Are you afraid of starting a restaurant

‘There is darkness behind the lamp only.’

Food is the significant part of our life. And, if we talk about Indian food then Indian food business is one of the highest contributors in Indian economy. Every other person in India carries a dream with an urge to change it into reality and the dream is none other than owning a restaurant. Food Industry in India has become one of the evolving industries contributing the highest part to country’s GDP.

According to a study, India’s Food and beverages industry expanded at an average annual pace of 24 per cent and reached INR 3.8 trillion in sales by the year end 31^st March, 2017. It is anticipated that the country’s food industry is expected to grow 11 per cent annually to reach US $ 65.4 billion by 2018.

There are many things like pace of growth, people’s changing view towards food, presence of international investments which attracts Indians towards this booming sector. Let us just throw some light on the vital part before starting up a food business which is about the problems entrepreneurs face while setting up their businesses.

Restaurant failures have been an enigmatic topic for many decades. More than 1000 start ups in India shut down in 2016. And the list is not small, we have Local Banya, Groc Shop, Dazo, Spoon joy, Langhar, OrderShack, etc to follow the list and make it really long. Legal matters are one of the giant obstacles in starting up a restaurant business. “While setting up a food business, high rentals and high wages are the two most initial and common problems faced by entrepreneurs. With very little support from the government, the laws around opening a restaurant is also a marring factor. There are so many licences and protocols that one has to go through,” shares Vikrant Batra, Owner of Cafe Delhi Heights adding that it is extremely time consuming which makes it difficult to setup a restaurant. Another issue that restaurateurs are facing is that the Delhi Government has not been issuing the liquor license since August 2016 and liquor not only constitutes a substantial amount in sales but is also essential when it comes to food pairing.

Therefore, we can say that there are many hurdles including legal ordinances also contribute to restaurant failures.