The restaurant business is not for the faint-of-heart, but there are a lot of myths floating around about its success rate. An American Express commercial once noted that 90% of new restaurants fail within the first year, and although that figure was bandied about for a time, it’s far from the truth. A study by two economists found only 17% of restaurants close in their first year — although they did find smaller operations are more likely to struggle than their larger counterparts.
According to Restaurant Business, sales at casual, fine-dining and fast-casual restaurants in 2019 will grow a bit faster than they did last year, but traditional quick-serve and midscale full-service places will lag. And, Technomic’s managing principal believes traffic will remain an industry challenge, given the increased competition from convenience and grocery stores’ prepared meals as well as Amazon, which is adding more cashier-less AmazonGo stores.
With some owners already hanging on by a thread due to the oversupply of restaurants in the market, that challenge, along with a tight labor market and reduced margins, is likely to lead to some closures. The concepts that will capture new customers will be those that adapt to smaller footprints and technology innovations to accommodate tighter margins.
Why Business Loans
Given the ups and downs of the restaurant business, traditional lenders often don’t have the stomach to provide the capital owners may need to stay afloat — and if they are interested, their lengthy approval times are a big drawback. Restaurant owners may need cash for a variety of reasons, including:
- Covering payments for liquor, health and safety, music, and other required licenses
- Marketing and advertising to promote special events, deals or menu items to attract current and new customers
- Opening a new location or expanding an existing space to meet demand
- Renovating to keep the restaurant modern, clean and appealing
- Researching menu tweaks — adding, removing or changing items to update the cuisine
- Purchasing new kitchen equipment or a POS system to improve efficiency
- Building up inventory to support longer hours, such as staying open later to accommodate the local bar crowd
- Boosting cash flow to help manage unexpected business expenses or slower seasons without affecting day-to-day operations
Why Clear Skies Capital
Clear Skies Capital (CSC) is in the business of helping restaurant owners overcome the challenges presented by traditional financing, offering business loans to support their growth. Here are a few reasons why we’ve been successful for so long:
- Less than perfect credit is not a deal-breaker.
- Flexible terms up to 48 months are available.
- Our loans have fixed payments and interest rates.
- Our streamlined funding process includes very little paperwork.
- Our loans are not linked to credit card receipts.
- We approve loans within 24 hours and provide 24-hour access to funding.
- The interest on our loans is tax deductible.
- Our customer service is second-to-none.
We also offer several types of financing, because we understand every restaurant owner has a unique need. Choose from:
- Equipment financing — ideal for one-off purchases of restaurant equipment
- Working capital loans — ideal to provide capital for a variety of business expenses, including those noted above
- Lines of credit — ideal for restaurants with busy and slow seasons, providing flexible access to capital during the latter
Remember this: Our business model is designed so we can say “yes” — something that’s especially welcome after hearing “no” from one or more traditional lenders.
The Takeaway
If you’re in the restaurant industry, you know it’s important to maintain a healthy cash flow to remain competitive and keep customers coming to your establishment. Not having access to capital shouldn’t be the reason you struggle. CSC has worked with many restaurant owners, so we’d love to share our expertise while investigating loan alternatives with you. Get started today! Contact us to schedule a free consultation at http://clearskiescapital.com/.