Chef Ranveer Brar reveals how his failed restaurant taught him financial discipline; says 'It is your child, you have to make big decisions before it opens'

Ranveer Brar has been a familiar face on television for over a decade, charming audiences as a celebrated chef and MasterChef India judge. But beyond the spotlight, Ranveer has been deeply rooted in the restaurant business since the 1990s — a journey filled with both highs and hard-earned lessons.

In a candid recent chat with Ritesh Agarwal for Hindustan Times, he opened up about one such lesson that shaped him not just as a chef but as an entrepreneur. Ranveer revealed that it was the failure of one of his own restaurants that taught him the importance of financial discipline in the food business.

He explained how there’s often a misconception — especially among investors — that a restaurant will start making money the moment it opens its doors. But the reality, he shared, is very different. “It takes at least three to six months before a restaurant even begins to break even,” he said, adding that patience and planning are key. It’s this honesty and experience that continues to make Ranveer Brar not just a great chef but a mentor and role model for aspiring restaurateurs across the country.

In the conversation, he shared, "I learnt financial discipline when my restaurant failed." Ranveer also highlighted a harsh truth about the restaurant industry: It’s full of ways to lose money if you’re not careful. He explained, "The problem with restaurants is that there are so many chances of losing that financial discipline that one cannot control it. There are so many places that a tap can start leaking that you sort of you lose your way. You have to build a restaurant business. The investment is not just when the restaurant opens, you have to keep investing till it starts making money. And a lot of investment mindset is, we have opened it, now make money."

Ranveer further mentioned, "Opening a restaurant doesn’t mean that you will start making money. The restaurant will only start making money after it has been running for at least 3-6 months. So I think the ability to forecast well, the ability to understand the importance of working capital, the ability to understand that it will have to run for 6 months, irrespective of the fact there are zero people who come to eat."

Ranveer didn’t hold back when talking about one of the biggest reasons restaurants fail in panic. He stressed that nearly 95 percent of restaurants don’t survive because their owners expect instant returns. When that doesn’t happen, they lose confidence and start making hasty changes, often steering away from their original vision. "You can choose your friends," Ranveer said with a smile, "but your restaurant is like your child. You have to make all the big decisions before it opens."