The Food Technology Study Program of the Sumatra Institute of Technology (PSTP ITERA) held a webinar with the theme “How to Start Restaurant Business” on Wednesday, 26 October 2022. The seminar was conducted via the zoom platform and attended by 117 people, consisting of students and the general public. The webinar began with an opening by Ilham Marvie, S.T.P., M.Si. as a representative of PSTP ITERA. He hoped that participants could take advantage of this opportunity to start designing and evaluating businesses they already have or will create, especially in the culinary field. He further explained that the webinar aims to increase the entrepreneurial spirit of students, in line with the vision and mission upheld by PSTP ITERA.
This webinar featured two speakers who are experts in their fields, namely Chef Hady Chandra Kurniawan as director of CV. Hady Chan Corp and Mr. Agustina as a restaurant consultant – Restoqlinique Restaurant consultant. In the first presentation, Chef Hady discussed strategies for managing raw materials through to serving consumers.
“To build a business, whatever the business is, we must have standardization, we must have a benchmark or reference, and this standard is what we give to consumers. This will affect quality and consumers’ perception of us,” said Mr. Hady Chandra Kurniawan.
Furthermore, he stated that there are important foundations in building a restaurant, including determining standardization/assurance, determining the business level, determining raw material standards, blind tests of food products, having more than 1 supplier to get the best price, ensuring market segmentation, storage, and food preservation methods. If our product quality is poor, the restaurant’s image will suffer, and customers who become ill from eating our products will demand compensation for medical expenses. In addition, cleanliness and sanitation systems are also very important to pay attention to.
The second presentation was delivered by Mr. Agustina, who explained the aspects that bring turnover and affect our business profit, namely the building sales pyramid section, consisting of best practice operation, visibility, promotion, trading area analysis, community involvement, and sales.
“The building sales pyramid can help business development because it consists of theories that have been practiced repeatedly and can be applied in the MSME world,” explained Mr. Agustina.
Mr. Agustina also said that if building sales is carried out well, our business brand will also be built. This is because our business has a distinctive character, quality assurance, and is in the public spotlight, so our business will be more sustainable. In addition, in promoting products, there are things to pay attention to, such as the banner/poster created must be focused, attractive, clear, and attention-grabbing.
Participants were very enthusiastic about the presentations by the two speakers. Many questions arose from doubts and confusion in starting and running a culinary business. It is hoped that this webinar can increase participants’ knowledge of tips and tricks in building a restaurant.
