Restaurant management involves quite normal mistakes that any manager is led to make, especially when opening his establishment. However, it is possible to anticipate some other errors and avoid them before reaching an extreme situation. TheFork recapitulates some of the most common ones here in order to make you aware of them.
1 – Offer a very large card
Some restaurants strive to cater for all tastes by offering a huge array of dishes. Sushi, burgers as well as risottos parade through their kitchens. This strategy can work in restaurants that depend exclusively on tourism. On the other hand, if the restaurant wishes to retain its customers and have a stable return, offering such a vast and contradictory menu is a mistake.
In fact, as emerging trends indicate, specialty restaurants that prioritize a star product perform better, as customers increasingly tend to be foodies and gourmets.
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2 – Create a confused atmosphere
Besides the gastronomic offer, the decoration is one of the other key aspects of restaurant management. Some establishments neglect the decoration and receive their clients in uncomfortable spaces without personality. Result: the click is not made among the guests and in general, they do not repeat their visit.
The ideal is to define an atmosphere that matches the style of the establishment. Current trends highlight the success of thematic restaurants, where the menu, furniture, colors, materials and all the elements express the same concept.
3 – ignore the competition
Restaurant management shows that some managers sometimes err on the side of overconfidence by forgetting the competition. One thing is certain, the restaurants are more and more numerous and it is now easier to find them and to reserve a table there. Excessive navel-gazing will always be a mistake because, in addition to the risk of losing customers, it also leads to the risk of losing the sense of reality.
It is essential to constantly analyze the competition, because this approach allows you to see what works and what does not, like looking in a mirror. Observing the competition allows you to discover good ideas that can be adapted to the establishment, and especially to know what should absolutely not be copied.
4 – Restaurant management without a business plan
Some restaurants open their doors and start to find customers , but once the novelty has passed, they see their room empty without knowing why. They then try various strategies haphazardly, but none of them last long. It is therefore essential to develop a plan including estimates of the expected results in the short, medium and even long term, even if it is necessary to modify them along the way.
Planning must define not only profitability and profits, but also aspects such as the evolution of gastronomic quality, service, team, etc. The management of a restaurant must always have a clearly defined direction: it will always be superior to a management without objective where one expects customers to tumble as if by magic.
Aware of this imperative, TheFork has created its reservation management software, offering various features that help you make business decisions.
5 – Not having a digital presence
In modern restaurant management it is very important to use all current methods. Digital is everywhere, with the software that allows you to manage your reservations efficiently, with visibility on the Internet, now essential to find customers and even with the free WiFi that you offer and that sets you apart from the competition.
Restaurants that have not adapted to these tools and continue to believe that their customers are not using social media may very well collapse suddenly even if they have a great reputation and even if their customers today owe it to themselves. ‘hui register on waiting lists. On the other hand, the role of digital resources is to improve and facilitate restaurant management processes, so why ignore them?
It’s okay to make mistakes in such a complex business as a restaurant. However, there are mistakes that common sense and sound management can avoid. We hope these tips helped you show off without hitting those obstacles, or at least got you cleared of them in time.