A 22-year-old Bengaluru man shared his experience of opening and closing a restaurant within a month on Reddit, highlighting the physical, mental, and financial challenges of running a food business. The aspiring entrepreneur detailed the struggles of finding a suitable location, managing inventory, and navigating expenses in a student-heavy neighborhood.
Opening the Shop: Dreams vs Reality
“I roamed for nearly 6 months to find a shop, and after roaming day and night, finally I found the shop which had better visibility of the crowd, as I wanted, but the shop was too small as compared to its rent, which was 30000 per month,” he wrote. He rented a house nearby to reduce travel time and spent two months purchasing cooking utensils and printing shop hoardings.
The shop opened in May 2025, and initial sales were around ₹2,000–₹2,500 per day. “It was a good feeling that after all these months, what we wanted to do was finally having a start,” he said. However, the location proved challenging. A popular local eatery in front of his shop drew massive crowds, but the student-heavy audience prioritized cheap, filling meals over quality food.
Closing the Shop: Lessons Learned
The entrepreneur described the grueling schedule, starting at 4:00 a.m. and ending past 11:00 p.m., and the toll it took on his health. “I have to wake up at 4:00 a.m. daily and repeat the schedule for a day till 9:00 p.m. I have to sit in the shop, which barely has any sales,” he wrote, noting he lost 4 kilos in 20 days.
Eventually, he and his brother decided to wind up the restaurant on June 5, 2025. The leftover inventory had to be shifted to a separate rented shop 15 km away for resale. Reflecting on his experience, he wrote, “We went for the crowd instead of knowing what kind of crowd this is and whom we want to serve.” He added, “If you ever feel like burning money, just open a restaurant. The easiest way to lose money is at the tables — either gambling or running a restaurant.”
The Reddit post serves as a candid glimpse into the hardships of running a restaurant and the importance of understanding customer demographics before investing heavily in a food business.
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