Setting up a restaurant in the Bono Region

Abstract

This research sought to examine the motivational factors and pitfalls in setting up a restaurant in the Bono Region of Ghana. The study population included management and staff of all restaurants in the Sunyani and Techiman Township. The study utilized a quantitative research approach along with a descriptive research design. Questionnaires were used to collect data from 120 respondents. The study adopted both purposive sampling methods. The quantitative data collected were subjected to statistical analysis using mean and standard deviation. Findings showed that restaurant start-ups in the Bono region are motivated by both internal and external factors. The study showed that startups are motivated to enter the restaurant business due to a sense of passion, motivated to enter the restaurant business. The study also showed that a majority of start-ups are motivated to go into the restaurant sector because it represents the areas of their specialties whilst a majority of others go into the business to build their culinary skills and abilities. The study showed that externally, set-ups were motivated to enter the restaurant business because they saw a real need in the community which needed to be filled. The study therefore showed that the possible pitfalls that should be overcome for a start-up to be viable included low start-up capital, Poor knowledge about competition, Wrong location to site the business, Poor restaurant promotion. The study also showed that significant pitfalls exist that restaurant start-ups must seek to navigate and avoid in order to be viable in both the short and long term. Based on the findings, the study recommended that management of restaurant start-ups ensure adequate start-up capitalization before venturing into the business since a lack of adequate start-up capital was found to be one of the key factors to lack of viability of restaurant start-ups. The study also recommended that managements of start-up restaurants armed themselves with credible knowledge about the competitive environment in the field before venturing into it. Also, it is the recommendation of the study to managements to ensure to site their restaurant businesses in areas that ensure visibility and convenience to customers, ensure to promote the business, ensure good inventory keeping and staff management as well as to keep good relations between suppliers and customers.