How to run a restaurant.
Anybody who runs a restaurant wants it to be a success - it's why they do
it!
Our guide on how to run a restaurant: Both in the UK & USA a high percentage of people don't actually know how to run a restaurant and don't do it properly so they don't get the success they desire. We have years of experience in this business and can attribute our success at running restaurants to a small but meaningful set of guidelines, which anybody who wants to run a restaurant should seriously follow. We call them the 5C's©, these are:
Control, Cost Effective, Cleanliness, Customer Service and Creativity.
Control.
Basically this is your role, it covers everything from managing your employees, ordering and rotating stock, financial management, and also advertising and promoting your business. It means that you must be in the driving seat, nobody else is going to run your restaurant with the same dedication as you! This site contains information related to the above points and it is free to access.
Cost Effective.
As with any business you have to keep a close eye on
what you are spending. However this doesn't mean that
you buy dirt cheap ingredients just to save a few pounds
as this will backfire on you. Neither does it mean that
you hike up your prices to make more, because this just
doesn't work, your customers won't accept this.
What cost effective really means is that you prioritise
and control your spending in order to increase your
profit margins. Below are a few pointers for you to
consider to help you run a cost effective restaurant,
pub or hotel, whether you are in The UK or The USA:
- Do you have more staff on duty than you actually need?
- Do you pay more for your products and services than you need to?
- Have a look around for better deals, wholesalers need business too!
- Are you paying for services that you don't need?
- Do you have a lot of wastage that could be reduced?
- Are you using your gas/electricity efficiently?
- Do you buy in items that you could actually make yourself for less?
Cleanliness.
This should speak for itself really, you certainly
want to be running a clean restaurant, as not only is it
the law for you to run a clean and safe restaurant, it
is basically expected from you. Would you eat food that
had been stored incorrectly in a dirty fridge? Prepared
with dirty utensils? By a dirty chef in a dirty
kitchen?
I DOUBT IT!!! Neither would any customer you would want
in your restaurant, pub or hotel! Just remember:
- CLEAN AS YOU GO!
- CLEAN AS YOU GO!
- CLEAN AS YOU GO!
Customer Service.
This has to be one of the most important areas for you to get right when running a restaurant, because your customers are your survival. If they are happy, then you will be happy. Customer care is a huge topic to cover, in fact we could design an entire website dedicated to this subject alone! Which is why we have decided to highlight the most important points about customer care in our opinion.
What is customer service?
The statement we feel best describes customer care is pretty much self explanatory, it is 'caring for customers'! Or how a business directs and creates its products or services towards the needs of the customer. Try to remember that if your customers feel looked after and appreciated then they will in turn look after and appreciate you:
Creativity.
As with any business you have to keep a close eye on
what you are spending. However this doesn't mean that
you buy dirt cheap ingredients just to save a few pounds
as this will backfire on you. Neither does it mean that
you hike up your prices to make more, because this just
doesn't work, your customers won't accept this.
What cost effective really means is that you prioritise
and control your spending in order to increase your
profit margins. Below are a few pointers for you to
consider to help you run a cost effective restaurant,
pub or hotel, whether you are in The UK or The USA:
- Introduce new, exciting dishes on your menu.
- Improve your vegetarian, vegan, children's options.
- Offer your customers a taste of a new wine while they are waiting for their main course.
- Introduce an added extra for your customers, such as while they are waiting for their starters give them a basket of fresh bread to enjoy.
It is also very important for your success that you keep an eye on what your competitors are doing to improve customer experiences.
- What are your competitors serving? How much are they charging?
- How much do they pay their staff and how do they treat them?
- Where and how do they advertise? Who goes there?
- What offers, promotions and extras do they have available?