First Steps to a Successful Restaurant
What is a successful restaurant? Is it the coolest or sharpest looking one? Is it the most popular one? Is it the one with the most awards? Is it the one in the latest edition of Gourmet?If you were to open your own restaurant, what would it be? Cheap? Fine dining? Big? Small? In the CBD? In the suburbs?
In my experience there is no one formula that works. I have seen spectacular restaurants with great chefs fall flat on their bum. I have seen tacky restaurants with very average chefs do very well. You must consider many things, like location, demographic, price point, product, overheads, size & layout to name a few.
I will offer you my opinion on what will give you a giant start on everyone else: Consistency in your product, and good delivery.
Do not over complicate the task at hand. If you open a coffee shop then learn how to make good coffee, make sure it is good all the time, then deliver it promptly and with a smile. It sounds easy but you would be surprised how many times we get it wrong. The word hospitality says it all. Be hospitable!
Coffee is a great example. Firstly, it is a completely legal drug that millions of people are addicted to. Secondly, it is mostly consumed for only a couple of reasons, they are: to get you going in the morning and as a pick-me-up, or as a medium to socialize with a friend without having to try too hard to find somewhere to go or something to do. This provides an incredibly simple set of parameters to running a successful business. Open your store where there are lots of people (addicts), serve well made coffee (drugs) at a fair price & do it with a smile! Bingo, you are now officially a legalised drug dealer and you are ahead of most of your drug dealing competitors. Take note of the best coffee shops next time. Some are slick and modern, some are grungy and urbane, others are simple holes in the wall near trainstations and airports. It is not the layout or the quality of fittings that makes them busy. It is the consistency. Consistent product, consistent trading times, consistent service! Consistently supply your customers (addicts) with the best quality product (drug) in your businesses area (territory).
To be honest good service is rare. Consistency in the other areas can even hide the fact that service is lacking. If you truly want to get ahead of your competitors then make sure that you look after your customers and treat them with respect. They are your business. If they don’t buy anything then you are nothing more than a storage shed for your products. Cool places become uncool as soon as a trend changes. Expensive modern fitouts become dated. New businesses open with the intention of being better than yours. What you can do is ensure that every person that walks out of your establishment walks out thinking that you genuinely tried to look after them and that the product you served was of good quality. They will always return to you eventually because they can rely on you and that is what consistency does, makes you reliable!
Please consider that all the things mentioned above like lay-outs & pricing do have an impact. It is just not the most important thing. This is the complication of it. You can serve coffee in paper cups seating people on milk crates in a dodgy old café and still have a thriving little business. I have seen it. Get the product and delivery sorted, ensure it is consistent and the rest will fall in to place.
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