Posts Tagged ‘restaurant management tools’

How to manage a restaurant – Effectively Manage Your Restaurant and Your Life

If you're like most restaurant owners, you have more to do than time to do it.

But too many Restaurant Owners get so wrapped up in their business, they forget to take care of the other aspects of their lives. And the results can be devastating! Families are neglected, friends are lost, and the physical and mental health of the restaurant owner declines. (Just to name a few.)

So here are some tips for being able to successfully manage your company and your life:

Put systems into place- mistakes are made when processes are not systematized. When processes are consistent, fewer mistakes are made and there are fewer fires to put out. Take a day off- despite the temptation to work a 7-day week, take at least one day for yourself. You will see your productivity and your health improve. (Not to mention how happy your family will be to see you.) Go home- set a time schedule for yourself. Schedule the number of hours you will work and stick to that plan. Set your priorities- there's always another crisis to solve. So be sure to make special occasions with friends and family a top priority. Don't allow a restaurant "emergency" to hold you back. After all, there's bound to be another one tomorrow. Automate your business- this is sometimes an odd topic for restaurant owners, but there are many places to automate your restaurant and I am not just talking about the POS System.  If you haven't taken the time to realize the value of automation, do so soon. Places you can automate - Any recurring task like weekly emails or marketing mailers, costing your food, paying your bills can even be automated and save you a ton of time. With your business on auto-pilot you have more time for other things.

None of the stuff in this email is new to you. You know it all. But unless you are willing to take these suggestions to heart, you will never be able to effectively manage your life.
And remember, nobody ever lay on their deathbed wishing they had spent more time at the Restaurant!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jonathan Munsell owns two restaurant brands and a catering company. Jonathan Munsell works with current and aspiring restaurant owners specializing in restaurant startup and growth. In 2007, Jonathan launched Restaurant Success System conducting national seminars and professionally speaking on restaurant startup, restaurant operations, restaurant marketing and finance. Download a free report to learn " How To Grow Any Restaurant Into a Super Profitable CASH Machine"  the Report Includes 10 Secrets Guaranteed to Skyrocket Your Profits…Immediately at www.RestaurantSuccessMonthly.com

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jonathan Munsell owns two restaurant brands and a catering company. Jonathan Munsell works with current and aspiring restaurant owners specializing in restaurant startup and growth. In 2007, Jonathan launched Restaurant Success System conducting national seminars and professionally speaking on restaurant startup, operations, marketing and finance. Download a free report to learn "How to Double Your Restaurant Profits" at http://www.RestaurantSuccessMonthly.com.

How to manage a restaurant – Use Free Restaurant Forms And Resources To Manage Your Restaurant While You Sleep

Restaurant management should run as smooth as a finely tuned wind-up clock with the notches of each gear fitting each other and turning synchronously together. When one gear slows down, the others will not turn as fast or as smooth as they were before. Eventually, the machine breaks down and needs to be fixed.

Unlike a machine, however, a restaurant business is not easily fixed when it fails. To avoid this scenario from happening, do not just rely on your restaurant management skills. Seek the help of experts to guide you in areas where your business mentors did not teach you about. Experience, after all, is the best kind of education.

Websites, such as Score.org, Restaurant.org and CalRest.org, provide updated news and articles related to restaurant management. They provide short-term courses in food handling and protection, employee management, customer service, and general management matters, like legal processes involved in opening your own restaurant business. They also keep their members updated with industry-related news and special networking events for restaurant owners.

Aside from the availability of assistance from experts and fellow entrepreneurs, restaurateurs can also take advantage of free online resources, such as restaurant forms (i.e. kitchen prep sheets, inventory schedules and order forms), restaurant templates (i.e. business planning, sales and financial templates). All these restaurant forms, templates and schedules follow industry standards.

If you prefer to take advantage of what technology has to offer, then you can tap into videos, podcasts, PDFs and webinars to learn more about restaurant management. Restaurant owners can sign up for one of the online workshops about taking their restaurant business online.

Other online sources, such as discussion forums and restaurant blogs, also provide fresh and valuable information into the business. Restaurant owners and managers can also take advantage of their readership, which consists of other restaurateurs and entrepreneurs. Building business relationships in networking events, trade shows and on the Internet can help you grow your restaurant business.

Jerome Chiaro is a Restaurant consultant out of Orange County, CA.  He can help you save time by eliminating 50% of your restaurant management tasks with a Free Restaurant Toolkit.

Did you know that 95% of restaurant owners and managers spend over 50 hours per week slaving away at their restaurant?  I've found a way to get it down to 20 hours. It has never before been publicly revealed.  To find out what it is visit my Restaurant Forms Blog.

How to manage a restaurant – Food Service Management: Why Restaurants Fail

If you are in food service management, you may be interested in taking professional education courses that are relevant to your workplace and that can help you expand and improve your skills. Food service manager training is important because many food service managers are promoted from within and come into a management position with little to no managerial training. An intro course could cover basics such as what makes restaurants succeed or fail and the phases of the restaurant life cycle.

