Managing a restaurant and bringing it to the point where it can maintain profitability in the long term involves a tricky balancing act. Chief among these concerns would be that of keeping your costs down to the bare minimum. It can cost several hundreds of thousands of dollars just to create an eatery that will be able to cater to the basic customer class, so you need to cut down your expensed whenever and wherever you can.
The only problem is that decreasing costs comes with a proportional decrease in quality for the most part. Most restaurateurs are cautious about trying to by cheap restaurant chairs, for example, but what if we told you that there is a way to work around this issue? Essentially, there is a way to buy chairs in large enough quantities thereby making the total cost lower due to economies of scale.
There are two ends of the spectrum worth considering whenever things like this are being discussed. On the one hand, some chairs are crafted by experts and artisans. You will be able to see the labor they put into each and every carving in the chair, thereby presenting the most ornate and aesthetically pleasing seating arrangements that anyone can bear witness to.
On the opposite corner lies an entirely different type of chair, one that is produced through mass assembly lines. This allows each chair to be more or less identical to each other, and bulk production generally tends to allow for more margins as well. While you won’t see the same level of customization in cheaper chairs purchased in a bulk order, the savings mean that the ends truly justify the means from an objective perspective.
The main question you need to ask yourself is what your goals for your restaurant happen to look like. If you’re trying to appeal to customers that have a discerning palate, finely crafted chairs would be your best bet. However, we would hazard a guess that you place more stock in profits over prestige, in which case bulk chair buying is a singularly beneficial course of action to take.
So, where exactly can you go about finding these affordable chairs we are speaking of? China can be a great choice, since this nation state has made a name for itself by sending out low cost products. The East Asian economic and manufacturing powerhouse has managed to repair its reputation by no longer offering products that don’t mean minimum quality standards. This can give you quite a bit of confidence that your chairs won’t break into a splintered heap not too long after your customers settle down on them.
Then again, a lot of entrepreneurs know that time is of the essence. Ordering chairs from China might lead to a waiting period that could last upwards of several weeks on end. During this time, your restaurant would be unable to service any clients. It is perfectly possible to run a business that is operating at a loss, but you can’t last very long at all if the business in question is not bringing in any revenue whatsoever.
Hence, it might be better to forego the long shipping period that buying from China entails and instead try to buy locally. Plenty of local shipping companies have established long standing contacts with Chinese manufacturers. Products are shipping in on a regular basis, so instead of having to deal with the source you can just have an intermediary step in to handle everything on your behalf.
This gives you the best of both worlds. Not only do you get to avail the excellent prices of Chinese products, but you will also gain the ability to skip the nerve wracking process of waiting for your import to clear customs. All sorts of things can go wrong while goods are being shipped halfway around the world, and you probably don’t want to have to deal with given how full your schedule already is.
One thing that might be worth considering is what types of chairs you opt for. Certain chairs are made of balsa wood, a ridiculously cheap raw material that offers surprising durability so long as it is treated right. Hollow metal chairs can also serve you well, since they are not built with solid metal rods that can often drive the cost up to unmanageable levels.
Finally, we have to point to plastic chairs out as well. It is rare to see up and coming restaurateurs recognize the advantages of these chairs, since a fairly large proportion of them think that metal and wood take the top spot. We are not saying that metallic and wooden chairs are entirely inferior to those of the plastic variety. All we are trying to assert is that plastic can be a great way to offer some variety, incorporating chairs that can be a big draw for members of the entire economic spectrum.
To summarize, inexpensive restaurant chairs are picking up a lot of steam in the modern era. Putting the bulk of your investments towards the creation of an astounding menu, hiring staff that can successfully execute the preparation of dishes included in this menu and paying all of the bills incurred during a month of operation can create a recipe for success.
If you are sensible enough to find chairs that won’t put any undue financial strain on your fledgling concern, you can divert resources to the aforementioned areas. It might be touch and go at first, but sooner or later you will come to realize that bulk chair orders can be just as good as buying a smaller batch of artisanal chairs at least from a practical point of view.
