Starting a restaurant can be an exciting and profitable food business, but it also comes with risks. It's capital intensive, and if not properly planned and executed, it can lead to failure. That's why we have built the Restaurant Startup Calculator to help you make informed decisions, and minimize unexpected expenses. Our calculator breaks down everything from initial investment to ROI, including all key factors you should be consider when planning your startup.
A restaurant startup calculator is a tool specifically built to estimate all types of costs and early financial requirements needed to open a new restaurant. It takes into account one-time expenses such as renovation, equipment, and property, as well as monthly costs, food cost percentage, and more — providing a detailed breakdown of:
The Restaurant startup calculator provides a detailed financial analysis that covers nearly every critical aspect of opening a restaurant. If you are curious and excited to use the calculator for your planning, we will walk through an example to show how it works and what steps are involved. We will discuss the most important key metrics such as monthly revenue, food cost, total cost, monthly profit, yearly profit, ROI, and more:
Example:
Imagine you are going to start a restaurant, and you are doing your planning and considering all aspects. You have the following estimates:
120,000 dollars20,000 dollars507022 dollars30%3070 customers/day × 22 dollars × 30 days = 46,200 dollars30% of 46,200 dollars = 13,860 dollars20,000 dollars (operating) + 13,860 dollars (food) = 33,860 dollars46,200 dollars - 33,860 dollars = 12,340 dollars12,340 dollars × 12 = 148,080 dollars(12,340 ÷ 46,200) × 100 = 26.71%120,000 dollars12,340 dollars120,000 dollars ÷ 12,340 dollars ≈ 9 months(148,080 ÷ 120,000) × 100 = 123.4%| Metric | Your Restaurant | Industry Standard | Assessment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Food Cost % | 30% | 28–35% | ✅ Good |
| Profit Margin | 26.71% | 5–15% | ⚠ High – verify assumptions |
| ROI (1st Year) | 123.4% | 15–25% | ⚠ High – double-check numbers |
| Break-even Time | 9 months | 12–36 months | ✅ Excellent |
On average, starting a small restaurant can require anywhere from 40,000 dollars to 200,000 or more, depending on the location, size, and your planning.
The break-even point of a restaurant depends on performance, profit margin, overhead costs and more. On average, a restaurant can reach break-even between 6 months and 2 years.