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Restaurant Management - Tips for Buying Restaurant Equipment
Nothing is more frustrating in the operation of a restaurant than a piece of equipment that breaks down. Of course, equipment only falters during your rush on Friday night; just before the weekend when repairs are hard to arrange. Besides the operational and customer service issues, time spent working on equipment, securing repairs and waiting on parts and service can waste many hours that could be spent in a more productive way.

After three restaurants, many years and many mistakes, here are a few equipment buying ideas to save you thousands of dollars and many hours of staff labor and your sanity.

• Do I buy new or used equipment? The answer is both. You have some decisions to make before you start looking. Ask yourself these questions

• How critical is the piece of equipment to my operation? In other words, a second microwave for warming may not be as important as your steamer in a seafood operation. If your steamer goes down, your line may go in the weeds and customer ticket times double.

• How fast do I need the equipment?

• What can I do to optimize my purchase dollars? For instance, if you need a new flat top griddle, should I include a cheese melter that is optional with most models as a backup to my salamander? If I am buying a convection oven, should I buy a combination convection/steamer or perhaps one of the new turbo quick cook ovens

• If I upgrade a model or combination, can it add flexibility to my menu?

• What will my budget allow? Will the investment offer opportunities to produce new sales?
If you are cash rich and fast delivery is important, new equipment is the way to go. On the other hand, if you are like most restaurant operations and every penny is scrutinized, then used equipment may be a more sensible option. Used equipment can be tricky to buy without worrying about buying someone else's problems. If you are going to buy used, follow these tips;

• Most important - know who is going to service the equipment if it needs work before you buy. If you have a regular service technician, call them for advice.

• If possible, arrange a warranty with the seller for a period of time.

• Never, no matter how good the bargain is, buy restaurant equipment over the internet unless you understand the shipping and setup costs. Only buy from a seller on the Internet that accepts credit cards. Credit card companies offer a small amount of protection from fraudulent offers.

• Remember when replacing equipment there are many technical issues. For instance, 220 volt electrical connections may have different phases. Most gas appliances also need electric for motors and electronics. Amperage varies with most electric appliances. One toaster may draw 15 amps and another may draw 20 amps that will overload the circuit and require an electrician to install a new circuit (if possible).

Buying new equipment is less of a gamble than used, but you pay handsomely for the luxury of a long term warranty and a more reliable device. The biggest issue with new equipment is still service. What happens if it does break down? It's fine to have a long term warranty, but if service has to come from some other area that may take days or weeks, don't buy. One $5800 nightmare we had was a great convection oven we bought new and it lasted with heavy use for five years. When we needed an element for it, no one stocked the part. The element had to come from Germany and we had to find someone to work on it. After a week or two of haggling, we had to buy a new piece of equipment due to the disruption of customer service.

Arguably, if all conditions were perfect and you have the cash reserves, new equipment is the best way to eliminate headaches in the future - at least for the life of the equipment. There are some good used equipment buys available occasionally. One example is the many chain restaurants that open and close with regularity. You can find some exceptional bargains if you can locate the wholesale buyers of chain restaurant equipment. Some wholesalers have warehouses full of relatively new equipment.

Remember, don't focus just on the piece of equipment for the best buy. Factor in the impact of operating without the piece of equipment if it fails. Hospitality starts with meeting the customer's expectations. Don't let faulty equipment ruin your chances.

Larry Edger is an author and multi-concept restaurant owner. Widely known for the best selling book, The Restaurant Ebook, A Guide to Keeping Your Dream Off the Chopping Block. Larry has written numerous articles, books and examples of actual restaurant management tools that have been used for years in many operations. He also writes for On a Wait, a restaurant blog.