Restaurant Business Plans
THE BUSINESS PLAN!
The restaurant industry has one of the highest rates of bankruptcy of any industry in today’s economy. This is coupled with one of the lowest profit margins available to the entrepreneur. Restaurants that fail are usually undercapitalized, lack relevant experience in the foodservice industry or don’t take the time to properly examine the business which they are about to get into. Read more
Popularity: 100% [?]
The Operator’s Monthly Conference Call
The RCS Monthly Operator’s Conference Call is scheduled for July 15th at 3:00 p.m. CST.
On this call we will discuss ways to improve your operation’s efficiency and marketability through answers to your submitted questions. Read more
Popularity: 58% [?]
Taking the mystery out of mystery shopping.
By George W. Daye, III
It is a typical Saturday night shift at a local steak and seafood restaurant. All tables are seated with hungry diners and the hostess has put incoming guests on a thirty-minute wait. The bar area soon swells with thirsty patrons and food orders begin flowing into the kitchen. Servers are running at full speed.
In the midst of the controlled chaos, the general manager is the valiant protector of the guest experience. The GM must make sure the operation is running at peak performance, maintain high staff morale, greet VIP guests, make table visits, address guest complaints and find out why Table 22’s entrée arrived at the table before the appetizer. Needless to say, the GM is one busy bee.
So, did the fore-mentioned general manager notice the hostess seat three guests at Table 63 without a smile or without telling them who their server would be that night? What about the server who greeted two guests at Table 35 and didn’t suggestive sell the shrimp appetizer and then later forgot to deliver extra napkins when asked? Did the general manager see the six-top of businessmen at Table 17 finish their experience and pass the hostess stand to leave without being told thank you for coming in or to have a nice evening? Odds are the general manager didn’t notice any of these small missteps. But the eleven guests who experienced them first hand did, and they may choose a competitive steak and seafood restaurant on their next outing.
With so many choices confronting diners, it is imperative for owners and general managers of establishments of all sizes and styles to gain as much visibility as possible into the guest experience in order to parlay this information into gaining customer loyalty. Partnering with a mystery shopping firm is a powerful method of gaining this visibility and much more. Let’s discuss how a mystery shopping partnership works and how bars and restaurants can benefit from it.
Mystery shopping firms, in partnership with establishment management, send teams in to analyze the guest experience while posing as customers. The results of the experience are then placed in report form and shared with establishment management so corrections or commendations can be made.
When entering into a partnership with a restaurant or bar, the mystery shopping firm should take the time to learn about the establishment’s operations. No two concepts are alike and these differentiators should be reflected in what shopping teams analyze. Better mystery shopping firms will take the time to create a unique set of metrics for each and every client. It is important to not only address customer service elements, but suggestive selling as well. Return on investment is mission critical to a successful mystery shopping program.
Scheduling of the actual visits, or “shops”, is also an important element of a mystery shopping program. Establishment management should have input as to how they would like the shops focused. Perhaps the first month will focus strictly on dinner shifts, while successive months will have a mix of two dinners and one lunch. A visit to the bar may even be thrown into the mix. Whatever the schedule, the establishment management should not know the specific dates and times of upcoming mystery shops so as not to skew the results.
After shops are completed and results tabulated, the reports are then delivered to the establishment management, usually in an electronic format. Better mystery shopping firms will take time to go over the results, provide feedback on how the establishment can improve, and continually make changes to the program so that metrics are reflective of what is happening at the tables. If an establishment is promoting “Lobster Month” in April, shopping teams should report if their server was suggestive selling lobster when writing April’s reports. A successful mystery shopping program is always evolving and reflecting the needs of the partner establishment.
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George W. Daye, III is founder and president of BarServ, a unique and insightful mystery shopping firm that only contracts experienced hospitality general managers, wine stewards, bartenders and servers to conduct its mystery shops. For more information, visit BarServ.com or email him at georged@barserv.com. Tell him Jeffrey sent you!
Popularity: 44% [?]
17 “HOT” Leadership Best Practices
We’ve been talking a lot lately about Leadership so here are my top 17 hottest best practices.
- One-On-Ones: The best tool that gets the best results for our clients is the 5-minute, “One-On-One” utilized with EVERY employee, EVERY day. We Coach them to pick one employee every day to sit down and have a one-on-one conversation with. This isn’t a “gotcha” event as much as it is a “what can I do for you to help you achieve your goals” event. You learn tons when they begin to share what their own personal goals are - or aren’t! Then when you go through your entire staff - start over!
- Employee Roundtables: These aren’t your usual staff meetings. Employees meet once a month/quarter with the owner or highest level field manager available. No unit managers are allowed. Open and frank discussions of the culture ensue and the level of engagement during the meetings is phenomenal.
- 360 Feedback: This isn’t only for managers – it’s for employees as well. This type of evaluation needs to be incorporated in any ongoing evaluation process you have.
- Staff First, Guests Second: Never treat a guest better than you do an employee.
- Hire “A” Level Talent: Hold out for it – period! It will be worth it when you do.
- Fire “C & D” Level Talent: You will never have “A” level talent if you force them to work with less talented individuals. “B” level talent can be grown into “A” level talent, but “C & D” level talent cannot. Get rid of them now before they cost your business even more.
- Grow your business: You will have to focus on growth in order to pay more, do more and offer more that guests and “A” level talent will demand - not just now, but in the not-too-distant future – like tomorrow!
- Grow Your People: “Talent Management” has to be the most important decisions you make every day. Understand that you must also challenge your staff to do more that matches their interests, skills and talent or you will lose them. Don’t have a position for them? Re-define one! Don’t believe me? Ask Amanda!
