When you look around your town or city center, I bet there is one thing that you will see - failing restaurants! In most cities, the average lifespan of a restaurant business is often a couple of years. Only a few make it long term and actually turn over a profit. So why is the restaurant industry for many people to get into? There are various reasons for this, but one of the main ones is that restauranteurs keep on making the same mistakes. If you are planning to launch your very own restaurant, these are the mistakes that you need to stay well away from.
Don’t Try And Do Everything
There are various aspects of restaurants, including cooking in the kitchen, to serving in the dining area, and managing all the finances and payroll. Even if you are a brilliant chef or have a fantastic business acumen, there is no way you will be able to oversee all of these numerous responsibilities. You need to just focus on one. So, for instance, if you are a professional chef then you should take care of everything that goes on in the kitchen, and hire a restaurant manager to look after everything front of house.
Keep Things Simple
When it comes to the restaurant business, it is very easy to overcomplicate things, whether that is your menu, ordering system, or even the overall operations process. It is important that you keep things very easy for your staff, as this will make things easier for them while they are working. And this reduces the chance of orders getting mixed up or forgotten. The restaurant should also be simple for restaurants. Make sure the menu is short and succinct and that diners can enjoy a laid back evening.
Think Of Solutions
There are lots of opportunities for things to go wrong in the restaurant business. For instance, orders can get lost and suppliers may not deliver ingredients on time. It is important that you anticipate that things will go wrong, and you should have some solutions in your mind that you can sue should anything go wrong. For example, it is a good idea to have the contact details of backup suppliers and kitchen equipment that you can call in emergencies.
Encourage Communication Between Staff
Your employees are the cogs in the company that will keep things going. If they end up making mistakes, then this could cause a problem in the whole restaurant. Because of this, it is very important that you encourage your employees to communicate among themselves and liaise amongst one another. Not only that, though, but you also need to be a transparent business and make sure that all employees know that it is important for them to ask questions and open up whenever they have a problem or complaint.
Running a restaurant is no easy feat, but if you get things right, you will find that it can be a very rewarding and profitable industry to be involved in indeed!
