How To Start a Shawarma Business

Starting a shawarma business is profitable and with a few tips from this article, you can open yours right away.

In this post you will find out:

• What to consider before you start a shawarma business
• Steps to starting a shawarma business and
• How to run a successful shawarma business

What to consider before you start a shawarma business

Shawarma is probably the most popular “street food” in the world and as lucrative as the business can be, there are a few things to consider before starting a shawarma business.

Location

This is one the top two things you have to consider in starting a shawarma business, the other one being how much it would cost. If there was ever a type of business that needs its location to be perfect, it’s certainly this business. For different reasons, location is a top priority and you should go as far as taking a thorough survey of the places you have in mind just to have a really clear view of what to expect. What good is making the best shawarma ever without people to testify to it? Shawarmas are known for their tasty goodness and health benefits as well and it is easy to make massive sales from selling them in a great location that’s why a badly thought location to set it up will be an injustice to both the people who you will have deprived of a mouthwatering experience and your business as well of big sales.

The location has to be accessible, easy to go in, place order and leave without stress. Shawarma stands or shops should more like burger eateries where it is easy to drive through and place orders and they should be in a central location or close to recreation and entertainment centers so that people who go in and out will be able to buy some “for the road”. “Where can I find people?” is the simple question to ask yourself in finding the right location to set up this business and the answer you get is where you should consider setting it up. Colleges, universities and even office buildings should be looked at as target locations for your business because many people school or work there.

You should also consider parks and even religious centers as some boast hundreds of members, set up your shop close to these centers and you will make sales. Malls, stadiums and amusement parks are also great options you can choose to sell your shawarmas. These locations have their own rules and they might charge more than you expect so you have to think hard about what will be the best option for your business according to your plan and make a choice.

Budget

It costs between $110,000 and $180,000 to open a proper shawarma business so before you start, you will have to count the cost, literally. It is no doubt a lucrative business but you must consider how much some important aspects will cost so that you don’t start and then you are unable to keep up because you failed to consider how much it would take to run it. To be on the safe side you must have a well-planned budget and be disciplined enough to stick to it. Whatever you can afford before you even buy a spoon should be what guides your spending in this business. You could consider getting a loan to help you get more things in place but even that should be part of the budget. Not being true to your budget could have a negative impact on your business later on as you could end up purchasing what you don’t need and before you know it there isn’t enough money to run the business.

Starting your business without this sort of discipline could get you used to overspending and this is the sort of recklessness that can wreck a business with potential. A poorly planned budget could also force you to make drastic and costly decisions that may affect even what your shawarma tastes like in the end. If you start running out of money to keep the business afloat and you start reducing the number of staff so that you can afford to pay the ones you have left, the quality of service you render will reduce and that could frustrate customers. What will be even more frustrating is if you start to reduce the quality of the shawarma and instead of healthy organic toppings you go for the cheap unhealthy ones; your business will be dead before you realize it.

A sit-in or takeout shop

While you can do both, the financial burden, among a few other things, will make you consider focusing on one type of setting. The cheaper option would be the takeout setting because the space you would need to set it up will be small compared to operating a system where a number of people will have to sit in and eat.

A sit-in shawarma restaurant will give you the opportunity to bond with your customers and they will get to really experience the quality customer service your business has to offer. It is also easier to have loyal customers when you run a sit-in shawarma restaurant compared to a mobile one and people who have families or groups of friends or colleagues would find it a great place to hang out.

A sit-in joint will give you the opportunity to introduce other items you wish to sell to the customers but at a takeout only joint, the average customer just wants to get their food and leave. For a sit-in shawarma joint, you will have to spend more in terms of getting furniture for people to sit on, you’ll also spend more to keep the place tidy and maintain the place all together. A takeout shawarma joint, on the other hand, will cost less to manage, clean and you wouldn’t have to worry about getting extra furniture.

Both options have their pros and cons and while one would be cheaper to run, that shouldn’t be the priority neither should any permanent decision be made because of that. This decision will also help you choose whether to run a stationary shawarma joint or a mobile one; a sit-in system will be more suitable for the former while the latter will most certainly go well with the takeout setting.