A comprehensive course in food service manager training will teach you:
-How to understand what improves customer satisfaction and how to get those customers to recommend your restaurant/hotel/resort/spa to others
-About the various issues one faces in the foodservice business and what challenges may arise
-How to approach a plan to incorporate current trends into your products
-How to integrate a human resources strategy into your company
-About the different life cycles phases for restaurants/hotels/foodservice companies
-How to use and incorporate market research that applies to your business
-What ultimately can push a restaurant towards success or failure

Probably the most controversial question is the last listed above: what makes a restaurant fail? There are many different answers to this difficult question. Did you know that over half of all businesses fail within their first year? Customers decide fairly quickly whether or not they like a restaurant and it is usually clear within just months whether or not your restaurant is well-liked. The reasons may not seem obvious at first, but think about the restaurants that have not lasted. Did you enjoy your meals there? What did you dislike? If you start to dig deep, you will discover the major reasons for restaurant failure. Some of my own critiques of a restaurant are:

1. Location, location, location. If a restaurant is out in the open and visible, you will get many more customers of the drive-by type. This is critical especially in the early stages of a restaurant.

2. Inefficiency. This could be operational(you over-order, under-order, over/under-pay) or service-oriented, so that it starts to affect the ambiance of the restaurant (over/under-staff, have an inefficient kitchen with long wait times, etc...). If you don't have these issues sorted out almost immediately you are facing a serious problem.

3. Promotion and advertising. This relates to #1 (location) - if you are not advertising constantly (especially at first), you will not get the customers you need to sustain and then grow your business. Make sure you are advertising to the right people (if you have a vegetarian restaurant make sure you are putting ads in local animal rights newsletters, etc...). Make sure you know who you want to advertise to as well.

4. Your name. This may be silly, but when it comes to restaurants, name is (just about) everything! It should be descriptive of what your restaurant is about - for example, don't jokingly call your restaurant a steak house if your specialty is tofu. The people that go expecting steak will be disappointed and you may lose those tofu-lovers because they have the wrong idea about your name.

These are just some of the topics that might be covered in food service manager training. To be successful in food service management you should be familiar with these concepts and apply them effectively to your own restaurant or foodservice endeavor. Food service manager training can be very helpful for those that are both new to the industry or more experienced - there are always nuances to learn.

David Shoemaker is Vice President of Learning Solutions and Innovation at eCornell. For more information on food service management, or eCornell, please visit http://www.eCornell.com

How to manage a restaurant – Tips On How To Manage A Restaurant

The success of any restaurant will depend on well it is managed. Good management practices are essential to acquiring and retaining customers. When one runs and efficient restaurant, the reward will be a great reputation and a thriving long term business.

The following are a number of tips on how to manage a restaurant:

1. The ambience of a restaurant should be designed to make a customer feel welcome. When you have chosen the theme of the restaurant, the decor should consist of furnishings and design that matches the theme. When you decorate your restaurant, you have features that are professional and appealing to your customers. Consider such features as paint color, type of tables and seats, carpet design, wall furnishings such as pictures, lighting, view, and music. As well, your restaurant should be well maintained. Cleanliness is extremely important, even the washrooms. A dirty or poorly kept restaurant will only turn customers away and give the business a bad reputation. The first thing a customer will notice when they walk through the door is the appearance of the restaurant.

2. You should adopt cost controlling practices. Properly managing inventory and supplies is essential. Look for deals when making your purchases. Don't order too much of a product as it will either spoil or end up sitting on the shelf for months. You should determine what and how much you will be using each day to determine what you will need to order. You should also effectively manage your staff when it comes to costs. Use staff wisely such as bringing in extra workers during your busy times and reducing staff during your slow times.

3. Providing quality customer service is essential to operating a successful restaurant. Your staff should be experienced, easy to train, respectful, courteous, and friendly. Servers should pamper your customers and make them feel that they are valued. Make sure uniforms are attractive and always clean.

4. The food that you serve will make the difference on whether customers will return. Make sure the dishes that you serve and the menu is appealing and will be well received by all of your customers. Food should be fresh and properly prepared at the time of ordering. Your chef should be experienced in the type of food that you serve. Make sure that the dishes you serve are consistent in taste and appearance. As well, offer specials and unique dishes often.

5. In order to make your restaurant a continuing success, you must implement a marketing strategy. You should be advertising your restaurant in local newspapers and magazines. You can also place menus and informational brochures in places such as hotels. Sponsoring events such as for a charity or a sporting activity is a good way to keep your restaurant name out in the community. As well, make sure you promote your daily specials and any other discount special. A coupon or gift certificate is a good advertising choice.
There are a lot of tasks involved with properly managing a restaurant. Having a sound management plan and following through with the plan will help with keeping your restaurant a thriving business.

When trying to find a local restaurant in your area the best place to check is local Canadian online directories. Whether you're searching for Ottawa restaurants you will find a wide range of dining options online.