3 Things Every Restaurant Must Do

Behind every great restaurant, there are 2 to 3 restaurants that really struggle. More often than not they don't even make it past the first 3 years of operation.

So what is it that separates the great achievers from the less fortunate ones?

Is it the number of Pokemon creatures they host? No, likely not!

Is it because they have deeper pockets? Maybe, but this isn't always the case nor always necessary.

Money at the onset is definitely needed to kick off into flight mode, but sooner or later the business will need to start making its own money to cover its expenses.

60%¹ of restaurants fail within the first 3 years of operation and after 5 years that number creeps up beyond 75%.

Before we proceed further, let's make a few assumptions. To run a great restaurant you need a competent restaurant operator. Their core basics should possess: a passion for food, sound money practices, great staff hiring skills and, last but not least, great personnel management skills. Without these skills, most restaurants will struggle to ensure the longevity of their business.

Great restaurants are set apart by how well they run their core three-part engine.

The three parts we are talking of are:

1. Factory
2. Services
3. Marketing.

Let's briefly cover what each of these entails.

1. Factory

The factory part is the most necessary piece of restaurant foundation required.

This is the kitchen. Without it you really wouldn't have a restaurant to start with. Its primary role is production of food while ensuring key success criteria are met along the way:

• Adequate cost control measures in place and followed.
• Usage of right ingredients for all the food prep, balancing quantity and/or quality, minimising wastage.
• Presentation of the final product i.e the food we eat.

Naturally, these are all thought of prior to an opening of a restaurant rather than randomly executed on the day.

2. Services

The services part is to do with all aspects of customer service. This is the front of the house. These are the front-liners of the business and they handle all customer interactions. They are primarily responsible for:

• Taking food orders from the customers,
• Upselling new dishes and drinks to accompany customer's meals
• Relaying the instructions to the kitchen (i.e. Factory)
• Delivering cooked food back to the customer, and finally
• Handling payments and feedback from customers on their overall experience.

Where exceptional service is rendered, customers will also tip based on their experience accordingly.

3. Marketing

The marketing part is to do with all aspects of communication with the customer, the existing and the future ones. They are responsible for:

• Product branding,
• Customer Experience Management
• Information provision for the press, media and public relations.
• Campaigning for customer's attention and their repeat business
• Promoting customer's experience on social media.

Sadly, marketing is the black swan of the industry. Very few restaurants do enough of it or any at all. Those that do are often surprised by how very little needs doing to sometimes reap large benefits.

FACTORY + SERVICES + MARKETING = RESTAURANT SUCCESS

If you omit or falter on one of these parts your restaurant may manage to survive. If you omit or falter on two of these parts your restaurant will definitely struggle and head down hill. After all getting 1 out of 3 right is no recipe to success even mathematically speaking.

Most businesses tend to get the Factory and Services part right. The Marketing part is one that most struggle with.

What's the reason behind this elusive trifecta -- especially the Marketing part? Well, there may be many. Most often it is the restaurant operator too busy working in the business and not enough on the business. It is usually an afterthought. For some it may be a deliberate avoidance tactic -- putting it in the too hard basket.

Not all restaurants can hire a marketing person as their panacea. Initial cash invested may be maxed out or the current cash flow may not allow for it.

So, what's a restaurant business to do?

Well luckily, there are a few simple things that can be implemented right away. They almost don't cost a thing, except some time for you to set aside and do it.

Check out our next blog piece. We're preparing a short list of simple marketing steps we will share with you. You can undertake these right away.

FOOTNOTES