Managing a restaurant often entails streamlining the establishment’s operations. On top of that, improving yourself is as important as improving your operations. That’s because your decisions will affect the essential aspects of the restaurant, including the team’s performance, overall ambiance, and food quality. Use creative ways to improve your management style instead of implementing new policies.
If you shift your focus to that, everything will fall in the right place. Below is a guide for newbies. It’ll teach you about overseeing your restaurant and getting on the right path.
Make the Team Feel Valued
Most restaurants have high employee turnover rates, making training a new team more time-consuming and expensive. It’ll also consume a vast amount of time to follow up on applications and conduct interviews. Keep your team motivated if you don’t want to encounter high turnover rates. For example, you can implement a reward program where the awardee receives an incentive to celebrate their accomplishment.
It’ll also help implement an open-book policy to train them to be more transparent and loyal. Transparency entails being transparent about your company’s training programs, profit sharing, profitability, or financial information, allowing them to feel valued. You can also give everyone gift cards during the holidays or free meals when they’re busy.
Be Mindful of Your Methods
One problem of overseeing a restaurant is getting new customers. It’s best to find the marketing strategy that fits your plans — for example, promoting on social media. It’s cheaper than traditional marketing platforms, like printed ads or TV commercials. It’s also easier to maintain your online presence. You should also continue interacting with customers who like, comment, and message your team on your social media platforms.
It’s an easy way of building your credibility, making them feel special, and conveying your brand’s message. You can also invest in paid social media content to target the right audience and boost brand awareness about your place if you have the budget.
Host Gatherings and Events
Your restaurant also depends on its earnings. Be creative in increasing your revenue. If you have a semi-private or private area that can hold a large group, you must consider renting the place out for gatherings. Hosting gatherings and events will help if you have problems reaching your goals.
If you’re worried about accommodating regulars and events simultaneously, you can start with hosting one when you’re slow. If you’ve already planned an event and want to promote it, make a page on your site that talks about that. It’s another way to show that your establishment is perfect for different gatherings.
Offer an Exciting Deal
If your area allows hosting drinking sessions, it can be an excellent chance to promote new lunch dishes. You can try having happy hours that are ideal for people getting off of work and planning to meet with their colleagues or friends for one drink before going home. You should also think of different easy-to-make appetizers or beverages.
Using a deal site to increase brand awareness is another option you can use. You can attract more customers and spread your reputation. Most places have succeeded in introducing new concepts based on aspects like:
- Seasons
- Themes
- Holidays
- Sports
Find the Areas You Can Save
Monitoring revenue is another part of your job, and you can showcase your skills by implementing creative methods to save your company money. For example, you can:
- Let your staff know that they should only use the dishwasher when it’s full
- Upgrade to low-flow faucets, especially in the bathrooms, to save water
- Use more energy-efficient bulbs, but it shouldn’t affect the room’s ambiance
Make Your Team’s Task Fun
Most owners believe in the importance of tightening the team’s connection and making sure everyone feels valued from the start. No restaurant has the perfect schedule, but something might be wrong if they start hating working on their shifts. Listen to what they say, be open to criticism, and do a few casual checks.
Find Mentors Who Can Help
Managing a restaurant isn’t a job meant for only one person. You can work with another manager who has years of experience and can guide you throughout, from ensuring your team stays motivated to handling angry customers. Most professional managers have a few approaches that they can teach you.
Browse the Internet if you can’t find someone who has the needed knowledge. Or drop by a few forums or support groups to ask the members for their advice on improving yourself as a manager.
You’re not a perfect manager. You can only prepare yourself for a few bumps along the road, but you can adopt a few characteristics and approaches that will help you ensure the restaurant’s development.
