HOW TO SAVE A FAILING RESTAURANT

Author :chef ssentongo Geoffrey

Blog :How to Save a Failing Restaurant

Restaurant owners put their heart and soul into creating a unique and personal dining experience for their customers. During financially difficult times, restaurant owners can use a number of techniques to save their restaurant from failure, without taking out loans or other drastic measures. The methods used might even make the restaurant more popular with the public.

Menu Changes

Your restaurant may have a spectacular menu filled with unique dishes and options, but it might not be right for the area in which you operate. Restaurant must evolve to serve great menu choices that also appeal to a larger customer base. For example, if your restaurant serves expensive French dinner dishes in a residential neighborhood location, it might alienate a large portion of the residents of that neighborhood. Serving simpler, cheaper French cuisine might drive sales and increase the flow of customers.

Special Events

Special dining days entice customers to try your restaurant and come back for more. For example, you might offer a special for every day of the week. On Mondays, you could offer half-price appetizers or a special dinner at a time lower price. Your restaurants specials will encourage customers to visit consistently and spend more money on other menu items.

Turning Tables

Part of increasing restaurant revenue involves increasing customer volume throughout the day. This means that your restaurant should turn tables quickly to make room for new customers. Every customer who works out the door because of wait to eat in your restaurant is lost revenue. Instruct your table cleaners and staff to clean tables quickly. Do not rush your customers out but do bring them the check promptly once they finish their meal.

Restaurant Hours

Increase your restaurants hours can open your restaurant to a group of customers who could not eat there previously. For instance, if your restaurant operates only from 4:pm to 9:00 pm. It misses customers who dine out for lunch . Opening your restaurant at 7am. Might bring in the breakfast and lunch crowd and drive up sales every day. Additionally, the lunch crowd might create regular customers.

Suppliers Shopping

You spend a large amount of money on food for your restaurant. Any price break you can negotiate with your food supplies lowers your cost of goods sold. If your food suppliers will not budge on their prices, shop around for other food suppliers in your area.

Community Advertising

Get the word out about your restaurant, if business slows. Attend events in your community with samples and advertising promotions. For example, create a booth at local school sporting events for parents to try your food. Hire a college student to hand out promotional coupons for your restaurant at a college campus. Speak with civic organizations in your area and offer to host their next meeting at your restaurant. Reach out to your city’s community and sell your restaurant.

Making people Feel Welcome In a Restaurant

When customers feel welcome in your restaurant, they might be more likely to come back. Taking a few small steps to improve service can help you ensure that customers enjoy their experiences at your restaurant.

Better Greetings

Spend a few minutes observing the way your servers and host or hostess greet customers. If employees mumble a hurried greeting when a customer walks in the door or act annoyed when customers interrupt them when they’re chatting with a co-worker, customers might feel that they’re bothering your employees. Emphasize to employees that their full attention must be on customers from the moment they enter the restaurant until the moment they leave.

Friendly And Pleasant

It’s not always easy to maintain a positive attitude when you work in a restaurant. When customers are rude or demanding and there’s a backup in the kitchen, it can be hard to keep a smile on your face. Customers don’t care about your problems. They just want a nice, relaxing meal. Remind servers that the way they treat customers really does affect the restaurants profitability. Hire friendly, positive people who are capable of making casual conversation with customers.

Be Prepared

You wouldn’t invite a friend to your home for dinner without ensuring that you have everything you need to make a meal. Although your friend might be forgiving if the meal isn’t served on time or you can’t make something you’d planned because you forgot to buy the ingredients, restaurant customers will be less forgiving. Make sure restaurant is ready to receive customers when you open.

The Personal Touch

Encourage your staff to offer personalized service to customers. Repeat customers might return even more frequently if the wait staff learns their names and their likes and dislikes.

Definition

In a tough economic climate, it is increasingly important for Restaurant owners to hire candidates based on their soft skills, which can be described as those abilities needed for productive interpersonal relationships. Soft skills are non-academic, non-technical skills that are transferable from one job to another, such as good communication, self-awareness, positivity and ability to work in a team. A wait staff with good soft skills demonstrates a desire to enhance the reputation of the restaurant and prides herself in exceeding customer expectations.