10 Questions Asked in Japan Finance Corporation Loan Interviews for Restaurant Startups

Restaurant Startup And Management Series

This series explains restaurant startup finance, cash flow, loans, property selection, store investment, and reinvestment in a practical order.

How Restaurants Make Money
Financial Planning for Opening an Independent Restaurant
Why Restaurants Can Fail Despite Being Profitable
How to Write a Restaurant Startup Business Plan for JFC Loan Screening
10 Questions Asked in JFC Loan Interviews (this article)
What Rent Ratio Is Safe for a Restaurant?
Strategy Note: Restaurants Are Capital Allocation Businesses

[Summary]

In restaurant startup financing, submitting the business plan is not the end.

Afterward, an interview with a Japan Finance Corporation representative may take place.

What matters is not polished speaking skill. The key is whether the applicant can explain the submitted plan in their own words and understand the numbers behind it.

Common interview themes include:

Work history and restaurant experience
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How self-funds were prepared
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Why this location and property
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Sales forecast assumptions
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Food cost, labor cost, and rent control
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What happens if sales underperform
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How repayment will be maintained

This article explains 10 questions often asked in JFC restaurant startup loan interviews, what each question is trying to confirm, and how to think about an answer.

Interview content, required documents, and the screening process can vary by applicant, program, branch, and timing. Confirm details with JFC, financial institutions, tax professionals, chambers of commerce, or local startup support offices.

What Matters Most

The interview is not a test of enthusiasm alone.

It checks whether the applicant personally understands the numbers in the business plan.

What is often checked	What the reviewer wants to confirm
Career and experience	Can the applicant actually operate the store?
Self-funds	Were funds prepared systematically?
Location and property	Is the rent and trade area understood realistically?
Sales forecast	Can sales be explained by seats, turnover, and average spend?
Cost control	Are food cost, labor, and rent understood?
Downside plan	Can cash flow survive weak months?
Repayment plan	Can profit and cash cover repayment?

“I will work hard” is weak.

“Lunch is 20 seats x 1.5 turns x 1,000 yen average spend x 80% occupancy, for 24,000 yen per day” is stronger because it shows the plan has been built from numbers.

The Interview Checks Whether You Understand Your Plan

The JFC startup business plan includes sections for founder history, products and services, business partners, employees, required funds, funding sources, and outlook.

The interview usually follows those sections.

The reviewer wants to know whether the numbers came from the applicant’s own experience and field sense.

For example, if the plan says monthly sales are 3 million yen, the applicant may need to explain:

How many seats?
What lunch and dinner average spend?
How many turns?
How do weekdays and weekends differ?
What food-cost ratio?
What rent ratio?
Does cash remain after repayment?

The interview is not a memorization test. It is a check of whether the applicant built the plan personally.

10 Common Questions

1. Tell Us About Your Work History And Duties

This checks whether the applicant has enough experience to operate the restaurant.

Do not stop at “I worked at a restaurant.” Explain specific duties.

Experience	What to explain
Cooking	Prep, menu development, food-cost control
Service	Reservation handling, customer experience, turnover
Manager role	Shift planning, purchasing, sales management, training
Purchasing	Suppliers, payment terms, food loss

Example:

I worked at a Western-style restaurant for eight years. For the last three years I was store manager, handling shift planning, purchasing, food-cost control, and monthly sales management.

2. Why Did You Choose This Location And Property?

The reviewer wants to know whether the applicant chose the property by feeling alone.

Answer with the trade area and rent ratio.

Within 500 meters there are many offices, so weekday lunch demand is expected. Rent is 200,000 yen per month. Under the normal case of 2.5 million yen monthly sales, the rent ratio is 8%.

The issue is not only whether the location looks good. It is whether the store can survive with that rent.

3. How Did You Prepare Your Self-Funds?

Self-funds are checked for both amount and process.

You may be asked to show bank records or explain the source of funds.

I have saved 50,000 yen per month for three years as startup funds and also set aside part of my bonuses. Current self-funds are 3 million yen.

Family support or severance pay should be explained clearly rather than hidden.

4. Do You Have Other Borrowings Or Payment Delays?

This checks credit and repayment capacity.

List housing loans, car loans, card loans, revolving credit, student loans, and their monthly payments.

I have a car loan with an outstanding balance of 800,000 yen and a monthly repayment of 20,000 yen. This repayment is included in the cash-flow schedule.

Existing debt is not automatically fatal. Hiding it is worse.

5. How Is Your Store Different From Competitors?

“Our food is better” is too subjective.

Explain difference as a business model: customers, price range, service speed, turnover, food-cost control, or takeout demand.

Nearby competitors focus mainly on dinner drinking occasions. Our store will focus on weekday lunch and takeout. Lunch average spend is 1,000 yen and takeout is 900 yen, with a simplified kitchen flow to shorten service time.

