A Detailed Guide On How To Start A Waffle Restaurant In 2023

Waffles have created an enormous wave and have hit almost every nook and corner of the country. It must not be a surprise if you see new Waffle outlets on every street flooding with a long queue at a busy hour even on a weekday! This craze has led to the proliferation of various Waffle restaurants. However, merely planning to start a Waffle Restaurant is not enough; there are multiple tangents where a considerable amount of focus must be given if you want to make your Waffle Business a booming success. This article will help you write a winning Restaurant Business Plan for your Waffle Business. 

Focus on these Key Areas to Start a Waffle Restaurant

Starting a Waffle business in India, just like any other business is no cakewalk. Read below and know the areas that you must keep in mind while starting a Waffle business and save yourself and your restaurant from any failures. 

1. Shop & Property

There are a lot of things that go into the location search; it is difficult to point to any one thing. You will have to know where the market is, whether the other brands are doing successfully in the desired location. You must bring into force a research team that would extensively conduct a location analysis based on crowd density that resides there, your targeted audience, expected footfall, income of your audience, demographics, safety of location, the price and accessibility to market and parking spaces and most importantly how your competitors are doing in that location. You should consider looking at different localities and areas before deciding where to start your waffle business.

If you are focusing on Takeaway and have a small seating space, customers may order from you and then sit in their vehicles and eat. Thus, having a decent parking space is an essential criterion to consider when you start a Waffle Business.

Waffles are enjoyed by all age groups, but statistically, children, youngsters, and women are seen to have an affinity towards this particular sweet treat. Thus, you should ideally choose the location of your waffle restaurant based on this target group. Malls, University areas, and marketplaces are a good choice for the location of the Waffle Outlet.

The rent of your waffle restaurant can range from Rs 50,000- 1,00,000 per month and the size of the property should not be less than 450 Sq ft. However, the rent would vary depending on the type of the locality where the shop is located, the size of the setup, and your budget.

2. Licensing

To carry on your waffle business without any legal hindrances, you must under all circumstances acquire the much-needed licenses to open a Quick Service Restaurant. The most important of all these licenses include the following-

• FSSAI License– You can acquire Food License, by merely applying through its website www.fssai.gov.in. Various agencies would complete the paperwork on behalf of you and would charge you around Rs 2,000.
• GST Registration- In the past the restaurant owner had to apply for various tax licenses separately, but now you need to register for recently introduced GST. For this, you will require proof of ownership or tenancy along with details of items to be traded and your details. GST registration is a simple process wherein an Individual, Partnership firm or Registered Company can obtain it by filing basic documents online.
• Local Municipal Corporation Health License- As a restaurant owner, you will have to contact the local health inspector, and they will guide you through the process of acquiring the Municipal Corporation’s health license. The license fee will cost around Rs 3,000.
• Police Eating House License- Although Police Eating House License can be obtained once you have started with your business, however, it is highly recommended that you get them done before starting your outlet to avoid any legal hindrances. If you as a restaurant owner want to acquire Eating House License, then you will have to apply to the city or state police headquarters. Nowadays, in most of the cities, the applicant can apply online for this license. This license will cost you around Rs.300.
• Fire License- It is imperative that your Waffle restaurant premises have a proper fire security arrangement. For this arrangement, one has to acquire the No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the fire department. Once you apply, the officials would then inspect your restaurant and decide on granting the grant of the NOC from the Fire Department. As of now, there is no fee required for NOC.

Here is a detailed guide on the restaurant licenses needed to open a food business in India and the steps to procuring them.

3. Restaurant Interior and Furniture

In a Quick Service Restaurant such as a Waffle Business, you can set up shop with just a few tabletops and sitting stools. Remember interior design elements like tables and chairs impact the psychology of a customer and make them stay more or leave fast. You can get these for as low as Rs 20,000. The service area should be pleasant and be welcoming to the customers. You also need to have air-conditioning, lighting, and interior design done based on the theme and brand of your waffle restaurant. The cost of restaurant interior and furniture would come around Rs 1,00,000. However, you can go as high or low as per your budget.

4. Online Food Ordering

Considering that takeaways and online delivery are an in-thing, especially for a Quick Service Restaurant such as waffle business, your waffle outlet must be well equipped with all that is necessary. Get yourself integrated with various online delivery agencies like Zomato, Foodpanda, Swiggy. Listing on these platforms is free. Online ordering services usually take a percentage out of each order. Hence, the cost that you would incur for online food ordering depends on the sale of your Waffles.

