The most common reasons why independent restaurants fail:

•Unrealistically high rent and occupancy costs.

•Undercapitalisation and lack of working capital.

•Lack of attention to details in managing financial resources.

•Poor operational management.

•Excessive investment in construction, equipment, renovation, and acquisition costs.

•Poor choice of location.

•Poor choice of concept. A poor concept for a particular location, or a concept without a unique selling proposition (USP), often fails to attract enough customers to make a restaurant profitable.

•Poor or inconsistent food and service. Reliably good food and service are very important to most restaurant guests. Inconsistent food and service negatively impact the overall dining experience and discourage repeat business.

•Lack of a value proposition. Customers instinctively seek value, and when they do not get good value for their money, they do not return.

•Poor business acumen.

Roger Fields. “Restaurant Success by the Numbers”.