Do’s & Don’ts for a Restaurant Owner

Establishing a restaurant seems to be a go-to option to many budding entrepreneurs as they think that this business has a high rate of success. Food, being one of the three basic needs of human beings, is believed to be one of the most saleable commodities.

But this is not always the case as, just like all other types of businesses, restaurants are also prone to ups and downs. Starting a venture in the restaurant industry does not guarantee success or a huge flow of profits. The inherent risk factor is always present. Taking your restaurant business less seriously can prove to be a deadly mistake that many people commit.

Therefore, you should learn how to grow your business to ensure survival in the market. Irrespective of the scale of operations, location, or cuisine, you need to practice due diligence. You should be able to handle all the aspects ranging from equipment and inventory to finance and staff.

In addition to looking out for tips for small businesses, you also need advice specific to the restaurant industry. You cannot forget that your ultimate objective is to make your business flourish. Hard work is not enough when it comes to running a restaurant. You should have a clear idea of the nitty-gritties of this business.

So, in this article, we have presented a list of a few dos and don’ts that can help you beat the ever-increasing competition in the restaurant industry. Now, it’s worth mentioning here that your restaurant has to compete not only with other restaurants that have similar product offerings, theme, or ambience but also with the restaurants that are quite different. Let’s have a look at what you need to do.

Follow these Do’s and Don’ts While Running a Restaurant

If you keep wondering, “how to grow restaurant business” or “how to make my business grow”, please continue reading.

Do’s

Having knowledge of the activities that you should perform can enable you to move in the right direction and make timely decisions for making your business reach new heights.

• Serve Authentic Food

Whether you are serving food items that belong to the local cuisine, or international delicacies, or a mixture of national and foreign cuisines, it’s important to ensure authenticity. Your prospective customers may have visited hundreds of eateries.

As a result, they might be having a clear idea of the taste of a particular dish. Making comparisons regarding taste and quality is expected. You cannot afford to disappoint your customers. Therefore, you must see that all the dishes are prepared with authentic recipes, fresh ingredients, and suitable cooking methods. Make sure that the dishes are served in proper plates and tableware.

• Maintain Hygiene

For any business enterprise that deals with food, hygiene is the most crucial factor. You need to keep the premises hygienic. Regular cleaning and deep cleaning should be a part of your restaurant maintenance checklist. You should buy safe and top-notch cleaning products and equipment. Every few weeks, you should hire professionals for cleaning every nook and cranny of your restaurant.

Get a pest inspection done at frequent intervals. Spaces used for carrying out operations related to food are highly susceptible to the risk of pest infestation. You can also keep a fly repellant machine and an electric fly trap in your restaurant. ‘Keeping cleanliness’ is one of the answers to the question ‘How to grow my business?’.

• Maintain Consistency

More often than not, restaurant owners and managers stop concentrating on quality, taste, and affordability once the restaurant becomes popular. This is one of the biggest blunders in the restaurant industry. You should maintain consistency in all aspects at any cost.

In fact, you should make efforts to improve on different fronts, such as variety, taste, and customer service. When you notice that your business is running well, you should try new things. For example, you can introduce new delicacies and attractive combo offers. If your budget allows, you can also change the interior for enhancing the aesthetic appeal of your restaurant.

• Respect Your Staff

The answer to the question “How to expand a business?” is incomplete without highlighting the importance of treating your staff well. The staff members in a restaurant typically comprise head chef, sous-chef, kitchen helpers, servers, dishwashers, and cleaners. In large restaurants, managers and receptionists are also present. You need to pay adequate compensation to all your staff members.

Make your staff aware of your business values and ethos so that they can incorporate the same in their working style. You should arrange periodic training sessions for your staff to increase their efficiency. Whenever you make any change in menu, décor, price or any other element, communicate the same to your staff.

• Employ Technology

In today’s time, technology has become an inevitable part of the life of human beings. You need to utilise various technological tools for conducting your business functions. You should invest in comprehensive POS (Point of Sale) software that can be used in your restaurant. You can use the OkCredit application for managing the inflow and outflow of funds.

In order to get the best results, you should integrate inventory management, customer relationship management, and accounting into your POS system. Take advantage of the online ordering and reservation features. You can also use the automated table ordering system, touchless menu QR scan code, and other modern systems.

