I've helped dozens of restaurant and hotel concepts go from napkin sketch to opening night. Here are the three mistakes I see first-time owners make over and over:

1. Choosing a name before defining the experience.

Your brand name should be the last thing you decide, not the first. Start with: who is your guest? What do they feel when they walk in? What story are you telling? The name falls out of that — not the other way around.

2. Underinvesting in the first impression.

Your logo, signage, and menu design are doing more selling than your food ever will — at least in the first 6 months. A $200 Fiverr logo next to a $300K buildout is like putting a plastic bumper on a Porsche.

3. No project management = no opening date.

Most first-time owners try to PM their own buildout. Contractors, permits, suppliers, designers — it spirals fast. The ones who open on time and on budget have someone quarterbacking the entire process.

If you're planning a hospitality concept and want a second set of eyes, I do free discovery calls. No pressure, just clarity.

— Fadi