As a restaurant manager or owner, you probably encounter various challenges on a daily basis: from providing customer service to taking care of inventory. All the efforts you make are usually geared towards achieving success or expanding your restaurant. That has always been the dream, to make lots of money from cooking and hanging out with friends. However, in no time after opening your restaurant, you come to realize that maintaining its growth requires a great deal of business acumen, hardwork and money.
A great number of restaurants have gone under in their first year of starting up simply because they lacked what it takes to achieve long-term success. To steer your restaurant off that beaten path of failure, you should stick to the following effective tips:
1) Apply innovative marketing strategies
Be clever with the marketing strategies you employ, advertising doesn’t end once the tables in your restaurant start filling up. Find exciting and engaging ways to remind your customers of why your restaurant is a great place to dine. These ads doesn’t have to bankrupt you, you can choose to run radio or print ads only during special occasions like Valentine or Christmas season.
Anything that helps to maintain big orders is a good strategy, you can create offers that cover catering services in big events. Having an active website that your customers can visit to create orders or make complains will do your business a lot of good.
2) Build a strong relationship with your community
Don’t forget that having an emotional connection with people in the community where your business is located is one of the best ways to win their loyalty. You can achieve this by hosting events that will benefit the community and participating in local events. Through organizing charity or fundraising events and other activities like cooking classes, speed dating meetings and so on, you will be planting a positive image in the minds of your potential customers.
Partaking in your community’s activities makes it possible for your community to learn about you and your business.
3) Prioritize customer satisfaction
Make your team know that the number one priority of your restaurant is to make clients feel special. Remember their names and even the names of their loved ones. Know their preferences, what they love eating or drinking. A single word from your customer about your services can either crash or boost your restaurant. Strive to make every moment feel special for them, from when they walk into your restaurant to when they leave.
You can ask for their opinions or send out surveys that will help you know what they appreciate about your business. Pay attention to their feedbacks and your business will never stop growing.
4) Review your menu regularly
It’s the menu of your restaurant that keeps your customers coming back for more. If they can easily find a restaurant with a similar menu or a better menu, they definitely won’t return to your restaurant. You should review your menu regularly to know the favourite items of your clients as well as, which items to ditch. Get your research game on and discover what your competitors are doing. This will help you know when to update your menu and their prices. You should never be afraid of adding new dishes to your menu.
5) Track your restaurant’s cash flow
Poor management of finances is often the reason why many restaurants can no longer function. You need money to run almost every aspects of your restaurant: from getting supplies to paying your staff. When you don’t monitor the expenses you make or the inflow and outflow of cash, it will be difficult to know when you’re wasting money.
Make sure you are not investing in services that are not necessary or spending excessively in inventories. Your business can only grow when you spend wisely.
6) Use productive applications
Make use of applications and softwares that can help improve your restaurant’s growth. Applications like Safe Food Pro can assist you in handling the safety tasks of your restaurant. Join the growing number of restaurant managers that are promoting their products through active use of retail market oriented apps. You can even make clients aware of your restaurant through apps like Buy Whole Foods Online and Fresh Direct.
7) Hire competent employees
Hiring the wrong employees can make all your efforts to build a successful restaurant go to waste. Your dream of establishing a first class restaurant may not materialized if you don’t have qualified associates. With competent employees handling customer affairs, your customers get to enjoy a good personal experience, leading to the growth of your restaurant.
8) Manage schedules and train staff
It can be quite difficult to organize staff training in a restaurant, especially for part-time employees. However not training your staff to behave and work in line with your goals can affect your restaurant’s performance. Frictions easily occur and competent staff quit without enough notice, making you struggle to keep up.
Along with staff training, you should also effectively manage your schedule in ways that will complement your staff’s availability. Note that scheduling is essential for the smooth running of your daily operations.
9) Celebrate success
Once in a while, let your employees know when they’ve done a good job. Showing you appreciate your employees will make them feel valued and also make them long to do better. During staff meetings, you can also highlight certain good points to help your employees know what entails a great job in your restaurant.
Following these tips will help you successfully manage your restaurant.
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