A lot goes in to running your own restaurant, especially when you’re striving to maintain high quality fine dining. There are many areas of the restaurant that need to be highly organised and managed. As a restauranteur, you may be wondering how you can best streamline your operations to improve or increase the service you provide.
By making changes to your how your business runs you can not only create a more efficiently ran establishment, but also improve working conditions for your employees. We have compiled a list for you to help you brainstorm ways in which you can streamline your business and improve productivity.
Build A Strong Team
First off-The backbone of a smooth-running restaurant is the team, both front of house and in the kitchen. Kitchen staff need to be able to both produce beautiful food and keep up with the heat of getting food out on time. Front of house staff are the face of your business. They need to have meticulous standards of customer service and communication, and be able to multitask and oversee several guests at once. Make sure all your staff can work together well and the communication and teamwork between areas of the restaurant is effective.
Payment systems
An essential for any restaurant to run smoothly is a quick and efficient, but also secure, payment system. Customer card information needs to be kept private and protected. Choose a payment system that is simple to use, it makes it quicker to train new staff and can cut down waiting time. Make sure there are options for tipping and group payments. The payment processor you choose needs to be compliant with PCI standards, and provide the best protection against data breaches.
Point Of Sale (POS) system
When it comes to your point-of-sale systems, it is worth investing in a high-quality system that can hold cloud-based storage, software and apps which can make a huge impact on the running of your restaurant. Also consider investing in tablets for your employees to utilise the latest technologies to help with:
- taking orders
- communication between front of house staff, management and kitchen staff
- restaurant layout
- table tracking
- suggesting sides and extras for food orders
- menu updates
- dishes that are not available
Stock Management
Keeping a close eye on stock levels is essential to running a successful restaurant. Low stock levels cause domino effects. If chefs can’t produce certain dishes this will lead to customer dissatisfaction, and potentially difficult situations for front of house staff to have to deal with. Make sure you have an efficient system in place for monitoring stock levels and placing orders for more deliveries, and make use of stock management software.
Business Insurance
Having a general liability policy for your business can help protect you against any claims made against you and the potential costs, and cover elements such as:
- food poisoning
- bodily injuries from slips or falls
- property damage
- court and legal fees
Additionally, you could consider following additional restaurant specific liability insurance it can be wise to take out:
- employee benefits liability insurance
- liquor liability insurance
- employment practices liability insurance
- utility interruption
- extra expense
- equipment breakages
- employee theft
having insurance in place can be a safety net should the worst happen, and usual business gets interrupted. It is important for safeguarding the livelihoods of both yourself as a restaurateur and those of your employees.
Investing In Marketing
When you’re running a fine dining establishment, high-quality marketing is a must. You should be willing to invest money into a well-designed and aesthetically pleasing website, featuring detailed menus and online booking options. Also include information on your produce quality (for example, where your ingredients are sourced and why) and the training and quality of your in-house chefs. Social media is quickly becoming the leading way in which you can gain new customers and showcase your restaurant. Make sure your establishment is on all the major social media channels and regularly active. Post new content frequently and engage with customers on comments and direct messaging.
Customer Feedback
Try to gain as much customer feedback as possible. Look over reviews posted online and on websites such as TripAdvisor, Yelp and your own restaurant’s social media pages. You could even go down the more old-fashioned route of including paper feedback cards with the bill for customers to fill out. Front of house should be encouraged to ask customers for their feedback in person, not only is this basic curtesy and good service, but can provide immediate feedback on how the restaurant is running. Reviews and feedback hold invaluable insight into any potential pit falls in how efficiently your restaurant is operating, and improvements that could be made.
