If you have ever wanted to start your own restaurant, your friends and family have probably said something like this before. “It’s risky! Most restaurants fail! You should do something else with your money—something safer!”
You might have spoken to other people and realised that there is some truth to these words. Restaurants are indeed tough businesses that require not just experience and hard work, but also a good deal of luck. This is why 60% of them end up struggling within the first year.
If running a restaurant has always been a dream of yours, how do you make it work? How do you ensure that your business isn’t forced to shut down within twelve months? Let’s find out.
1. First Impressions in the Early Stages Make a Massive Difference
The thing about restaurant businesses is that it’s easy to mess things up if you have no experience. Customer opinion is critical in the initial period and if it seems like your restaurant is being run by amateurs, it’s an instant turn-off.
Everything, from the way your staff presents themselves to how professionally orders are taken and delivered matters.
Also, if you are having trouble attracting customers, never let that be a reason for your restaurant to look empty.
Ask friends and family to visit and serve them. Why? because there’s nothing more depressing than seeing a new restaurant that’s always empty with employees just waiting for the door to open.
In the past, it was common to hire people to wait in line outside a restaurant. This created the illusion that the establishment was attractive enough for people to wait for a seat. It’s a powerful marketing trick. While you don’t have to do the same thing, it just goes to show how important optics are in the first few months.
2. Find and Invest in Ways to Stop Bleeding Money
We often see restaurants go out of business because they never bothered to optimise their operations. As a result, they end up losing money through several areas like food waste, overstaffing, and other costs.
However, one issue that can critically hurt your operations is inventory and storage mismanagement. This includes mistakes such as overordering supplies and not being able to use them in time.
If you didn’t bother to invest in a commercial walk-in freezer, you might find yourself dealing with huge losses in spoilt ingredients. Thus, if you can’t afford to outright buy one, then at least rent.
Meat, cheese, and similar products warrant investments that many beginner owners are hesitant to make. According to Wessex Refrigeration Hire, there are remote freezer monitoring options that alert you in case anything changes in terms of temperature or other metrics.
Investing in such equipment seems overkill, but this is the mistake that beginner restaurant owners sadly make.
Anything that helps you save thousands of dollars by saving your supplies is not a waste. Investing in equipment like this is but one of the many steps you can take to keep your operations efficient.
Optimising your menu offerings in such a way that they are simple and set up to cross-utilise ingredients can be another way to keep inventory costs down.
If you can hire a manager who has experience working in restaurant kitchens, that can also be an excellent investment.
3. Don’t Be Afraid to Switch Things Up
Another common mistake that new restaurant owners make is that they get too rigid and refuse to adapt. What does this mean? Well, if you notice that your current offerings aren’t all that popular, don’t just stick with them for months on end.
Keep rotating dishes to find out which ones are hits and which ones need a switch.
Of course, switching things up doesn’t mean that you have to always change your items. It just means that it’s good to be flexible.
If doing something different can increase customers, why be rigid?
There’s no shame in admitting that your initial ideas weren’t successful. What matters is that you have the ability to move on and ensure your restaurant can find its legs.
In conclusion, try not to be discouraged by what you hear about the restaurant business. Yes, the statistics are true in that they often struggle within the first year or so. However, that doesn’t need to be you. If you are serious and passionate about succeeding, you have a good chance of making your restaurant work.
Just ensure that you avoid making rookie mistakes and develop a solid plan. Hiring experienced managers and staff, though a little more expensive, can end up saving you and your restaurant a lot of stress.
You can also speak to other restaurant owners (maybe avoid direct competitors) and ask for their advice. You can learn quite a lot from what they have to share.
