Franchising is a huge part of the restaurant industry. Many people ask me about buying and operating a restaurant franchise. Despite my mild obsession with the Coffee Wars between Dunkin’ Donuts and Starbucks, I don’t really know the in’s and out’s of restaurant franchises the way I do with independent restaurants. It is my restaurant Achilles Heel.

Good news though! About.com just welcomed its new Guide to Franchises, Dan Daszkowski. A glimpse at Dan’s bio shows that he has way more franchising experience than moi. He can give you the lowdown on business plans, legalities and tips for buying a new or existing franchise. Here are a few restaurant franchises he’s recently discussed:

• Subway- A Franchise Review
• Dunkin’ Donuts Expansion
• McDonalds & the Recession

Photo Credit: Getty Images

Now, my husband/business partner and I both worked in restaurants before owning one. So before I get a deluge of emails and comments that this myth is a bunch of bogus let me explain.

Working in a restaurant before owning one is preferable in this industry. It is the only way to really understand how a restaurant operates, in both the front and back of the house. But just because you have worked in a restaurant doesn’t mean you are ready to own one. Being an employee is very different than being an employer.

As an employee, you can go home after your shift and not worry about how the restaurant is going to make its rent. Or how your going to pay the electric bill if you have another slow weekend. You aren’t thinking of ways to trim labor costs or improve the menu. Owning a restaurant is a 24/7 job. It never goes away. It is always with you. Whether you want it there or not.

If you recall Restaurant Myth #7, people with no experience in the restaurant biz should not open a restaurant, you are probably wondering “So who should open a restaurant?” Well, I'll tell you who I think make the best restaurant owners. People with who are tenacious. People who don’t give up, even when common sense is screaming at them to do so. People who really believe that they can be a success. People who are Patient. Because, despite stories on the Food Network, success does not come overnight in this business, if it comes at all.

My husband and I used to make fun our boss and his wife who owned the restaurant we worked during college. We used to joke about how cheap they were, and how they didn’t know what they were doing. How they always screwed up the schedule. Yaddah, yaddah, yaddah. I’m sure every restaurant employee has the same story. Now I look at that couple with absolute reverence. They have been in business for over 25 years. Their restaurant is an institution in our little Maine town. While they may have had some bumps along the way, they persevered and succeeded. It doesn’t get much better than that, in my opinion.

I know there are a number of people on my staff that would jump at the chance to open their own restaurant. I also know that they think my husband/business partner and I are bumbling idiots at times, but that's okay. Because I hope that eventually some of them can own their own restaurant and look back at us with the same respect we give our old bosses.

Mother’s Day is just around the corner. For many restaurants Mother’s Day is one of the busiest of the year, along with New Years Eve and Valentine’s Day. New restaurants often make big blunders on hectic occasions, such as Mother’s Day. Common Mother’s Day blunders include overbooking and understaffing. The first year we opened for Mother’s Day at our restaurant we overbooked. We had huge parties of families with crying toddlers and elderly people in wheelchairs crammed into our pub, waiting two hours for their table. Now that is good way to ruin any special occasion.

Luckily we learned A LOT from that first Mother’s Day. Namely, don’t be greedy and space the reservations out better.

Running a limited menu on busy days like Mother’s Day is another way to keep customers happy and your turnover rate high.

Do you have any harrowing restaurant Mother’s Day tales? Share your restaurant stories at the Restauranting Forum .

One of the newest innovations in restaurant technology are from a company out of Miami, Florida. Called Menus That Talk, these electronic menus are designed to help people with visual and hearing impairments, as well as act as a translator for those who do not speak English. Simply press a button and viola! The menu will describe the various dishes and meals offered by the restaurant.

Menus That Talk come in different varieties, to help various special needs. They are multilingual, for Spanish speaking patrons (or whatever second language is popular in your area). They offer buttons imprinted with Braille for the blind. For the hearing impaired Menus That Talk come with a detachable hand-held earphone which interfaces with most modern hearing-aids. There is even a service button to let your server know you are ready to order.

Currently there are eight different languages offered, as well as different voice features. Restaurants could have Elvis describing their menu or a speaker with an Italian (or other) accent. These features are a great way to customize your restaurant’s dining experience even more.

Cost for Menus That Talk varying, depending on what features you need and how many units you are looking purchase. According to Susan Perry, President of Menus That Talk, an independent restaurant can lease a complete package for around $120 per month.

A bonus for many independent restaurants who gross less than million dollars annually is a 50% federal tax credit to go toward Menus That Talk.

For More Menu Ideas and Advice:

• Menu Layout
• Menu Pricing

What do you think? Are Menus That Talk a good idea? Would you use them in your restaurant? Share your thoughts at the Restauranting Forum.

With the economy continuing in a downward spiral, restaurants all over the country are feeling the pinch. The rise in food and fuel is a double whammy for many food businesses. After all, there is only so much cost that restaurants can pass on to their customers. So how do you get people in during hard times and keep profits up?

