Six Tips for Bootstrapping Your Restaurant’s Growth

While it’s commonplace for the average fast casual franchise startup to require an initial investment in the mid-to-high six figures, and for a high-end restaurant to cost over $1 million prior to serving its first guest, that level of startup or growth investment isn’t always strictly necessary.

In fact, creative and savvy restaurant entrepreneurs can start and grow exciting restaurant concepts with comparatively tiny budgets if they’re willing to approach the project with a bootstrapping attitude.

Does Bootstrapping Mean Settling for Less?When entrepreneurs hear the term “bootstrapping,” it might conjure up the idea of cutting corners and slacking on quality in order to save money. But true bootstrapping (as we’re discussing it here) has nothing to do with settling for lower quality. Instead, it’s all about planning and executing your startup and/or growth strategies with a meticulous eye on cost containment, value, and testing.

Sure, it may mean “sacrificing”…