How To Run A Restaurant Properly?
I’ve received many emails looking for tips on how to run a restaurant. There are so many little things that go into running a restaurant smoothly. The restaurant owner, manager and kitchen staff must make everything look seamless and efficient, even in the midst of the million little emergencies that arise during a shift at any busy restaurant.
A Few Tips On How To Run A Restaurant
1) Delegate
If you are the owner it is extremely easy to get sucked into the vortex that is the day to day operation. To run a restaurant and make a profit you must learn to delegate. Many rookie restaurant owners are so busy clearing dirty tables, having long conversations with regulars, upgrading the training of the staff, peeling potatoes, washing dishes or sweeping up the parking lot that they lose track of what’s really important.
It’s hard as an owner to NOT jump into a million little chores while running your restaurant. I know, I had a very tough time not immersing myself IN my restaurant when I became an owner for the first time.
Try this: Ask yourself, “what are the really important things that need to be done that only I can do?”
Seriously, you can hire someone to manage the staff. You can hire someone to peel potatoes and sweep the parking lot. You can hire a hostess to talk to your clients. If you want to be a profitable owner you must focus on tasks that only you can do, like attracting new customers into your restaurant!
2) Hire GREAT Staff
To run your restaurant efficiently it is important that you don’t rush to hire. Many rookie owners hire the first people that walk through the door with an application. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from over 25+ years in the restaurant business it’s this: Hiring great staff is the best way to get your time back!
If you hire a staff that is not personable, unmotivated, constantly late and not excited about the restaurant industry, you’ll spend your frustrating days feeling like a babysitter. You’ll be constantly interviewing and hiring to make up for all the jokers you fire.
Inside the industry words spreads quickly about new places. If you are the place that nobody enjoys working at, you’ll have a hard time hiring. If you hire great staff, and you’re busy enough that your staff is paid well, you’ll have a constant stream of new applications from the good staff associates. If you hire the first applicant that walks through the door you’ll regret it.
Once you hire a great staff and you see that they enjoy their job, don’t micro manage. It’s amazing what can happen if you give good people space and let them produce. Be open to their suggestions and constantly implement their ideas and you’ll see an improvement.
I’ve come into situations where the staff moral was bad and they didn’t like the owner. I’ve also been involved in operations with great staff that worked above and beyond and loved working for the owner or manager. I’ll let you figure out which scenario was creating huge profits for the business.
How To Run A Restaurant?
- Decide what needs to be done
- Put people in place and tell them what you want to be done
- The owner should focus on attracting and retaining customers
- Try to have the restaurant be better today than yesterday
- Put your customers first
- Enjoy the process
When it comes to the day to day operation of actually running a restaurant I suggest you find great people and have them help you run a restaurant the smart way!