The Perfect Recipe for Success

Putting together the perfect recipe for restaurant success is not always easy. It can be difficult to pinpoint which parts of your restaurant need work and which parts stand out as great money-makers. Fortunately, with the below list, you can check if your restaurant is on track for success or needs a little extra work to reach its full potential. 

1. Too Many Chefs Spoil the broth

Make sure you have one head chef who really understands the restaurant’s themes, concept and food. Having too many chefs with an equal amount of power, when it comes to kitchen leadership, can be disastrous. Spend the time to really screen your head chef so that you can find someone who you are comfortable with. Your head chef should also be able to innovate and improve upon your menu, all while sticking to what makes your restaurant unique and special. 

It’s also important to find a chef that specializes and has plenty of experience with the cuisine that your restaurant serves. Hiring a chef that has a strong background in Mexican food for an Italian restaurant will most likely not be a good fit (unless you’re looking to shift to a fusion concept).

2. Bold Logo

Your business’ logo is what customers will have imprinted in their minds. Whether it is online, or even just from your restaurant’s frontage, having a unique and iconic logo is key in drawing attention and making customers take notice of your restaurant business. 

Your logo is also one of the cornerstones when it comes to developing your business’ brand identity. It will appear on loyalty cards, websites, menus, social media and everywhere else that customers interact with your business. By making your logo clear, eye-catching and memorable, you are already going to be able to make a great first impression and have your business remain in the minds of customers. 

3. Memorable Menu

Your menu should be as memorable and organized as possible to give customers an easier time to select the dishes that are relevant to them. Make sure food items are clearly sectioned off and split by type such as starters, mains, desserts, etc. 

If you are really trying to make an impression with your menu, utilize an e-menu (Photomenu) where customers can access pictures, descriptions and useful nutritional and allergy information about the food you offer. Cramming all that information in a traditional paper menu is nearly impossible without it getting really cluttered, but an e-menu provides the perfect solution. More than that, some e-menus even allow customers to place their own orders and pay directly with their bank cards or payment wallets. Now that’s a menu that makes an impact!

4. Online presence

Building an online presence for your restaurant is an absolute must for overall success. Not only have customers gotten used to the convenience of ordering food online, but it also benefits restaurants by creating an additional touchpoint that lets them reach more hungry customers. 

When you take your restaurant business online, make sure to build a dedicated website to share information about your restaurant, exciting promotions and updates, as well as contact details and operating hours. You should also list your restaurant on third-party ordering marketplaces and restaurant review sites for maximum exposure and reach.

5. Promote Properly

If you’re opening up a new restaurant, advertising a new product or just trying to increase your establishment's brand awareness, you’ll need to invest in a good promotional campaign. Make sure your promotion highlights key points that are appealing to your target demographic and help you to stand out from the competition. It is also best to promote both physically and online to attract as much attention to your business as possible. When online, promote on social media, your website and any other channels that are popular in your region. When promoting offline, you can print leaflets to distribute or even give out small portions of free food for customers to try and remember your restaurant by.

6. Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

Make sure you install a robust CRM system that your restaurant can rely on to gain valuable customer data and insights. Having information about how often customers visit, what their average spend amount is, which items are bought most by customers and more, will help you build a solid profile of your average customer. You can then tailor your menu and promotions accordingly. You can also offer loyalty systems, which can increase customer engagement with your restaurant brand, encourage repeat business and increase the average spend amount.

7. Run Your Restaurant Like a Business

While this advice might sound silly, a lot of restauranteurs get into this line of work to pursue their passion. A love of food can often lead to people running their restaurant based off of emotions rather than with a corporate mindset. It is important to separate emotions from business acumen when running your restaurant so that you can focus on making a profit. 

8. Connect Your Departments

It’s sometimes easy to forget that a restaurant should be running as a cohesive whole when you have such obvious divides between various departments. For example, there are staff to greet customers, staff for the front of house, staff for the kitchen, back-office staff and more. All these separate aspects of your business should be able to come together so that your restaurant can run smoothly with great inter-department communication. One of the best ways to accomplish this is through the use of a cloud-based point of sale (POS) system. Such systems have features and modules that help staff receive important information from other departments, all while improving automation of redundant tasks and increasing efficiency.