Tag: financial advice

WAITSTAFF BEHAVIOUR

Thursday, January 24th, 2019

Unhelpful, surly waitstaff will drag down the mood at any restaurant!

In fact, unhelpful and unfriendly waitstaff may be the main reason customers do not return to your restaurant.

Don’t let it happen to you …..

It’s far easier to train an upbeat, fun person on restaurant service than it is to teach an experienced, grumpy person to be nice.

Remember, your restaurant is only as good as your worst team member, so don´t permit staff to remain if they are rude, condescending, surly or unhappy.

There are plenty of great people out there who want to work in your restaurant. Find them, train them, and improve your sales.

giphywaitstaff unfriendly

What are your thoughts on Waitstaff Behaviour ? Let me know in the comments!

WHERE IS THE OWNER ?

Thursday, January 10th, 2019

Restaurants are hard work. The hours are long, the work is tiring, and it can be repetitive. But if the owner doesn’t care enough about the restaurant to show up, why should the staff?

No one is going to step up their game until their boss tells them to.

The only person who can inspire and lead is the leader.

adult-break-business-1498961

Absentee owners are a recipe for failure, precisely because it is presence and leadership that can turn around a failing restaurant, not an owner in hiding.

Owners often disappear when the sales start to fall or the job starts to seem less fun. But of course, that is exactly the time when the owner is the most needed.

That said, the owner can’t be expected to be there 24/7 and needs a life outside of the restaurant … so work – life balance is essential.

Let me know your thoughts in the comments!

HAS YOUR MENU BECOME TOO LARGE

Thursday, November 22nd, 2018

You need to have a large enough menu to entice and excite customers, but not so many items that you merely confuse them.

 

I think an overly large menu can hurt a restaurant in several ways:

  • It forces you to order too much inventory, some of which will spoil;
  • It puts too many demands on the kitchen.
  • It can confuse the customer. People don´t know what to choose. Also, they will think (accurately) that you can’t do that many things well.

 

 

 

So what’s the right number of menu items? It depends on what your selling …

A good burger place might get away with just 10. A Chinese restaurant is going to need a few more.

In general, 25 items should be more than enough: for example, 7 starters / entrée, 12 main courses and 6 desserts. Over 30 menu items, and you should really be thinking about cutting back.

 

 

 

What are your thoughts on the points above? Let me know in the comments!

POOR SIGNAGE

Thursday, October 25th, 2018

People will not know that your restaurant is there unless you tell them, so I see your Signage as one of the most important ways to tell the outside world who you are and what you are doing.

Consider these points:

  • Is the typeface easy to read? Your sign is not the time for cursive or strange typefaces.
  • Is it high contrast? Black on white is great; dark green on black, not so much.
  • Can you see the sign from the road?
  • Can you see it at night?
  • Is it well lit?
  • Can you read the sign from more than one direction? The sign boards should be readable no matter where you are coming from.
  • Is there a lit menu board outside the restaurant? The menu board is as important as any other sign. Without it, walk-by customers are likely to just keep walking.

 

What are your thoughts on the points above? Let me know in the comments!

MY RESTAURANT IS IN A BAD LOCATION

Thursday, October 11th, 2018

This is the one mistake that is almost impossible to fix.

You can fix terrible food, a badly thought out menu, awful decor, surly staff, incompetent chefs, missing signage or snail-like service. But after you sign the lease, you can’t do much about the location.

So this is one problem you have to prevent in advance.

  • Don’t believe what any landlord or real estate agent tells you. Verify everything yourself.
  • Check traffic patterns, both pedestrian and auto.
  • Check the noise levels of your neighbours.
  • Go by the venue at all times, mornings, afternoons evenings and late nights.
  • Some locations always see restaurant failures and for no logical reason. If more than one restaurant has failed in a location you’re considering, you might want to pass.
  • Consider neighborhood lighting and safety. Would you feel safe walking there at night by yourself?

 

Remember, this will be one mistake that may be impossible to fix so check, check and check!!

Let me know your thoughts on this blog post in the comments below! 

NOT ON TREND

Thursday, September 6th, 2018

Restaurants, like people, have lifespans. They have beginnings and ends. Most restaurants die out before they are 10 or 20 years old.

One reason that a restaurant fails is when the owner has the unreasonable and incorrect belief that they never need to change.

 

 

Just as a restaurant needs a physical update every few years, so does the overall concept as foods fall out of favor, tastes change and what people find fashionable or interesting years ago is now old and stale.

Sometimes an update can be simple such as printing a new menu with a handful of new items. Or adding a new mixed drink program. Or offering live music on the weekend.

Other times, a more extensive revamp is required to keep the brand relevant. This may include a new logo, new interior decoration, a new menu and more.

I guess the moral of the story here is to not take what you have for granted and always keep looking at ways to improve.

 

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