With the economy showing very little signs of recovering any time soon, many people are reducing their frequency of eating out. This means that restaurants will have to work harder than ever to bring in enough customers to stay in business. Here are some ideas to help a restaurant struggling in this economy.
As difficult as it is, many restaurant owners suggest firing your "bottom twenty percent of employees." With the economy the way it is you need every person on your staff to be a salesperson for your restaurant and underperforming or laziness simply cannot be tolerated. Energetic, hard working, motivated employees is the goal and you should make that clear to all your personnel. Since the manager of the restaurant should be the example to the rest of the staff, make sure your work is at the level of excellence by being willing to perform any task needed and perform it well.
Have a vision plan or goal for your establishment. Why did you open your restaurant? What would you like to accomplish by having it? What can you do now to get you closer to your goal? Not only will having a goal keep you moving in the right direction, it will save you the money and time of tangents and rabbit trails. Stick to your plan. However, if the plan is clearly not working, don't be afraid to alter your goals.
"Stay positive, set goals, have accountability for everyone...it's your bus and you are the driver, meaning that it's up to the owners to have the right people in the right seats." If you are really in the red, meet with your landlord and try to work out a deal. Chances are, he wants your business, even at less profit, more than he wants an empty space. Renegotiating or switching vendors is another way to cut costs without majorly affecting your customers. For example, one restaurant switched to Hunts instead of Heinz for ketchup. That simple move saves him thousands of dollars a year.
"Failure and mistakes are not bad if you learn to make the right decision in your next move...It is not the end of the world to close a restaurant. Every restaurateur has gone through difficult times." In the end, having high quality food and exceptional customer service will bring people in, struggling economy or not. The key principles behind a profitable restaurant don't change because times are tight; they just require more creativity and focused budgeting from restaurant owners to work.
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