Small business ownership offers many benefits, including flexible work schedules and the opportunity to control your income. However, finding a small business that best suits your personality and skills isn’t always easy.
Canada is home to over 1.19 million businesses, with 97.9% of them being considered small businesses. Toronto is a bustling city with a lot of anticipated development, making it an exceptional place to start a restaurant. Here are a few great restaurant ideas to consider in Toronto.
Full-Service Restaurant
Canada is home to more than 97,000 restaurants, with over 7,500 of them in Toronto, making restaurant ownership in Toronto a popular business idea. Restaurants can be one of the most profitable or worst business decisions.
Owning a successful restaurant in Toronto is about much more than culinary skills and a good menu. You’ll also want to carefully consider employees, prices, and location. The type of service is also an important consideration when choosing a restaurant.
A full-service restaurant is a traditional sit-down restaurant that serves customers throughout their meals.
Fast Casual Restaurant
Fast casual restaurants are trending today, with more business owners enjoying the non-traditional service model. In a fast-casual restaurant, customers place their orders at the counter.
They may wait for their food to be ready to sit at a table, or an employee may bring it out to them once it’s ready. Fast casual restaurants typically serve faster-to-cook menu items and require fewer employees, making it a cost-effective option.
Cafe
Cafes are another food service business idea that can be successful in Toronto. Cafes are typically slower-paced and also serve a wide range of beverages.
A cafe may also have a menu with coffee or tea. Customers will usually order items at the counter and may stick around for a few hours, reading or working.
Cafe menus also usually focus on bakery items, like bagels, croissants, or muffins. Some business owners prefer cafes because they have limited hours and are usually open early in the morning to late afternoon but hardly ever open for dinner.
Delivery
A restaurant that focuses on delivery may have a smaller dining room, with many not allowing customers to dine there. While delivery restaurants first became popular with pizza shops, more and more cafes, fast casual, and full-service restaurants are also offering delivery today.
Delivery-based restaurants are a great choice nearby Toronto’s bar and college scene. Students and adults are likely to order late-night pizza or food delivery when studying or hanging out with friends late at night.
Delivery restaurants, of course, also appeal to families. Many families may not want to load up the whole family for dinner and instead choose to order delivery.
With third-party delivery programs today, delivering your Toronto restaurant menu items is easier than ever. Social media also offers many benefits to delivery restaurants. You can use it to supply local-area customers with coupons or deals to increase delivery business.
Food Truck
A food truck is an excellent way to introduce your culinary skills to new customers. Attending city festivals or events with a food truck can also be a profitable business.
After the recession, food trucks first gained popularity in 2008 as an attempt to reduce operating costs for restaurant owners.
Food trucks alone can be profitable since they require minimal costs. You can increase the popularity and demand for your menu without the high costs of a physical restaurant location.
A food truck is also a good way to test out new menu items. One of the best parts of starting a food truck business is that you can travel all over Toronto to test out new markets. If you dream of opening a restaurant business in Toronto one day, you can use a food truck to help you find the best restaurant location.
Catering
Catering businesses create menus for the sole purpose of special events. You may create menus for birthday parties, weddings, or school dances.
Some catering business owners may choose to have a vacant space they rent out in addition to handling the food, but others may only offer delivery to the guests already booked venue.
A catering business can also be an extra revenue stream for other restaurant types. For example, if you purchase a traditional sit-down restaurant, you may also offer catering on the weekends with a similar menu.
People love food. They love sharing food and drinks with others. Choosing one that excites and energizes you is important with so many restaurant types. With the right preparation and planning, you can achieve your dream of opening a restaurant and serving delicious food and drinks to Toronto locals and tourists.
