KEY ELEMENTS OF A SUCCESSFUL RESTAURANT

The restaurant is one of the lucrative businesses that has attracted positive growth and many young entrepreneurs to invest their hard-earned money. Be it independent or partnership, any restaurant business should be treated similarly to any other company because of the risks involved. Therefore, a thriving restaurant must meet good qualities to withstand the test of time and remain consistent in the hospitality industry. Successful restaurants have almost similar characteristics, but they stand out despite competition because they do things differently. We refer to these characteristics as the “Key elements of a successful restaurant,” which can be executed differently depending on the approach to achieve the same goal. They include:

Understanding the Nature of the Business: Like a relationship, you must have experience and know what you are getting into before investing your money to open a restaurant outlet. If you lure yourself to start a restaurant because of its lucrative returns from hearsay, be ready to shut it down within its first year. It is because you lack experience and understanding about the nature of the business from its risks, management, and operation. Therefore, you must have a detailed knowledge of its process, management, and other factors to make the right decision and run effectively and efficiently until it succeeds. For instance, it is advisable to do thorough research concerning health, tax and license regulation, consumer needs, labor and food costs, staff management, profits, and gross margin.
Staff Management: Understanding the nature of your business is not yet enough to accomplish your mission. Since you will employ employees under the same roof, managing the front office and the back of the house would be challenging. Therefore, you must have a chain of command, an employee handbook with a detailed job description, and rules and regulations set by the organization. It will help you develop a code of conduct that will instill discipline, loyalty, and transparency in your organization and thus have an easy time managing your restaurant.
Staff Satisfaction: Nonetheless, your employee’s satisfaction is also vital for the success of your restaurant. A satisfied employee will be proud to work in your organization and be more productive, which is reflected in the company’s profit. The same effort you put to satisfy your clients is the same effort you should focus on your employees to make them feel prioritized and vital. You can benefit your employees by revising their remuneration and work conditions, providing incentives and overtime, training, and encouraging rank promotion. Or, more to the point, you can allow them to buy the company’s shares to instill a sense of belonging and ownership. The significance of offering Employee Stock Option is to encourage them to participate in the company’s management to their best actively.
Marketing: Even if your food or menu is excellent, it doesn’t mean it is enough to attract more clients or build a loyal clientele or brand your restaurant. It will help market your restaurant by word of mouth to attract more clients. It can be as simple as:
- Hosting events
- Local advertising Having a pre-opening party
- Providing discount coupons
- Talking to your customers

In addition, you can also embrace online marketing, which is a more effective and popular marketing strategy. Online marketing can reach a vast clientele platform because it goes viral through social media, email, and SMS marketing. Remember, a successful marketing strategy will reflect the company’s profit margin.

Financial Management: For the keen interest of earning profit and cubing losses, you should be aware of the bookkeeping even if you are poor at numbers. Employ an accountant or a part-time bookkeeper who is accustomed to making your tax returns and helps you organize the account books in order. It is essential to have a weekly or daily review concerning or to place orders, invoices, and checks being written and paid from who and to whom. By conducting a financial review, you will know if the business is making a loss or profit and manage any mismanagement of funds before they get out of control.
Quality Food and Hygiene: Any successful restaurant is well known for its signature delicacy special to its clients and preferred among its competitors. Despite the competition, your restaurant must have experienced chefs who can produce quality and more delicious food to attract more clients to the joint and boast about it. For instance, you make a tastier “sushi” than your competitors and complete the restaurant’s unique signature, but it does not need to be exclusive or unique.
Moreover, you also need to maintain food safety or hygiene in your restaurant because poor hygiene reflects a bad image for your company. Thus, losing many customers to your competitors. Constantly keep every space spotless from the bathroom, floor, kitchen, and furniture. Employees should have an operational health permit, food safety certification, and a food handler permit. In addition, the restaurant’s location should be properly zoned for a restaurant business and pass a health inspection.
Excellent Customer Service: Before anything, your client’s needs must be catered to when she steps into your restaurant. Therefore, the restaurant’s staff must or ensure they welcome clients politely and be helpful. Secondly, the team should also pay attention and listen to the client inquiries, orders, prices, and collect feedback concerning the service. Managing customers’ reviews or feedback is vital to help you improve on the sections your clients complain or are dissatisfied about and then make moves to cater to your customer even more. Finally, don’t forget to manage your restaurant’s public relations when dealing with customers and listen to their happy or unhappy voices.
Location: Location is also an essential key factor in the franchise’s success after considering the restaurant concept and target audience. Before you decide where to set up your restaurant, it would be wise to study customer demography of about the ten-mile radius. It will help you determine the specific needs to cater to the dominant demographic groups in the location radius. For instance, a restaurant located in the CBD will have a better footfall because it would attract workers who are pressed for time at lunch in need of fast service, takeout food, or already prepared meals. Therefore, the location of your restaurant should target a class or specific demography you can easily accomplish their needs.

CONCLUSION

Aside from employing the above vital elements, your involvement in the restaurant business management should be maximally optimized. Keeping the track performance of your outlet will help you oversee its operation and whether it’s making loss or improvement. However, you can reduce losses by employing a Point-of-Sale system {POS} to help streamline the restaurant order flows, give customers’ purchase data, minimize errors and provide you with data feedback.

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