You would be hard-pressed to come across a more cutthroat industry than the world of restaurants.
It is said that 60% fail within the first year and another 80% within 5 years. While these numbers can seem harrowing for many, the errors leading to failure tend to be the same. This means running a restaurant into the ground can be avoided with good planning.
To help you in your goal of opening the best your town or city has to offer in culinary excellence, we’ve compiled 7 helpful tips that will get you on the road to success.
Take the Lead
Don’t fall into the trap of thinking as the owner you don’t have much to do.
Your role is to provide direction in these crucial areas: The restaurant vision, finances, and customer experience.
Even if you let others deal with the day to day running of the restaurant, don’t leave any room for there to be confusion about what you expect.
Location, Location, Location
The right location can provide security in the knowledge that your most important asset, your customers, are there.
What can you do to ensure that your place is in a good location?
Have a drink in a nice local cafe and note the walking traffic generated in the area. Visit competitors, paying attention not only to their prices but also their customer profile.
Take your time. Good market research can take months or even years but given that it’s so vital it is worth the wait.
Be on Top of Your Finances
Running a restaurant often will mean your job is working for your investors. So make it your full-time job to be extremely well acquainted with your running costs focusing on 3 main areas, food costs, labor and most importantly rent.
Even if you employ an accountant, don’t allow that to mean you don’t take responsibility for your finances. If anything were to go awry, it’s you paying the price. Taking a course in bookkeeping would be a good option if you do not come from a financial background.
Last financial tip: Don’t forget to include your salary in the labor costs!
Invest in What Is Necessary
Modern restaurant management comes with additional costs that didn’t exist years ago. Included are websites, social media, and booking software.
Deciding to save money in these areas could end up costing you big time.
Having a nice user-friendly website, being active on your social media accounts, and having reliable booking software reassures customers that you have invested in them. Remember, today the dining experience starts long before they come through the door and lasts a long time after they leave.
Keep Standards High
Although all intend to have good standards in their establishments, if you are running the restaurant, you are the person who sets them. Don’t forget it.
Whenever there is an issue with a customer, resist the urge to push back on your staff. Provide guidance or training to learn from it. Choose to grow and keep your standards high.
Ignoring or sweeping issues under the carpet (including firing staff) can prove to be fatal to a business because customers will notice.
For help in keeping your food standards high, consultancies like Chaboun Consultancy Services are priceless.
Have Back-up Finances
Living hand to mouth is all too common in the restaurant business.
Ingredient prices and rental costs all rise without much warning. There are also wage increases and peak on and off times of year to contend with.
If you have only enough money to start with to cover the basics then you are not planning realistically.
6 – 12 months of reserves to cover payroll and vendors is a wise aim before even opening your doors.
Running a Restaurant Requires Patience
A lot can, and will, go wrong when embarking on any new business venture. But just as Rome wasn’t built in a day, neither was any successful business.
If you try to retain a positive attitude and learn from any setbacks that may come, you have half the battle won.
Gaining Success in the Restaurant Business
Putting these tips into practice will be sure to ease the process of running a restaurant.
This will mean your desire to please those in your area with the best you have to offer won’t be a dream, but a reality, long into the future.
Be sure to check out our other posts on making sure your business remains successful.
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