Steps to starting a shawarma business

Starting a shawarma business will demand that some rules are adhered to and a few other important things are known and well understood by you so that you can run a smooth business. You must have a clear business plan that includes how you want to operate the business, what you intend to call it, what you hope to achieve through it, the feasibility studies, the budget, what obstacles your business could come up against and possible ways to scale through them. Some other important steps to take are as follows:

Know how the business works

This goes for any business anyone would ever consider doing and not only a shawarma business; know how it’s done. The first thing you must know is how exactly shawarmas are made. Almost every shawarma business owner makes shawarma and you cannot do that without having the skills. Starting from the ingredients, spices, meat, toppings, vegetable to the pita wrap, you should be a master of shawarmas. Next, it would be a bonus to have experience in dealing with customers and the overall running of a shawarma joint. Although a few shawarma business owners went straight from making food for friends and family in their kitchens to owning a restaurant where they learned the tricks to the trade after some errors before they finally found success.

Legalize your business

It would be risky to run your shawarma business without having a license to operate by the appropriate government representatives. Each region, province or state has their own government establishments who were set up to see to the granting of license to deserving business owners, go to their offices or check their official websites online to get more information before going there in person. They have a standard and they do request for some documents pertaining to you and others regarding the type of business you are set to establish in the area. Once you meet the requirement, you are free to get the necessary equipment, manpower and every other thing you need to start making food.

Make killer shawarmas

It’s the basic thing that’s expected of every shawarma outlet yet not everyone can pull it off. The other thing that can make you stand out from the crowd and stay in business long enough to feed generations is the quality of the shawarma you make. Great, tasty shawarma is like having a new found love and you can’t wait to be with them. in fact, great taste is what makes people drive past all other shawarma joints close to them just to get to their favorite spot; that’s got nothing to do with how well you market your business, has very little to do with the customer service but a lot to do with the tasty experience they are sure to have.

One of the instant rewards of making great shawarmas (apart from making money, of course) is that thrilled customers will give you great reviews online. If you have an online presence or are active on social media, then you will find out just how much people love your shawarmas and they will influence others to come try it out- free advert. Happy customers tend to make sure that what keeps them happy keeps running and they will provide you with all the necessary assistance you need. Some customers go as far as telling shop owners secrets of other rival businesses and how they can do better. The reason why they stopped patronizing other businesses, what makes them love your shawarmas, and what more you could do to improve or what other flavors they would like as options will be told to you. the more you use the information you receive from them., the more your business grows.

Another thing that making great shawarma will help you achieve is favor in the eyes of professional food critics and bloggers. They are everywhere and they can be food business owners’ worst nightmare, not just shawarma joints. Food critics walk in without a tag that says “hey, I’m here to ruin your food business so be careful”, they are usually some of the most quiet persons in the room and all they do is take notes and some even do it live. If you had done something wrong in their eyes before serving them their meal, your saving grace would be the taste of your shawarma. If your shawarma is really good, they could put in a good word or give you a good rating and they do have a strong following with some people making food choices solely based on their recommendations.

Entice people on social media

It is utterly cruel how restaurants and shawarma joints tempt people online with sizzling pictures of freshly made delicacies and for the rest of the day that’s what everyone gets obsessed about. They call it “food porn” and it is now common practice in the food business. Without knowing what it would taste like, the very presentation of the food online will lure people to the restaurants. Use this to your advantage and draw people towards your shawarma shop.

The key to food porn is the presentation of the food and the image quality. In the case of shawarmas, some of the best images are the ones in which the shawarmas are sliced in two and the inside of the shawarma containing the tahini, vegetables, juicy slices of meat and other spices can be seen with sauce dripping from them. Use the best cameras you can find and capture different edges in ways that would appeal to anyone.

Put these images on social networks and be prepared for an influx of customers who cannot wait to finally eat what they’d been fantasizing about. This practice could also serve as a kind of reminder to some people, especially your loyal customers so that whenever they get a notification, they know what’s on the menu and when it would be ready.

Conclusion

Getting the necessary permit will take a lot of weight off your shoulders as that is the big external factor you have little to no control over in attempting to set up your shawarma business. Cleanliness is very important; maintain a clean environment and you won’t get into trouble with the inspection team. Make sure to get the necessary equipment for preparing and serving your shawarmas and bring the right people in to assist you. The quality of your shawarma will do most of the talking- shawarmas sell themselves.

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