THE MIDDLE EAST'S NUMBER ONE RESTAURANT CONSULTANTS
Restaurants are known to notoriously fail and have a high failure rate, close to 60% within the first year. There is no avoiding the inevitable that more restaurants fail than succeed. Why is it a challenging industry? What are the factors that contribute to this kind of downfall? Many restaurants that start off as promising cannot last more than 6 months. Let’s look at some of the common pitfalls of restaurants and how we can avoid them in the future.
Money mismanagement
One of the primary reasons a restaurant fails is because it is not run by business people. A restaurant is usually run by a person with a good sense of food and a dream. These are not business people. Restaurateurs who are successful are the ones that come up the rank and learn financial management along the way. It is more their experience at learning how to manage money than actually knowing how to do it. So this is the first step. Learn to manage your finances or consider getting into a partnership with someone that has that business knowledge.
No Accessibility
The location plays a significant role and if there is no proper accessibility to your restaurant, it is bound to fail. What kind of a restaurant are you starting? Your location is directly related to this. For instance, if it is a smaller restaurant that has seating capacity for 25 it should be able to attract people that travel by foot or public transport. If it is high scale restaurant, and caters to the more elite and older folk, there should be ample parking space available.
Below par customer service
Customer service directly affects the success or failure of a restaurant business. Even if mediocre food is served, serving it in a special way with spawning attention from staff will have guests returning just to experience the warm and friendly customer service. You can have the best food in the world, but it will be of no use to man or beast if the customer service staff snaps at you because you wanted an extra spoon. Customers want to spend their heard earned money on an establishment that appreciates and treats them well.
Guests have expectations when visiting a restaurant for the first time. Your restaurant may be reviewed in blogs or travel magazines which lead to customers having pre-conceived notions about what to expect. If what they read and what you deliver are not the same, they will feel rather disappointed. Not everyone is easy to please; there are difficult customers out there. But most people want an enjoyable meal in a happy atmosphere. Do the best you can and deliver the best you can!
Reliable staff
The success or failure of your restaurant business depends heavily on reliable staff. Whether it is front office staff or back office staff, you need to recruit the best. A restaurant runs on a hectic schedule which means you should have staff that can handle high level of stress and tension. The importance of staff cannot be overstated. It is your biggest asset and you should be able to trust them completely to take on the day to day activities in your restaurant.
