8 Must Know Strategies To Start and Run a Successful Restaurant Business in 2019

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8 Must Know Strategies To Start and Run a
Successful Restaurant Business in 2019

• Whether your dream is to open a chinese, poke,
  shabu, pizzeria, or sushi restaurant, a little
  bit of insight and planning goes a long way
  towards making your restaurant dream pay off in
  big ways.
• From selecting the perfect location, to choosing
  attractive menu items, to hiring great staff and
  attracting customers, there are crucial
  activities that any successful restaurant owner
  must manage successfully in order to create the
  thriving business of their dreams.
• Weve compiled a list of 8 critical strategies to
  help you start a restaurant that will change your
  life.

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• Before you start your new adventure, ask yourself
  these important questions.
• Everybody dreams that their restaurant idea will
  attract a continuous stream of happy customers
  walking into and out of their doors.
• While a good idea is a necessary starting point,
  it is just one step in the equation of operating
  a successful restaurant business.
• A good idea becomes viable when supplemented by
  strong passion and determination.
• To gauge whether you are ready to embark on this
  new journey, start by asking yourself these
  questions.
• Do you have a passion for opening a restaurant as
  your next career move? No one will care more
  about your restaurant than you will, so your
  passion will create the culture that attracts
  quality staff and customers alike.
• Are you ready to handle the business aspects
  (bookkeeping, management, accounting, marketing,
  sales, HR) of running a restaurant?
• Are you a patient person? Success comes from
  perseverance, and many restaurants shut down
  after a couple of years if their owners are not
  seeing immediate results.
• Are you a people person? A good restaurant owner
  takes an active role in the dining room, greeting
  customers, and communicating with them to learn
  about and solve problems.
• If you answered Yes to all of the above, then
  great, you have the right frame of mind, now lets
  make sure you understand what it takes before
  spending any money.

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Get hands on training before you start The best
way to eliminate future stressors and risks of
owning a restaurant is by working in one (ideally
the same type you would like to start). You can
think of it as getting paid to learn the
ropes. You can participate in all the successes,
and failures of the workplace without wasting
your time and your own money. Try to work in as
many different restaurant jobs as possible and
speak to those holding positions in key areas
(ie. owner, supervisor, head chef, waiter) and
youll discover insights and knowledge that can
help prevent future mistakes.Besides learning
what satisfies the customers you hope to attract,
find out what it takes to provide excellent
customer service, develop a creative menu, get
compliance with local, state, and federal
regulations, how to manage people, how to market,
how to sale, and many other critical skills
necessary to run a successful restaurant
business. Once you feel you have a good
understanding of all the areas, its time to start
planning your restaurant.
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Know who you want to attract Youve heard the
old adage that its never wise to underestimate
your competition, even though you think you can
do better. After all, the restaurant down the
street thats been around forever is obviously
doing something right, or else they wouldnt
still be in business, and you probably dont want
them taking all of your future business. There
is something about these other restaurants that
appeal to patrons. Find out what it is and ask
yourself, Why do people come here? Whats the
appeal? How can I serve them better? A simple
way to get these answers is to visit your
competitors and observe the type of people who
frequent them, what they are ordering, and the
general comments they are making. Also, you can
get keen insight from the positive and negative
comments left on your competitors social media
(ie. Facebook, Twitter), Yelp, and Google My
Business Listings.
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Choose a Solid Restaurant Concept (What Makes You
Unique?) Restaurant concepts are often conceived
around current food trends. Shabu shabu, ramen,
personalized pizzas, and custom burgers may be
the fad now, but how long will these
last? Creating a concept around a diverse menu
that offers a variety of classic and new dishes
is likely to remain popular with diners today and
10 years from now. Remember copying a restaurant
makes you simply another restaurant X, but not
the original. For example, does anyone want to
visit another Chipotle, when they can simply
visit Chipotle? While your restaurant can be
influenced by other establishments, find a way
to make it stand out by making it authentically
yours.
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Create a Desirable Menu Your menu can make or
break your restaurant, so it is worth the time
and investment to make sure that it flows well
with your restaurant concept and ambiance. Most
importantly, your menu should be attractive to
your target market, and complements your
restaurants ambiance. As you are writing your
menu, consider factors like the size of your
restaurant kitchen, availability of ingredients,
and the equipment you need.Locally grown
produce, organic items, fusion dishes (combining
multiple ethnic cuisines into one dish) are
rising in popularity. Consumers are also eating
more chicken, beef, and seafood dishes than they
have in recent years but also want to see
meatless alternatives. Menus that include a
number of ethnic dishes are also popular. Its
not surprising to find Mexican, Chinese,
Vietnamese, French, and American cuisines on the
same menu. Though menu variety is steadily
increasing, menus themselves are growing shorter.
Busy consumers prefer not to read a lengthy menu.
Keep an eye out on the number of menu items, and
make sure their descriptions are simple and
straightforward to make selecting an item a
breeze.
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Location, Location, Location Now that you have
your target customers, restaurant concept, and
menu items ready to go, it is time to secure a
viable location. Ideally, the location should
have a continuous flow of traffic, convenient
parking with easy access, and is close to other
businesses that drive visitors to your restaurant
(especially your target market). To determine if
the location has potential, calculate the total
pedestrian traffic walking past that location
during business hours and how many are likely to
be customers. Additionally, it is also wise to
find out who the previous tenants were and why
they are no longer occupying the space in
addition to future development that could affect
your business positively, or negatively.Once you
locate a desirable, and affordable location, it
is time to shift your attention to the type of
people you will need to hire to operate your
business. Your restaurant will only be as
successful as the people you hire One of the
biggest hurdles restaurants face is hiring and
retaining qualified and motivated staff. Nothing
is more expensive, and time consuming then
continuing to recruit, hire and train new
employees. Therefore, in order to attract and
retain qualified employees, it is crucial to
start by hiring right.
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By making it crystal clear what you are looking
for in the job description, not just in terms of
job duties but also what you are looking for
culturally, it will help to filter out some
unqualified candidates from the start. When your
restaurant is new, some employees duties may
cross over from one category to another so hire
people that not only have a good blend of
personality and experience, but also are willing
to be flexible in their duties. Do some research
to find out what the pay rates are in your area
and then establish a minimum and maximum rate
that makes you completive. Once you find them,
provide initial and ongoing training on to help
them improve their skills and operational
efficiencies. Well-trained employees are often
happier, confident, more effective and have lower
turnover. The best way to acquire restaurant
equipment Once youve decided on your location
and what goes on your menu, its time to turn
your attention to purchasing kitchen equipment
and supplies.
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Equipment is typically the biggest expense faced
by new restaurant owners, so selecting quality,
reliable, and affordable equipment and supplies
that fits your restaurant type is critical on a
tight budget. The last thing you want is spending
money on equipment that is unable to service the
needs of your restaurant. Since you are likely to
purchase cooking equipment, refrigerators,
fryers, ovens, and serving ware that you will
depend on to operate your business effectively,
it is important to see and demo the equipment
from a local seller to ensure that it meets your
needs before you buy it. Establishing an ongoing
relationship with a dependable, and trustworthy
equipment and supplies seller also goes a long
way towards allowing you to focus on working on
your business instead of just in it. Article
Source- https//www.actionsales.com/en/8-strateg
ies-tips-start-successful-restaurant-2019/