If you dream of running your own restaurant, you need to know the following information.
First and foremost, you need to register a company. Then you need to hire a suitable space (provided that you do now owe one). Bear in mind the designation of the space as it needs to meet certain criteria if you want to turn it into a restaurant. If you need to change the designation of the space, you should turn to the municipality.
If you have doubts about the requirements concerning the premises of the future restaurants, you can consult the officials at the Bulgarian Food Safety Agency.
The next step would be to register the restaurant at the regional department of the Bulgarian Food Safety Agency. Along with the application, you also need to submit a list of the groups of food that you will be offering in the restaurant. Following submission of the application, you should await within 30 days an inspection by this authority at your restaurant.
What you need to introduce into your restaurant business is a food safety management system and good commercial and hygienic practices to ensure that the contamination and pollution risks accompanying the preparation of food and its consumption are reduced to minimum.
If the inspection establishes that the restaurant complies with the statutory requirements, your registration will be approved and you will be issued with a certificate. Following that, you can finally start your restaurant business.
In addition, the tax aspects of your enterprise depend on whether you are sole trader or not and what your annual revenue is. If you are a sole trader and your revenue does not exceed BNG 50 000, you can choose not to register your company under the Value Added Tax Act. However, you still need to pay annual patent tax on your revenue.
Other types of documents that you will need include permission from Fire and Emergency Safety Service, a contract with a Labor Medicine Service to ensure healthy and safe working conditions, and a contract with a disinfecting company. Do not forget that your personnel needs to have certified medicine books, too.
If you decide to terminate your business, you need to notify this to the Bulgarian Food Safety Agency. If you do not do it, you risk a fine.