While the concept of the American Dream is as varied as the people who live in this country, for a good number of folks, that dream involves owning a successful business. And in a country with a huge demand for innovative, delicious food, restaurants are often the business of choice.

Of course, simply deciding to open a restaurant is only the first step. After drawing up business plans and determining the viability of the project, business owners eventually must turn to the process of taking bids for construction and/or renovation. Here at Rockford Structures, we have built our fair share of restaurants in Northern Illinois, and we want to make sure first-time restaurateurs have everything they need to make a smart determination and survive the building process.

The Timeline

What most people care about when considering contractors and subcontractors is the timeline. Putting together a restaurant from scratch involves a lot of moving parts, but in general, we tell our clients to expect the entire project to take four to six months from start to finish. There are all sorts of television shows that make it seem like these renovations can be done much more quickly, but the reality is that even the hardest-working crews don’t often finish more quickly than a couple of months.

Your timeline will vary based on several factors, including various site inspections, the size, and difficulty of the project, scheduling, communication, delivery of materials, and even the weather. Your proposal will give you a good idea of what to expect in terms of a timeline for your restaurant’s construction.

Get Approval for Plans

Once you’ve got a proposal and construction plan that you like, your next step is to submit that preliminary plan to your local and/or state building inspector to approve them before breaking ground. There are so many things these inspectors have to consider, ranging from fire and health code requirements to plumbing and ventilation. You absolutely cannot move forward without first getting the approval of these various inspectors.

Waiting for Delivery of Materials

Once everything is approved, your contractors and subcontractors should begin ordering all the materials you’ll need for the build. Truth be told, this is plays the largest role in determining the timeline for your restaurant’s construction because it’s a waiting game. It often occurs that one thing can’t be built until another thing is built, and that means the whole building process can get held up waiting for materials to arrive. Just remain patient and know that eventually, everything will find its way to your build site, and the restaurant itself will eventually be constructed. 

Staying Apprised of the Details

Bringing your construction proposal and preliminary plans to life is a truly thrilling endeavor, but it also can be stressful with so many individual aspects of the job pulling your attention in all different directions. Do your best to stay apprised of all the details along the way so you don’t lose track of the vision, but also know that if you employ the construction services of Rockford Structures, we’ll do everything we can to make sure you’re happy with the finished product. After all, it is our job to make your American Dream a reality.