Every day, there are people all over the world who have the dream of opening their own restaurant. They think “We will open our own restaurant, we will cook what we like, our grandmother’s recipes, we will spend time with our friends, it will be a global franchise and we will make a lot of money.”
The reality is that it takes a lot of work, a lot of money and a great vision for business to get a restaurant ahead and even more so that it continues to grow and become a successful restaurant.
To have a successful restaurant you have to have TRUST and VALUE to achieve it.
We share the best tips to turn your restaurant into a successful business:
- Know your client:
Take the time to get to know what motivates your customers to go to your restaurant. Successful restaurateurs can remember names and surnames of their frequent clients, the name of the spouse, where they work, the car they drive and most importantly, what they like to eat and drink in your restaurant. Knowing the customers of your restaurant also allows you the possibility of increasing sales. Update your client’s database to keep them updated on promotions or special events, Give them a VIP treatment.
- Create a “Special Saucer”:
In all cities there are many places to eat, so give customers a reason to choose your restaurant. Become famous for only one or two dishes and make sure that these key dishes are of the highest quality, that they are produced quickly and that they are profitable. Talk about these dishes with the media, get publicity or public relations. If you create a demand for these specialties in your city and they can be produced in a standard way, people will recognize you and go to your restaurant again and again.
- Treat your customers like gold:
There is an old saying in the restaurant business, “If a client has a great experience in your restaurant, he can tell his family and perhaps a couple of people at work. But if he had a bad service or a bad meal he would tell everyone. ” Know their tastes and what they do not like and attend to their needs. Everyone wants to be well received when they enter a restaurant. Train your team to treat everyone as if they were special.
- Train your staff :
The employees of the restaurant are generally more productive when they are learning something new and, subsequently, they give a better service to your clients. By providing better service, they also give better advice, which becomes better income. Their functions can become repetitive so train them constantly to develop their work at the highest level.
- Listen to customer complaints and take immediate action:
It is easy to assume that you know your restaurant and the menu dishes very well. However, if your clients take the time and effort to let you know that something is not right or make a suggestion, it is better to listen to them, thank them for their comments and implement the necessary changes immediately. You will only hear about 10 percent of what your customers really think, so listen carefully and use feedback formats in this way customers often express themselves more freely. Have a contingency plan and train your team what to do and what not to do in case of complaints.
- Keep the menu up to date :
The menu is the key element of your restaurant where all the other details revolve. Research other restaurants in the same style of your kitchen to see what they are doing, study the menus and hire consultants to help your restaurant become a leader, not a follower.
- Motivate your team :
If your cooks, manager or restaurant staff members have a great idea, be sure to reward and recognize their achievements, not only internally, but also to customers in general. By recognizing the great work, you will be seen as someone who is surrounded by talented people. In turn, the staff will work harder because you took the time to acknowledge their contribution. - Be authentic :
If your concept is Paella, then do an investigation of all the ingredients you need to make the best paella, hire personnel who are Spanish and who have cooked this dish since childhood. Do not use strange recipes or substitute ingredients to make a dish; other restaurants can create a better dish than yours and they will steal from your customers. - Create a cozy and clean atmosphere:
As your customers wait for the food to arrive, many see the decoration of the restaurant, works of art, etc. Badly painted walls or broken furniture can make a difference for a client to return to your restaurant or not. The women’s market often choose the restaurant based on how clean the bathroom is, so make sure you have a plan to service this area throughout the day. - Do it because you like it and you love it.:
Do not sit down and think that now that you have a good business, your life is made and it is time to retire in the Caribbean. It is enough with only a few clients that have a bad experience to kill the reputation you earned in years. Building a successful restaurant takes years of blood, sweat and tears, and the financial rewards are usually smaller than most people imagine] If you do not love and you are not passionate about the food business and all that it implies, do not enter into this world. The restaurant business is a vocation, not a vacation.
