If you are starting your own restaurant then there's no doubt that you need some help. There is a lot to know and unless you have at least five years experience with owning your own restaurant then you don't know nearly enough. So you have to tap into a wealth of information somewhere.

To learn how to own and operate your own restaurant you may want a free business plan. If this is the case, then you should probably think twice.

While a free restaurant business plan will show you how a sample business is run, it will not help you very much (if at all) with the specific information you'll need to run your very own restaurant. In other words, while it will help you a little but and may not be a bad starting point, it should never be mistaken for giving you all the help you'll need.

What you really need when you open your own restaurant is a mentor. You need someone who has experience owning his/her own successful restaurant(s) for several years. You need someone who can help you make decisions and will show you what's right and wrong as you begin in the restaurant business. If you want to be successful with your new restaurant, having a mentor isn't an option, it's a necessity.

But not just anyone should be accepted as a mentor. First of all the person has to have experience owning and operating one or more successful restaurants for many years. Next, the person has to be willing to share his/her information with you. Beyond that the person also must be willing to take a look at your plans and help you develop your very own business plan - not a generic one but one that's very specific with what you want to do with your restaurant. From there, your mentor should also be willing and able to help you move from the planning stage all the way to the actual operation of your business.

Of course you have to make sure a potential mentor really wants to help you, because it is extra work for the person. Also, the mentor needs to be willing to help you for at least two years. (Remember it usually takes two to three years to make a restaurant profitable.) While you'll need a mentor less and less as time passes, the commitment will still be needed just in case.

If you are starting up your own business then maybe you want a free restaurant business plan to begin with. While free restaurant business plans aren't bad, they also aren't very useful. So if you want a free restaurant business plan to really help you, you should think twice. What you really need is a mentor. A mentor will help you get your business started and then he/she will also help you operate your restaurant as it gets off the ground. So make sure you don't just settle for a free business report to help you get started with your very own restaurant.