Restaurant Owner / Manager
As a restaurant owner/manager you are in control of all aspects of a restaurant. You will be busy taking care of customer service issues, ensuring food quality coming from the kitchen is of a high standard and generally making sure the business side of things run smoothly.
What the job looks like
Salary expectation
starts at $39,455 up to $61,492+
The good
- Entertaining people and seeing them have a good time
- Adding your own touches and vision to a business
- Being your own boss
- Coming up with new ideas
- Being creative
The not so good
- Working long hours and weekends
Being the owner or manager of a restaurant requires excellent planning skills. You will be busy running all aspects of the business, from managing staff and organising menus to arranging functions and implementing health and safety precautions.
You will need to keep track of the budget and accounts to make sure everything balances. Some of the costs you will have to factor in include staff wages, overheads including rent, ordering stock, purchasing or maintaining equipment, utility bills like power and still make a profit. Time management is also another part of mathematics that will help you keep organised.
Communicating with staff and guests so excellent communication skills are essential to keep everything running smoothly. Good English skills will help with writing business applications and understanding the administration side of the business.
Working in hospitality is exciting and social. If you enjoy working as part of a team, love food and want to own a business, then a career as a restaurant owner or manager could be for you.
It's fun, chaotic and you have to love it. I love this industry beyond words.
Pathways to this career
Subject suggestions for the HSC
Choosing your HSC subjects from this list could really help with your career. Think carefully about what you want to study after school as you might need to choose specific HSC subjects for that course and to count towards your ATAR (Australian Tertiary Admission Rank). An ATAR is your academic rank in relation to other HSC students and helps with University admission.
HSC subjects
Some subjects will count towards your ATAR, others will not. Check with your career advisor before making subject selections.
- English (Standard or higher)
- Mathematics (General 2 or higher)
- Food technology
- Business Studies
- VET Hospitality
What can I do after I have finished school?
University degrees
Studying one of these degrees can help with your career.
- Bachelor of Business
Courses and qualifications
Courses and qualifications can give you a great start.
- Diploma in Hospitality
Suggestions
Look for casual or part time work in a restaurant for some experience to add to your resume
- Build customer service skills which are really important in the hospitality industry
- Keep up to date with trends in the food industry. There are plenty of cooking shows on tv that you can watch, or buy some food magazines to draw inspiration from
- Start reading some reviews of restaurants. These are usually included in your local paper or in magazines and it might give you some good ideas on how to one day improve your own restaurant
- Go to career expos and events like university Open Days for information about what you will study
