The pre-opening period is the highest-leverage window in a venue’s life. Every decision made before opening day compounds for months and years afterward. Get it right, and you have momentum, profitability, and a platform to scale. Get it wrong, and you spend your first year firefighting bad decisions made in haste.
Most operators don’t approach pre-opening with the discipline it deserves. They focus on the tangible — fit-out, permits, suppliers. They neglect the strategic decisions that actually define performance. This is where I come in. Here are the 12 decisions that matter most.
The 12 Critical Decisions
1. Concept clarity and positioning. What is this venue? Who is it for? What problem does it solve? Be specific. Not ‘a restaurant’ but ‘a destination for high-end degustation where the wine program is as important as the food.’ Your concept drives every other decision. Clarity here prevents scope creep and keeps the team aligned.
2. Menu scope and pricing architecture. How many dishes? How many price points? What’s your average check? Price too low and you can’t pay staff properly. Price too high and you won’t fill tables. Menu too broad and your team is confused on execution. Menu too narrow and you limit appeal. Design this before opening, not after.
3. Beverage program depth. Are you doing wines by the glass? Full wine program? Cocktails? Beer only? Each is a different level of complexity and investment. A cocktail program requires trained bartenders and consistent recipes. A wine program requires knowledge and quarterly education. Know what you’re committing to before day one.
4. Staffing structure and wage cost modelling. How many FTE do you need? What roles? What shifts? Model your labour cost week by week for the first six months, accounting for penalty rates. Know whether you’re profitable before you hire anyone. This one decision determines whether your venue survives year one.
5. Service style and sequence. How are you serving? Fast casual? Full table service? Counter service? Design your service sequence now. Where does the guest enter? Where do they queue? How long does each step take? This becomes your training blueprint and your operational standard.
6. Supplier selection and terms. Who are you buying from? What terms have you negotiated? Get competitive quotes before opening. Supplier relationships take time to build. Lock in good terms early. A 5% discount on your top five suppliers compounds to serious money over a year.
7. Technology stack — POS, booking, inventory. What system are you using for transactions? Bookings? Stock management? Each has different costs and integrations. Get it right at the start. Changing POS systems after opening is chaos. Evaluate your options now, not six months in.
8. Opening hours and session strategy. Are you lunch and dinner? Dinner only? Late-night? What days are you closed? Your opening hours drive staffing, ordering, and revenue potential. Know your strategy before opening. Changing hours mid-stream disrupts supply chains and staff schedules.
9. Training program and timeline. When do you hire? When does training start? How long? Who trains? Design your training program before you hire anyone. You can’t wing it on opening day. Good venues have staff trained before service even starts. Bad venues are still training on opening night.
10. Standard operating procedures for every department. How is the kitchen organized? How does the bar work? What’s the walk-in management system? Write SOPs for every critical process. These become your accountability mechanism and your training tool. Most venues skip this. Don’t.
11. Soft opening strategy. You’re not opening to the public on day one. You’re doing a soft opening with invited guests, staff, friends. How many days? How many covers? What are you testing? Use soft opening to find gaps before you hit full service. Most operators don’t plan this. Plan it.
12. First 90-day review cadence. How often are you reviewing performance? Weekly? When? You need to look at numbers within the first 90 days because that’s when you can still make meaningful changes. After that, momentum is harder to build. Know what you’re measuring and when.
Why This Matters
I’ve been in venues two weeks into opening where they’re still deciding on their concept. Six weeks in and they’re fighting about service style. Three months in and they realize their menu is too broad and their cooks can’t execute. All of this is preventable. These decisions happen before opening because they have to.
The difference between a venue that thrives and one that survives is whether these 12 decisions were made deliberately or by accident. Deliberate decisions are documented, communicated, and measured. Accidental decisions happen in real time and consume your whole first year.
That’s what pre-opening consulting is for. We work through these 12 decisions. We build your operational blueprint. We anticipate problems and solve them before opening day. By the time you open, your team knows what they’re doing. Your systems are tested. Your supply chains are locked in. You’re ready.