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Don’t know what you don’t know?
Most opening mistakes are invisible until they cost money. The pre-opening blind spots checklist names them, Singapore-specific, from the lease clause to the licence timeline, so you find the gaps on paper instead of in the bank statement.
- 32
- Checks
- 8
- Categories
- 1
- Email, no drip campaign
Eight places openings bleed.
What it walks
- 01Concept and business fundamentals
- The plan that has to survive a slow first quarter: break-even, runway, projections on paper before the bank statement writes them for you.
- 02Site and lease
- The clauses nobody reads before signing, then pays for later: permitted use, reinstatement, the exit.
- 03Licences and regulatory
- SFA, NEA and the licence timeline that sets your opening date. Rent does not wait for approvals.
- 04Kitchen and equipment
- A kitchen laid out for your menu at your volume, and an equipment list that is not the contractor's generic one.
- 05Menu and costing
- Every dish costed, and priced to survive GST, service charge and platform commissions.
- 06Manpower
- Headcount, work passes, training and a payroll that is ready before the first cycle, not after it.
- 07Operations and systems
- POS, SOPs, inventory and cash handling, decided before day one. Variance you never measured is money you never knew you lost.
- 08Launch
- A soft opening that keeps the mistakes private, and a 30-day review already in the calendar.
From page two
“One early exit cost six figures. Read the exit clause as if you will use it.”
Every check comes with the reason it matters, from shops that paid for the lesson. No theory, no filler.
Questions owners ask.
Before we talk
- Do I really need an F&B consultant to open a restaurant in Singapore?
- Not for everything. You need one when the mistakes are expensive and hard to undo: the lease, the kitchen layout, the first hire, a menu priced wrong for the room. Most openings that struggle were readable early, in the numbers, before the doors opened. Crux is for the owner who wants those blind spots named while they can still change the plan.
- What does Crux actually do?
- Two situations. Opening a new place: concept and feasibility, venue and lease review, a menu built to a food-cost target, the setup before the doors open, and the launch itself. Fixing an existing one: a full read of the shop as it trades now, its leaks named and ranked, and the systems tightened so it holds under a full room and runs without the owner on the floor. Licensing, photography and video sit alongside both.
- How is Crux different from other restaurant consultants in Singapore?
- Crux is run by an operator, not an advisor who has only ever advised. Thirty-plus F&B brands, time on the line, and a five-outlet group's P&L run first-hand. The work is hands-on: planner, executor and advisor, on the floor when the job needs it, never the one signing your cheques. And it ends on purpose, leaving a shop that stands on its own, not a dependency and not a deck you file away.
- How much does it cost?
- Crux does not bill by the hour. Every engagement starts with a conversation, then a written scope, timeline and price, agreed before anything begins. It runs from one-off reviews to month-by-month setup and launch partnerships, scoped to where you are. The work is priced to pay for itself: a wrong lease or a mispriced menu costs far more than getting it right the first time.
- Can I use Crux OS without hiring the consultancy?
- Yes. Crux OS, the operations suite, is a product you can run on its own: invoices, inventory, rosters, payroll and a live P&L in one place. It also comes built into the consulting work, so the systems set up during an engagement keep running after. Take the software alone, or take both.
- How do I start?
- Message Crux on WhatsApp, through the site, or by email. The first step is a conversation about where you are and what you need, before anything is scoped or priced. If it is a fit, you get a written scope and price to approve, then the work begins.
The checklist
Take it. Tick honestly.
Free. One email, no drip campaign. The unticked boxes are where your opening bleeds.
Want the gaps closed for you, not just named? See what Crux does.