- Grow Yourself: How can you be a better leader if you are not constantly engaging yourself in new learning? New processes? New perspectives? New ways of thinking? The amount of knowledge in the world is doubling every 2.5 years and even that pace is increasing. Can you afford to be left behind?
- Develop Core Values: Sit down with all stakeholders and do this today! This will determine everything else you need to do and how you will do it.
- Create the Best Culture: You have a culture already. What is it like? Does it achieve the performance level you need? The proper culture is the only thing that will directly improve the performance of your staff and ultimately the business.
- Walk the Walk: Your staff has to have trust in your ability to lead. The best way to do this is to establish your intent up front then exhibit the ability to manage the business properly and efficiently. This means not just executing 100% of an “every guest, every table, every day” mentality, but understanding that the difference between managing and leading is that managers do things right, while leaders do the right things.
- Measure Results: Anecdotal evidence isn’t enough. You have to know if a change effort is working or not and how well, given the current strategy and resources. What does success really look like?
- Coaching At The Point Of Action: This is the only way to ensure high performance at all levels. It is also the only place where actual engagement with the employee or guest can make biggest impact.
- Strategy First: This has to be your mantra for every area of your business. You must understand that the proper strategy has to be in place first. Tactics are always determined by the strategy, not the other way around. Would you start out on a journey to someplace you have never been before without a map?
- Make It Fun: If you want it to stick! See my previous post on how Fun creates Results.
- Transparency: Talk openly and freely about the issues and solution strategies of your business with staff. Talk about everything from electric bills to staffing issues so that they understand the “why” of your “how” to do “what”.
To find out what RCS can do to help you drive the true effects of a well developed Leadership program, give us a call at 877-535-2324 for a free consultation.
Popularity: 37% [?]
16 Important Points To Consider Before You Hire A Hospitality / Food Service Design Consultant
By Lu Schildmeyer
1. Objective Advice. Consultants who are paid fees for there design and specifications are more likely to give you unbiased advice than food service equipment supply dealers, contract equipment salesmen and designers who earn commissions based on the amount of money you spend. If the consultant profits from food service equipment or furnishings sales commissions, he or she has an inherent conflict of interest because the more you spend, the more they make.
2. Experience. Hospitality and food services design today is so specialized and complex that I recommend you hire someone who has provided hospitality / food service design services for a minimum of 15 years. But, don’t make the assumption that just because the person has been in the business for 15 years, they have the knowledge, skill, judgment and experience you need. They may be competent – and they may not be. Make sure you thoroughly interview all consultants you are considering.
3. Service. Do you feel that the consultant sincerely wants to provide you with the help you need to make your business more successful? Or do you get the impression that they only want to do it there way, with little input from you and to have another project to add to there portfolio?
4. Access. Is the consultant hidden behind a secretary or administrative assistant screening? Or is he or she readily available to you by phone, fax, and e-mail. Does the consultant have a direct line to their desk or their cell phone so you can reach them anytime you wish?
5. Stability. Has the consultant been providing hospitality / food service design services for many years? Or is he or she new to the market and just trying to expand their practice into other areas – and just has one or maybe two hospitality projects under there belt and is just “testing the waters” with your project waiting for the opportunity to move on to other design areas they have more experience in?
6. Hospitality / Food Service Design Focus. Is the consultant a full-time hospitality / food service design professional? Or is he or she a part-timer who spreads themselves over a number of different design disciplines, such as office design, medical design, retail design, and residential design?
7. Authority. Does the consultant have enough experience that he or she is a recognized authority in there field? Or is he or she a relative unknown?
8. Size and Efficiency. Does the consultant have a large staff and/or a fancy office that clients pay for? Or do they operate a “lean and mean” operation with minimum overhead to keep there fees affordable? In other words, when you write a check, are you paying for their high level of knowledge, skill, judgment and experience? Or are you paying for their expensive office?
9. Travel. Does the consultant travel around the country from one client to the next, running up airline bills? Or does the consultant keep costs down by working efficiently with you by telephone, fax, mail, and e-mail?
10. Knowledge. Does the consultant have an intimate knowledge of your hospitality business? Does he or she ask you the right questions about your problems, goals, direction, and purpose for wanting to design new or re-model your hospitality facility? Do they sincerely want to help you succeed in your business? Or do they just want the project for the fee?
11. Attention. Does the consultant have so many clients he or she can’t provide you with the personal care and attention you deserve? Or do they limit their services to a few clients at a time who receive the best they have to offer?
12. Work. Does the consultant themselves – or a qualified colleague – perform all the work on your behalf? Or does the consultant bring in the work, delegate it to a junior associate, and then bill you at the consultant’s higher rate?
13. Design Specialization. Is the consultant a hospitality / food service design professional who works only with hospitality orientated businesses? Or do they spread themselves too thin by trying to be a “design generalist” instead of being a hospitality / food services design specialist?
14. Budget. Does the consultant ask you for a detailed project budget? Or does the consultant try to avoid asking the question?
15. Resources. Does the consultant have many resources at there disposal to help you with other non-design related aspects of your project? These are value added services, does the consultant offer them? Or does the consultant have only design resources and no contacts or sources they can refer you to for the many other non-design related needs of your project?
16. Communication. Does the consultant have the ability to communicate effectively with your project Architect, Contractor, Subcontractors, and you? Or does the consultant lack the skills and experience necessary for working with a project team from the beginning phase of a project through to the completion of construction.
Lu Schildmeyer is the new Restaurant Coaching Solutions Design Associate. For more information on RCS design services, contact us at 877-535-2324 or email us at Services@RestaurantCoachingSolutions.com.
Popularity: 27% [?]
