Business Entity

How is your company/entity officially organized? Is it a partnership, sole proprietor or corporation?  Is it a C, S or LLC corporation?  Do you have shareholder or partnership agreements that cover a potential “sideways event”, buy-out or sale of the business?  This section presents the various ways you can form your business, the pros and cons of each, the filing requirements, taxation issues and financial issues with investors 

 

Payroll & Taxes

If you have employees you must set up a payroll system or service that deducts the proper taxes from earnings, files monthly reports and produces annual payroll documents. Are you doing this yourself or using a computer application or service?  This section discusses the requirements and connects you to resources that can provide beginner to professional payroll and tax services. 

 

Property Taxes

Property taxes come in two forms: Yearly taxes you pay on the real estate you own and property taxes you pay for on your equipment and inventory. This section discusses all business tax related matters from an owners perspective and makes suggestions for keeping start-up costs down.

 

Human Resources

When starting a business, you will probably end up with employees (payroll), and it is imperative that you create detailed employee files and follow state and federal guidelines for documentation and reporting. This section includes a detailed discussion on drug testing best practices, human resources function responsibilities, screening and hiring, and employee interactions with management.

 

Employee Manual

An employee manual is critical in the process of setting the appropriate expectations and employees following rules. This section provides the details that should go into an employee manual, covering many of the issues facing employers today.

 

Insurance Requirements

All businesses are required to maintain business insurance. Landlords will require a certain level of coverage to protect the owner's interest in the building/property.  This section provides details of various types of insurance for restaurants and catering, and cost savings available when adding certain systems.

 

Permits and licenses

Before opening a restaurant business, you must obtain specific licenses from your city, county or state governments. You are also required to have a permit to sell alcohol. In most states and counties, the agencies will require a pre-opening inspection. In this section, we utilize an actual application example to work through important requirements, point out areas where you need to be extremely careful and others where you can save money on both the application process and insurance.