To tick off

The checklist all the way

Every step in the right order. Tick it off on your phone, or print the list and put it up in the kitchen. Your ticks are saved in the browser.

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Summary

The road to opening runs in seven stages: do the maths on the idea, start the company, arrange the money, secure the premises, register with the municipality, build the kitchen and the menu and open calmly. Plan for three to eight months. The registration with the municipality has to be in at least two weeks before you start handling food.

Before you decide

3 to 6 months before

Write down what you will sell and to whom One sentence is enough. If you cannot manage that, the idea is not ready.
Calculate a normal month: income, rent, staff, ingredients
Visit five places that are similar to what you want to do, at different times
Count how many people pass your planned street on a Tuesday and on a Saturday
Talk to two restaurant owners in the town Most of them answer questions gladly if you are not about to become a competitor.
Decide how much money you can put in yourself
Test the food on twenty people who are not related to you

Company and paperwork

2 to 4 months before

Decide the company form: enskild firma, a sole trader, or aktiebolag, a limited company
Register the company at verksamt.se
Apply for F-skatt and register for moms, the Swedish value added tax
Register as an employer if you are going to have staff
Open a business account at the bank
Check that the company name is free and buy the domain Search the Bolagsverket register before you order signs.
Get accounting software or contact an accounting firm

Money in place

2 to 4 months before

Make a budget for the first year, month by month
Make a cash plan that shows when the money moves
Book a meeting with the bank and bring the documents on paper
Talk to Almi if the bank hesitates
Work out three months of fixed costs and put that money aside This is the item that saves the most restaurants.
Ask for a leasing quote on the equipment you are not buying

Premises and building work

1 to 4 months before

View at least five premises before you choose
Check the imkanal (kitchen extract duct), fettavskiljare (grease trap), drains and electricity Bring a ventilation company to the viewing. One hour there can save six figure amounts.
Read the lease with someone who knows contracts
Check the lease term, notice period, index, moms and extra charges
Apply for bygglov, the building permit, for changed use if it is needed
Apply for a sign permit
Get three quotes for the rebuilding work
Take out business insurance

Permits and registration

At least 4 weeks before

Register the food business with the municipality At the latest two weeks before you start handling food.
Write the egenkontroll, your own food safety routines, for your kitchen
Apply for serveringstillstånd if you are going to serve alcohol
Order waste bins and an agreement for grease emptying
Book duct cleaning and check the fire extinguishers
Report the kassaregister, your cash register, to Skatteverket

Kitchen, till and menu

4 to 8 weeks before

Draw the kitchen flow: delivery, cold storage, prep, cooking, service, dishwashing
Buy or lease the machines and book the installation
Apply for a customer account with two wholesalers and ask for prices
Make a portion calculation for every dish on the menu
Set the prices and enter them in the till
Order packaging, napkins and disposables
Set up a Google Business Profile with address and opening hours Do it before you open, so it has time to become visible.
Set up the ordering page and test a real order

The last weeks and the opening

Week 0 to 1

Hire staff and write employment contracts
Set up the personalliggare, the staff attendance register, and teach everyone to use it
Go through the whole flow with the staff ten times without guests
Do a trial opening one evening for friends and neighbours at half price
Fix what did not work at the trial opening
Open on a Tuesday with a short menu Never a Friday. You need calm days to learn.
Have double staffing the first three days
Ask every satisfied guest for a review

The first month after

Ongoing

Write down the temperatures in the fridges every day
Reconcile the till against the bookkeeping every week
Calculate the ingredient cost as a percentage every week
Remove the three least sold dishes after four weeks
Go out in the neighbourhood again with food to taste
Hold out through the dip in week four It comes for everyone and does not mean that you have failed.

The list covers what applies to most people. Your municipality can have its own requirements, so call the environmental health office and ask about your own premises once the address is set.