Restaurants are big business. Everybody has to eat, and everybody enjoys eating out from time to time. However, even with these advantages, many restaurants flounder and fail, while others succeed and flourish. Here are a few of the basic principles and practical approaches that help the winners separate from the pack.
1. Build your knowledge: Know the strengths of your restaurant and play heavily to those. Communicate them to your customers. At the same time, learn about your deficiencies and limitations, and use that knowledge to guide your development. Most importantly, pay close attention to your diners. Get to know the patterns that define your restaurant and find out what works, and what doesn’t, by the metric of customer interest.
2. Master your menu: The menu is the document that allows your customers to interact with the food you have to offer. Obsess over it. A great menu can make a huge difference. Try using specifics whenever possible – cooking methods and precise ingredient names are enticing to diners. “Brick oven-baked ziti in a zesty tomato-basil sauce” is more appetizing than “pasta with red sauce.”
3. Evolve: No restaurant can survive forever by resting on its laurels. Even fast food restaurant chains are constantly trying out new offerings. A wise approach is to define what sets your eatery apart from the competition, and play off of that. Cut out items that don’t perform well, and experiment with new dishes or a more focused approach. Outside of the kitchen, keep evolving by staying abreast of social media, and taking every possible opportunity to use them for marketing your restaurant. This approach is surprisingly effective, as well as quite cheap.
By knowing what your cooks have to offer, emphasizing it with a delectable-sounding menu, and never standing still, your restaurant will have a much greater chance at continued success than many.
About the author: Bruce Comer worked with food distribution companies for many years, assisting clients that included the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the United States armed forces. He owns a restaurant, The Moneybar, in Cozumel, Mexico.
Bruce Comer 