Opening a fish and chip shop - Looking for views/Opinions

My tips are:

1. Choose your staff well. A good team is paramount to your success and without them you will have a very hard time doing well. At the same time look after them so they love their job and like working in the industry and also for you.

2. Do the best you can to offer customers the best value for their money. Choose your suppliers and the products you sell to be the best quality for the money. Do not buy rubbish produce because it's cheap. You may have short term success but people aren't stupid and if you give them crap, you won't see them again regardless of how cheap the prices are.

3. Be strict with your trading hours. Not good for reputation if your hours are all over the place. If you say you open and close at certain times, do it. Customers won't be happy if they come half hour before you're suppose to close and you're already closed because 'it was a quiet night'.

4. Do not be afraid to throw away stock that isn't fresh because of a quiet day the day before. If it's not fresh and you sell it, your customer will know. You won't see them again. Trying to save a couple of dollars in stock might cost you a lifelong customer.

5. Keep you shop clean. People don't like unkept shops especially food stores. Make sure you have a regular cleaning schedule and follow it. No exceptions. The food authorities don't muck around when it comes to hygiene and cleanliness and when you don't keep things in order they have the power to cease trading until you clean up your act. Missed trading days are missed income producing days. Not to mention the black mark on your reputation which is listed on a public website for all to see. KEEP IT CLEAN.

6. Look after your customers especially the regular and long term ones. Throwing something extra in from time to time will really hit home. They will appreciate the fact you value their business and this can lead to loyalty.

7. Give good sized portions. Nobody likes to finish eating and still be hungry. Make sure the portion sizes are sufficient even if it costs a bit extra, if the quality and quantity is there they will be happy.

8. Make your store attractive, bright lights and we'll lit food bars make the food more appealing. The more appealing the food is, the greater the chance of selling more.

9. Always keep your display windows full. Doesn't matter what. There is no bigger warning sign to customers that your shop is quiet, than when there is hardly any stock in the window. You need to give the impression you turn over alot of stock.

10. Finally, take it a step at time and enjoy what you do. You will be your most productive. and creative when you are enjoying yourself. Food shops are hard work. Long hours and can be stressful at times. They can also be rewarding financially and satisfying knowing that customers appreciate your quality food and dedication.

I wish you all the best of luck,

York.

 

DW just told me that some places pre cook the chips for the day then do a final cook as needed. This is how some places get the crisp.

pinkboy

 

Thank you!

I ran a cafe a few years ago so I'm not completely new to the industry. Of course a cafe is totally different to a fish and chip shop so I still have a lot to learn. I worked in a fish and chip shop about 5 years ago so have a small amount of knowledge of the way things work and the processes. I was only an employee back then so I understand owning the shop will come with a heap more responsibility and stresses.

I was thinking of adding home delivery to the services I offer. I know fish doesn't travel that well but most people travel home with it anyway so I'm interested to hear everyone's thoughts.

 

Maybe only service a small area. But then I suppose that defeats the purpose. What I would do is put the focus on chips. Have heaps of flavoring options, more than just chicken salt. It's such a high margin product but people love them. I used to just buy nothing but chips.

 

These chips would be rejected in any chip loving country. No way!

 

Will yours be in a touristy area, or a more standard suburban location ? Been years since I was there but I still rave about the outlet on the dock at Hobart. Used to serve these great treats in fancy cone-shape packaging for the tourists. Maybe some Tassie locals can provide the name of the place?

 

An extra chip shop in the world can only ever be a good thing. Bravo, love your work!

 

... and hot ... nothing worse than the shop owner turning the heat of the oil down to save costs and you end up with a slimy, greasy piece of fish and soggy chips. I like my fish and chips crispy ... actually ... double frying makes them really crispy. Fry them up, let them drain, then pop them back in for 15-30 seconds, drain again.

Also, make a quality fish an open - perhaps even a crumbed version - as not everyone likes to eat shark ... and a wedge of lemon is always a big plus. See if you can get a few sources of backyard lemon trees, as those suckers are really expensive otherwise.

Oh oh - wouldn't it be fantastic if you could wrap the outer layer in some newspaper - probably not allowed to nowadays, but that would be so cool.

Wouldn't bother with home delivery ... the cost to do so won't be worth it and the chances of the food being cold/soggy is high.

 

Make sure you have a decent seafood basket. I love a good seafood basket. And a good quality grilled fish. No frozen crap. The only thing that should be frozen in your shop should be the chips and ice creams.

 

There used to be a fish and chip shop in City Beach called The Groper and His Wife, regularly voted the best in Perth, just googled it and discovered it burned down two years ago!
Top quality produce, light crisp batter, a range of fresh attractive salads, a couple of deserts, seating outside. It was pricey but always really busy. The only turn off was the wait time on weekends because they were so popular.
You would have to research the demographics of your target area, not sure how such a place would go down in a less cashed-up suburb.

 

It depends on the area.
At San Remo in Victoria there is the a Co-operative, most nights during the Summer you have to wait up to 45 minutes for fish and chips. The fish is very, very fresh, it spoils you for eating fish anywhere else and the chips are golden and crisp. The scallops (sea scallops) are so fresh I can't stop eating them and they are done in a crisp batter.When you order they give you one of those square things that buzzes when your order is ready, as there are so many people waiting that you have to go outside.
A new fish and chip shop opened in Greensborough (Melbourne suburb) recently and I tried it. I will never buy from there again, after having such fresh fish at San Remo I just can't eat the obviously frozen fish.
Make sure the fish is fresh and as everyone has said the chips need to be crisp.

 

Twice cooked chips are pretty standards and result in a better chip, why would that be rejected by any chip lover?

 

I'm thinking of the places that serve re-cooked chips that have been lying around since earlier in the day. Instant reject.

 

There's a difference between par cooking chips for a better result and re frying to order, and simply re frying for laziness. Unfortunately a lot of people don't recognise the difference and would reject it thinking it's laziness when it's actually a better product and requires more work.