For most restaurants it is crucial to advertise during slow times. For national chain restaurants, who have millions of dollars set aside for advertising and marketing, it is a lot easier to spread their message to consumers. Independent restaurants have to be a bit more creative, since most can’t afford a pricey ad campaign. Check out Advertising on a Budget for some ideas on how to get customers in the door, without spending a fortune on advertising.

Consumers are looking for deals and the most bang for their buck right now. Restaurants can lure them in with specials, like two-for-one meal deals, coupon discounts, and other promotional ideas.

I have said it before and I will continue to say it again…and again…and again. Location, people! It is all about location. Yet I know that there are people who aren’t reading this blog (pity the fool, as MR. T would say) because I continue to see restaurants popping up in awful locations.

Case in point: A little burrito joint is getting ready to open in my small, rural Maine town. Now, I like the Mexican idea. It is new niche in our area (we do not count Taco Bell as Mexican food here) and has the potential to expand and grow. I know this because I have researched opening my own Mexican restaurant.

This particular burrito eatery is located on the west side of town, which was once a thriving neighborhood of its own, but is now a run down span of half filled buildings. Strike One. I am guessing the rent was cheap.

There is no parking except right in front of the building. Strike Two. Now, there is a public parking lot across the street, but it is just far enough away to be a nuisance to walk to and from your car in cold or inclement weather. Parking is an especially big issue in Maine. We like to walk in the woods, along our beaches and through our parks. But we don’t like to have to walk far to eat. Unfortunately parking is often overlooked when choosing for a location for a new restaurant.

I hear the place is only doing take-out. Strike Three. This is just a rumor. I am waiting for the place to open to confirm it. I hope they are planning to offer some sit down service. Otherwise, they will be missing the most obvious opportunity to expand their products to a wider market.

I speak from painful and costly experience when I talk about the importance of a restaurant’s location. Just because a building is beautiful and/or cheap, doesn’t mean it will be a successful restaurant. But I also understand you have to take a gamble in this business. If we all waited for the perfect place & time to open a new restaurant, there would be a lot of hungry people in the world.

I will keep you posted on the burrito place. Perhaps my Restaurant Radar is off on this one. We will have to just wait and see.

Earth Day is coming up on April 22. This is a great time for restaurants to assess what changes they can make to be more environmentally friendly. Restaurants use a lot of energy and produce a lot of waste. But with a few small changes, many restaurants can move one step closer to “going green” and helping the environment.

• How to Go Green at Your Restaurant
• How to Buy Energy Efficient Restaurant Equipment
• Green Restaurant Association

April Vacation is just around the corner for many school districts. This means a lot families dining out while on break. When I walk into a restaurant with my husband and our four children, I can almost hear the groans of the wait staff. Great a bunch of kids. Little do they know that my children are restaurant kids. They have grown up in the business and know what is expected of them in public. Unfortunately, not every parent is so lucky.

While restaurants can’t control kids behavior (oh wouldn’t it be nice though) they can make the whole dining out process a lot easier for parents. Not only will parents appreciate the help, they will be more likely to come back, even after the kids stop having public meltdowns.

The gloves are off between McDonalds and Starbucks, as they compete for the ever expanding gourmet coffee market. McDonalds recently released its newest marketing tool, www.unsnobbycoffee.com, to help promote its Free Latte Fridays. Visitors to Unsnobbycoffee.com can fill out a ad-lib email form poking fun at their friends who drink “snobby coffee.” The ad-lib form doubles as a McDonalds coupon for a free espresso. Free Latte Friday is currently limited to the Seattle area and will run for four weeks.

McDonalds latest marketing promotion coincides with the release of Starbucks newest brew, Pike Place Roast. I wonder if Starbucks will retaliate with a website of its own? What do you think? Is Starbucks worth the price? Or is McDonalds right when they say spending hard earned money on expensive coffee is just stupid (their words, not mine). Share your thoughts at the Restauranting Form.

During a recent viewing of Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares, Gordon is getting the low down on the history of the restaurant he will be helping this week. The owner mentioned how successful his grand opening was. He said people, many of whom were friends, loved it and they all said they were coming back. He was very excited. Unfortunately his friends were big fat liars.

Opening a restaurant isn't like the movie Field of Dreams. If you build it they might come. Or they might just say they will come. Or they might show up once and never come back. I don't mean to sound well...mean, but people will lie to you without thinking twice, if they think that is what you want to hear.

I was speaking to a local business man at a wedding of a mutual friend this past winter and he said he was thinking of opening an Italian restaurant in a little run down mill town.

"Oh yeah," he exclaimed, "Everyone has said they would be there every night for some good Italian cooking." And I am sure that people would show up the first couple of weeks, or months. But would the place have staying power in a economically depressed area? Maybe. Maybe not. Hopefully the business man realized that the idea, while popular with friends and families, may need a little more research before opening the doors. So this brings me to Restaurant Myth #7:

Don't Always Believe What People Tell You.

Friends, family, coworkers, even general acquaintances are great for support, but not a substitute for real demographic research and market analysis that is needed to open a successful restaurant.