22-year-old man closes restaurant after just a month of opening: ‘If you want to burn money…'

A 22-year-old man opened up about the struggles of opening a restaurant.

Opening a restaurant may seem exciting, but for one young man, it quickly turned into a nightmare. A 22-year-old Reddit user shared how his long-awaited restaurant lasted only a month before he had to shut it down.

A Redditor detailed how his restaurant lasted just a month.(Pexels/Representational Image)

"I lost 6 lakhs in my restaurant business in a month," the caption of the post reads.

The Redditor always wanted to start a restaurant or cafe. After six months of constant searching, he finally found a small shop in a busy student area near colleges and hostels.

Restaurant shuts after one month:

According to the post, although the rent of the shop was 30,000 a bit high, the Redditor believed the large student crowd would make it worthwhile.

He spent the next two months buying all the equipment, printing shop hoardings, and preparing for the launch.

The restaurant opened in May 2025. Initial sales were around ₹2,000-2,500 per day, which seemed promising.

However, he soon realised the reality was harsh. The student crowd mainly wanted cheap, filling food, unlike the high-quality dishes he offered. Expenses, including staff salaries, rent, and raw materials, were higher than sales.

Apart from this, running the shop meant waking up at 4 am, preparing food for the 7 am opening, and working until 9 pm, leaving him with just a few hours of sleep.

“My schedule was messed up, and I lost 4 kilos of weight in 20 days.”

By early June, he and his brother decided to close the restaurant permanently. They were left with inventory, which had to be stored and sold at half the original price.

“If you ever feel like burning money, just open a restaurant,” the Redditor adds.

Check out the post here:

Screengrab of the Reddit post.(@candlesovercandies/Reddit)

Here's how people reacted to the post:

Reddit users reacted with sympathy and interest. Many praised the Redditor for sharing an honest account of the challenges of running a restaurant.

Several users related to his experience, discussing the difficulties of managing high rents, student crowds, and daily operations.

One of the users commented, “This gentleman spoke truth! Also, business is 50% your efforts rest 50% luck.”

A second user commented, “I think you just didn't research enough, brother. Also, good luck on your future endeavours, and out of all the businesses, restaurants are the ones that make money the fastest.”

“Restaurant businesses are super competitive with a high capital requirement. Not beginner-friendly,” another user commented.

(Disclaimer: This report is based on user-generated content from social media. HT.com has not independently verified the claims and does not endorse them.)