

McDonald's profits because their business model isn't based on the
socialist paradigm you described above. Their employees agree to
work for a specific wage -- their fair share of the profits -- and
are given room for advancement within their very large company.
Their starting wage here in Austin is well above the national
minimum wage. Their managers also do very well from their base
salaries AND their profit-sharing plan.

> but that's only because they
> draw in the ignorant population.

No, and pretty rich coming from YOU -- a twit who doesn't give a
shit about thimgs like supply and demand or profits and losses.

> A vegan restaurant would be catered
> more to an enlightened crowd.

No, just a crowd of whiny and sanctimonious fools.


> On 16 Dec 2006 07:14:17 -0800, "n" > wrote:
>
>>Hello!
>>
>>This is an important post for me. I would like to see your:
>>
>>ideas
>>experiences
>>suggestions
>>resources
>>
>>for starting a vegan restaurant.
>>
>>The restaurant would be a sideline, co-existing with a language school
>>in the same 3 floor building.
>>
>>The building is part of a palisade of shops on a side-road. It is 100
>>meters from the entrance to a university. A coffee shop is on one side
>>(great coffee!) and a real-estate office the other.
>>
>>It is quite mind boggling thinking about how to a) start off b) keep
>>going.
>>
>>Theme wise, think Hello Kitty. The school is aimed at college girls.
>>The menu? Dainty cakes, vegan ice-cream, that sort of thing is what is
>>in mind at the moment, but what do you think?
>>
>>How to go about pricing/marketing? What about other stuff (that has not
>>even been considered? How long to keep food that has been made? How to
>>work out how much to make? How to pick what goes on the menu? Keeping /
>>developing the menu?
>>
>>Where do most vegan restaurants go wrong?
>>
>>btw, this one is in Thailand
>>
>>I really appreciate your time reading this and hope very much you might
>>write a few words.
>>It would be a big help!
>>
>

chico