10 Straight Rules For Restaurant Success
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When you want to go into the restaurant business, you have to consider an awful lot of factors. The one main aim of every establishment in the hospitality business is success; no one wants to spend their time and money to be a failure in the first year. It’s already well known that many businesses flop in their first year of trading and this is especially true when it comes to the hospitality industry. Bars, cafés, restaurants and other eateries generally close as quickly as they pop up, with the over saturation of each being the reason. Success in hospitality comes with work that is round the clock and backbreaking, not to mention stressful. Becoming a successful restaurateur is not an easy thing to do, but once you’ve done it it’s an achievement to hold dear.
It takes a lot of hard work and dedication to make your restaurant as successful as you’d like it to be, but there are also a few things that you should be doing as a restaurateur to ensure success. You want more than average food that is cold or rushed and you want to create something more than a forgettable experience. You can have the best restaurant accounting team on your side, but if you’re not ensuring that your customers are first, you’re going to fail. With the ten rules below, you can avoid your restaurant becoming a total flop, and instead aim for total success.
Rule 1: Be Extraordinary.
Your restaurant should shy away from the norm. You want to be the one that others imitate and want to be, which means that you have to be extraordinary. You have to stand out as that restaurant that everyone wants to visit, and that means avoiding being boring and unattractive. It means maximizing your marketing in a fun way; attracting the local community with free food fairs and tasters with your name branded across it.
Rule 2: Keep The Menu Simple – But Amazing.
You’ve likely been to a restaurant with a seven-page menu that seems to sell a dish or two from every cuisine just to appease the masses. This is a mistake for your business. Choose a theme or cuisine and own it. The key to failure is trying to please everyone, and you can’t please everyone without upsetting someone. You can’t create something amazing when you offer too much.
Rule 3: Smart Seating Counts.
No one likes to visit the restaurants with tables that are so close together that elbows are touching with people you’ve never met. Equally, people won’t go into a restaurant with uncomfortably high seating. Think carefully about the atmosphere that you want to create and balance this with bringing in as many patrons as possible.
Rule 4: Be Seen.
Whether this is on social media or in the community, your business needs to be seen by the public. Your money is going to lie in the customers that come to you with their business. If you want your business to be successful and effective, then you’re going to have to come up with an exciting logo and a marketing plan to rival the masses out there. Presentation is everything, but this isn’t just related to the food that you serve. Be seen by everyone; you won’t regret trying hard to make your business stand out.
Rule 5: Simplicity Is Key.
Fussy restaurants lead to fussy menus and fussy diners. Keep it clean, tidy and with a clear theme. You can keep your restaurant simple and yet elegant if you keep the furniture and décor minimal. Be warm with your lighting and easy with your tablecloths; people who are looking to eat do so with the food in mind first.
Rule 6: Smile.
Grumpy wait staff are the first thing that can turn off a patron. No one wants to have a service with a scowl, so train your staff in the appropriate way to treat and talk to customers. All you can do is ensure that people are happy, and the way to do this is going to be through your customer service. It’s key to getting people to return, so don’t be afraid to bring in the big personalities.
Rule 7: Location, Location, Location.
Where your restaurant is based is crucial to the success of your business. No company in the world can be successful if they can’t be found, and equally, no restaurant will manage if they are in an area already saturated in the same business. City locations will have a high traffic from locals and tourists, suburban restaurants need parking. Shop for premises wisely!
Rule 8: Stuff!
People wearing your logo or driving with your logo on the side of their car are going to alert others to the culinary genius that you are. Branding is everything and there is nothing wrong with memorabilia so that people know how to find you – and actually want to!
Rule 9: Social Media Shout Out.
If your business isn’t already on every social media platform, you’re already behind. You need to be out there and obvious and make sure that you shout your name from the rooftops. Join community sites and advertise yourself, hold competitions and have people share you on. Word of mouth is so key to your business, so make sure that you speak loudly so people can hear you – they’ll want to listen!
Rule 10: The Little Things.
When you sit down to eat, what annoys you? Is it the lack of napkins or the lack of drinks being offered? Whatever it is, you need to make sure that you don’t make those mistakes for your own establishment. Think the whole dining experience through from top to bottom and make it work.
You can have restaurant success, but without these golden rules, the knife and fork can be put down, it’s time to close up and move on. Keep positive and don’t be another restaurant statistic!