6. Explain The Basis For Your Sales Forecast

This is often central.

Use the formula:

Sales = Seats x Turnover x Average spend x Occupancy x Operating days

Example:

Lunch: 20 seats x 1.5 turns x 1,000 yen average spend x 80% occupancy = 24,000 yen per day.
Dinner: 20 seats x 1.0 turn x 4,000 yen average spend x 60% occupancy = 48,000 yen per day.
With 25 operating days, normal monthly sales are about 1.8 million yen.

Occupancy assumptions are useful because they avoid a full-house-only forecast.

7. What Food-Cost, Labor-Cost, And Rent Ratios Are You Assuming?

This checks whether the applicant understands FLR.

Food cost is 30%, labor cost is 28%, and rent ratio is 8%. Total FLR is around 66%.

Appropriate ratios differ by concept, but the applicant should understand why the numbers fit the business.

8. What If Sales Are Weaker Than Expected?

“I will advertise harder” is not enough.

The answer should include both revenue and cost responses.

I will keep three months of fixed cash outflows, including rent, labor, living cost, and repayment, as working capital. If sales fall to half the normal case, I will reduce part-time shifts, simplify the menu, reduce food loss, and increase takeout sales.

Cash flow is defended on both the sales side and the cost side.

9. Can You Explain Interior And Equipment Cost Estimates?

Required funds must be supported by estimates and contract terms.

We obtained three estimates. The final estimate is 6 million yen including kitchen waterproofing, plumbing, and electrical capacity work. We will use some second-hand kitchen equipment to reduce initial investment.

Rough estimates weaken the funding plan.

10. What If The Business Does Not Go Well?

This is difficult to answer, but it may be asked.

The reviewer wants to know whether the applicant has thought about risk.

I will use the cash-flow schedule to detect early warning signs and first review hours, menu, purchasing, and labor. If continuation becomes difficult, I will consult the lender early about closure costs and repayment. I also assume I can use my restaurant experience to return to employment and continue repayment.

The point is not to pretend failure is impossible. It is to show realistic risk management and willingness to communicate.

How The Interview May Proceed

The actual flow can differ, but a restaurant loan interview often follows this pattern:

Reception and identity confirmation
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Review of the startup business plan
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Career and experience questions
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Funding plan and self-fund confirmation
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Sales and cost forecast questions
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Cash-flow and repayment questions
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Final questions and next steps

Knowing the flow makes preparation easier. The interview is usually a discussion around the documents, not a surprise quiz unrelated to the plan.

Patterns That Can Lower Evaluation

Weak pattern	Why it is weak
Cannot decompose the sales forecast	Monthly sales basis is unclear
Cannot answer average spend	Menu and sales plan are not connected
Does not know rent ratio	Fixed-cost burden is not understood
Cannot explain self-fund source	Preparation process is unclear
Does not bring bank records or estimates	Numbers lack support
Taxes and repayment are missing from cash flow	Cash can run short despite profit
No plan for weak sales	Downside resilience is unclear

The frightening part of an interview is not a difficult question. It is being unable to explain your own numbers.

Interview-Day Checklist

Required documents vary by case, but these are useful for a restaurant startup loan interview.

Item	Purpose
Startup business plan	Main interview document
Bankbook or bank records	Explain self-fund preparation
Identity document	Identity confirmation
Interior and kitchen equipment estimates	Support required funds
Property materials and lease terms	Confirm rent, deposit, and location
Draft menu	Explain average spend and food cost
Cash-flow schedule	Explain inflows, outflows, and repayment capacity
Work-history memo	Explain restaurant and manager experience
Permit and qualification preparation	Food business permit, food sanitation manager, etc.

It is not enough to bring documents. Be ready to explain which number in the plan is supported by which document.

Conclusion

A JFC loan interview is not only a test of enthusiasm.

It checks whether the startup plan is realistic, whether repayment is structurally possible, and whether cash flow is less likely to fail after opening.

Food passion matters. But in the interview, that passion needs to be translated into numbers: seats, average spend, turnover, food-cost ratio, labor ratio, rent ratio, working capital, and monthly repayment.

The essence of the interview is not a temperature check of enthusiasm. It is a resolution check of the numbers.

Doing the arithmetic yourself and understanding the business plan is the most practical interview preparation.

This article is a general explanation of common topics in restaurant startup loan interviews. It does not guarantee loan approval, full funding, or any tax, legal, or accounting treatment. Confirm actual interviews and applications with JFC, financial institutions, tax professionals, chambers of commerce, or local startup support offices.

References

This article is for educational and informational purposes only, based on public information. It is not a recommendation or solicitation to buy or sell any specific security or financial product. Although care is taken with accuracy, the content and future investment outcomes are not guaranteed. Final investment decisions should be made at your own judgment and responsibility.