5. Deciding the Menu

While it is a no-brainer that in a Waffle Business you would be serving Waffles, you still need to focus on the Menu to keep it innovative and attractive to the customers. Since you have limited options in the variety that you would be serving, you can try Menu Innovation to give yourself an edge over other Waffle Businesses and also to keep your customers hooked. Since ice-creams are a side along with Waffles, you can introduce Waffle-witches, which are Waffle ice-cream sandwiches. Waffles are also traditionally breakfast items, and you can offer Pancakes, Waffles and Bacon strips in an all-day breakfast menu. Similarly, you can offer a variety of Shakes and Drinks to cater to a bigger audience. Price the menu based not just on the cost of your waffles but also on the demographics of your target audience. Conduct extensive research of their spending habits so that you can turn them to your regulars. As far as designing the menu is concerned never put Rupee signs on it as it reminds the customer of the fact that they are spending money. Understand the psychology of the customers while designing your menu.

6. Kitchen Equipment and Grocery

Starting a Waffle Business does not need much of your investment. The cost of the Waffle Iron ranges from Rs.1500- 5000. You can initially purchase two Waffle Irons, and you’d be good to go. However, one of the significant issues with Waffle Irons is that the coating on the Waffle Irons fade away very frequently, hence replacing them or coating them at regular intervals is a must. In addition to that, other necessary kitchen equipment is also required, for example, plates, frying pan, spatulas, bowls, spoons and the like. These together will roughly cost you Rs 20,000. You must also have a freezer to keep the ice-cream. While planning to start a waffle outlet, you must know that the most important thing is to make the perfect batter. Here comes the importance of grocery and inventory. You must always keep a week’s grocery in store. Grocery for a week would roughly cost you Rs. 10,000. Hence, the kitchen & grocery would roughly cost you Rs 50,000. Invest in minimal essential resources, which is how you would be able to increase your waffle sales. 

7. Staff

A waffle business does not require much staff; you can hire two chefs, a server, a cashier and probably two in-house delivery boys. The monthly salary of the chefs would be Rs.20,000 each, the server would charge Rs.10,000, and the cashiers’ would be around Rs. 15,000. Having delivery boys is a subjective thing, since, mostly waffle outlets are integrated with the various delivery agencies. If you are considering having delivery boys, their salary would not be more than Rs.10,000.

Thus, leaving the delivery boys your total cost behind the staff would be around Rs. 50,000. Use your restaurant POS to keep track of your delivery executives. However, if you’re working on a tight budget, you can start your waffle business with two-three kitchen staff who prepare the waffles and serve them as well. Since it’s a QSR, you can have Self-Service and use disposable plates and cutlery to cut down on the labor costs.

You can also your restaurant POS to make sure your staff is working to the point. Instead of keeping track of their attendance, performances, and efficiencies manually, you must have a system to analyze your staff’s performances.

8. Marketing

Waffles are the new Momo! In addition to that, there are Waffle Restaurants that are cropping up every single day in every nook and corner of the city hence it is imperative for you to market well.

It is essential to maintain a balance between Online and Offline Marketing while Marketing for a new Waffle Business. You can use Social Media to your advantage to reach out to maximum people without spending much. Remember to create a Facebook page and engage with your audience as much as you can. You may also need to run Facebook ads initially to reach out to the right audience. You can even get on Instagram and Snap chat to increase audience engagement and create a before-launch buzz. Engaging with bloggers and inviting them to cover your waffle restaurant will enable you to reach out to their fanbase.

Distributing pamphlets is also one of the most tried and tested methods of Offline Restaurant Marketing. You can get around 30,000 pamphlets printed for approximately 25,000. This should last you for the first three months of business.

You also need to get the menu and logo designed by a professional. Having a menu board and standee is also essential while setting up shop. You can get this done for around Rs 5000.

Also, remember to set aside a budget for the Inauguration of your Waffle Business. It is advisable to go for a Soft-Opening where you invite a few of your close friends and family and gather their feedback. Once the business is up and running, you can go for a proper Inauguration where you can make it as grand as possible! To increase your waffle sales since day one, you should be able to make excellent market strategies.

9. POS Software

While many people may be tempted to skip having a Point of Sale (POS) software while opening a waffle business, but trust us it will turn out to be beneficial for you in the long run. A POS system does not only help streamline your billing operations but also enables you to keep a clear track of your inventory and reduces the food costs. Having a Cloud-based POS that will make your waffle business seamless would cost you roughly Rs. 20,000. You can run it from your tablet or laptop as well. It will most probably help you in scaling your business as well as waffle sales.

Apart from the above mentioned basic costs, there are some miscellaneous costs such as Aprons for the staff, Mobile phones for accepting telephonic orders, laptop or tablet for a cloud-based POS solution.

You can get as extravagant while opening your waffle restaurant based on your budget. In this article, we have covered the basics that would help you open a Waffle business in the most minimalistic way possible.