Become a restaurant owner: test the job before you open your own place

A typical day

• 8:00 am: deliveries arrive; you check temperatures and dates and fill the cold room.
• 9:30 am: prep with the team; dishes of the day chosen from the market.
• 11:45 am: front-of-house briefing on bookings and the allergens in today's specials.
• 12:00 – 2:30 pm: lunch service, you run the pass or the floor.
• 3:00 pm: supplier orders, the week's rota, replies to online reviews.
• 7:00 – 11:00 pm: evening service, then cleaning and fridge readings.
• 11:30 pm: a five-minute review of covers, takings and the day's incidents.

How to become a restaurant owner

In France, no diploma is required to open a restaurant, but several legal duties apply. To serve alcohol, the operator takes the operating permit course (permis d'exploitation): 20 hours over at least three days, valid for 10 years. The licence is declared to the town hall at least 15 days before opening. The team must include at least one person trained for 14 hours in food hygiene, unless a recognised diploma or experience applies. Many owners first gain experience through a cookery qualification or years working in kitchens or front of house. In English-speaking countries, similar food hygiene and licensing rules exist, set locally. The G-Learn trial is a first step to see if the job suits you: its certificate is not a diploma and replaces neither the operating permit nor hygiene training.

Pay

Pay varies widely by region and status. A self-employed restaurant owner's income depends on the business's result after food costs, wages, rent and loans. The first months are often lean: the sector remains fragile, with about 9,468 insolvencies among French cafés, hotels and restaurants in 2025, according to GHR (Altares data). A cautious forecast, reviewed by an accountant or a chamber of commerce, helps estimate what the business could pay you.

The hard parts

• Very long days: two services a day, evenings, weekends and bank holidays, when everyone else is off.
• Constant financial pressure: the cost of produce, energy and staff, with cash flow to watch week after week.
• The operator's legal responsibility for hygiene, alcohol and the safety of premises open to the public, with inspections at any time.

Sources: GHR — Observatoire, bilan de l'année 2025 (février 2026) · Créer Entreprise — Le permis d'exploitation, formation obligatoire · France Compétences — Hygiène alimentaire en restauration commerciale (RS 898) · Walter Learning — Formation hygiène alimentaire obligatoire