With states beginning to reduce the restrictions on restaurants, it’s now becoming a pressing issue to decide what you’re going to do with your restaurant. As we all know, opening the business at 25-50% is, in many cases, worse than being completely closed. In order to reopen your restaurant, vendors need to be repaid and staff needs to be called back.

So, that begs the question: Is it worth it?

To answer that question, you’re going to have to do some soul searching, and run some numbers. I can help you with the numbers, but I’ll leave the plodding depths of your inner-self to you. 

Planning your cash scenarios

You’re going to need to run a cash flow projection in order to figure out if it even is worth opening back up. If reduced occupancy lasts 6 weeks, will you have cash to last? How about 8 weeks? Three months? These are the scenarios you need to figure out. Luckily for you, we’ve created a free cash flow projection spreadsheet to help you run the numbers. We also have an explanation video here to help you fill it out. 

Winter is coming

It’s likely that things won’t be getting back to normal any time soon, and it’s likely that the peak summer business is gone for restaurants. Demand just isn’t going to be there like it normally is. If you are a highly seasonal business like many of our clients are, the concern isn’t necessarily the next 8 weeks, but what does this winter look like without having your normal nest egg built up from summer business? 

In conclusion

At the end of the day, the cash flow projections might just be too tight, and if that’s the case, it might be better to pivot your business, and look into limited-service models (such as ghost kitchens) that are better equipped to deal with this sort of epidemic. The question to ask yourself is, is it worth the risk to return to full-service?