While the points mentioned above will definitely prove to be beneficial to any restaurant owner, you can focus on some additional points as well. In order to properly understand what all you need to know, you should ask yourself the question, “How to Make Your Business Grow?”.

Don’ts

While points in the do’s category guide you on how to make your daily operations smooth and transparent, points in the don’ts category help you in avoiding common pitfalls.

• Ignore Marketing

The thought-process that the smell of the food is enough to attract customers is not correct. Your restaurant needs exposure through different channels. You need to adopt the right mix of marketing tools and tactics for making the customers aware of the existence of your restaurant. Either you can handle the marketing on your own, or you can hire the services of a marketing firm.

In response to the question “How to grow your small business?” numerous experts suggest digital marketing. You should leverage the powerful weapon known as the Internet. Social media provides innumerable benefits when you use it for promoting your business.

• Neglect Feedback

You cannot neglect the feedback provided by your customers. In the present era, people like to voice out their opinions on every matter. They share their opinion about the food, environment, lighting, price, and other elements via different mediums.

Customers can opt to talk with the representatives of the restaurant directly or post their reviews online. Google reviews, general review sites, dedicated sites for reviews of restaurants, and social media channels are various platforms that people use for posting reviews. You need to take the negative reviews like constructive criticism and make the necessary improvements.

• Overlook Problems

When you live in your home, you encounter several problems, such as chipping paint, leaky pipes, and faulty electrical wiring. You might be calling professionals to seek appropriate solutions for these problems. Similarly, when you face such issues in your restaurant, you should get them resolved in an efficient and fast manner by approaching the tradesmen.

Avoiding peeling paint, wall cracks, leaky taps, and damaged electrical appliances can affect the overall appearance of your restaurant. Get the defective items replaced. You need to find long-term solutions and not quick fixes when it comes to issues that occur in your restaurant if you are serious about “how to grow business?”.

• Lose Motivation

As we have mentioned at the beginning of this article, running a restaurant is not a cakewalk. You need to take care of multiple elements to make your business grow. Many restaurants take more than a year to reach the breakeven point, even if they have unique product offerings or themes.

So, if you become disheartened within a few months of starting a business, you might lose out on good opportunities that can come into your life in the future. When the thought of giving up occurs in your mind, you should remind yourself why you started. Some days might be cloudy, but some days might bring new sunshine to your venture.

The dream of every entrepreneur is to expand their business by widening their product range or opening new branches. But this dream of expansion can become true only when your business runs steadily. If you are curious about how to expand your business, let us tell you that the first step is to avoid making any mistakes.

Final Words

Starting your own business is a bold step that only a few people take. If you are one of them, you should not look back. Despite the failures and dissatisfaction, you should show persistence in your efforts. You need to stay aware of the latest trends to stay on top of your game. Finding customers and retaining them in a restaurant business is not easy. Therefore, you should equip yourself with the required knowledge. Be ready for all types of situations. Having a financial backup is necessary to increase your risk-taking.

Also Read:

1) Do's & Don'ts for a Dairy Business Owner
2) Do’s & Don’ts for an Anaaj Wholesale Business Owner
3) Do’s & Don’ts For an Internet Cafe Owner
4) OkCredit: All you need to know about OkCredit & how it works.

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FAQs

Q. How can I create a foolproof menu?

Ans. Determining the type and number of dishes that you would serve at your restaurant can be overwhelming. Merely picking the niche is not enough. Just because you like Chinese cuisine, it doesn’t mean that you would serve all the Chinese dishes in your restaurant. You need to use the ‘trial and error’ method here. With the help of regular experimentation, you can find out the preferences of your customers.

Q. How do I ensure minimum food wastage?

Ans. Wastage of food is a common scenario in the restaurant industry. No owner, manager, or head chef can predict the exact quantity of food that might be sold on any given day. Therefore, you cannot completely eliminate the possibility of food wastage. But you can reduce the quantity of waste food and raw materials by keeping an eye on the purchase and sales volumes regularly.

Q. How can I make my restaurant stand apart?

Ans. In a world where restaurants have become one of the most common types of business, making your restaurant stand apart can be challenging. You need to focus on a multitude of factors ranging from quality and taste to pricing and customer service. Along with serving some unique delicacies, you should also put effort into building long-term relationships with customers.