Running a profitable restaurant or bar is difficult. According to Entrepreneur, there are mistakes that can cause your venture to fail. Fortunately, these mistakes are correctable. You shouldn’t overlook anything including things that look insignificant. If you are in charge of a bar or restaurant, you should stay informed about everything that happens at the establishment. Here are 5 mistakes to avoid when running a restaurant or to steer clear from if you are thinking about purchasing a restaurant.
The success of any venture in the hospitality industry depends on its location. Establishing your bar in a wrong neighborhood will undoubtedly lead to the failure of your venture irrespective of its reputation.
Therefore, you need to undertake an in-depth market analysis to enable you to set up shop in a place where targeted clients will find you easily. To avoid this mistake, you should choose a location that has a high traffic flow.
This is one of the most common mistakes that bar owners and managers make. The inability to manage your establishment’s financial resources properly will make it hard for you to stay in business. Expanding will also be difficult. To avoid this mistake, ensure that you plan early for unproductive spells. Similarly, set aside funds that will see you through the barren spells as well as funds to cover business expansion and other miscellaneous expenses.
Jon Taffer, host and executive producer of Bar Rescue, wrote a blog about this exact situation. He discusses, you must invest In your business and you must figure out your weekly operating costs, then keep 2 to 4 times that amount in an account for emergencies. This is your rainy day fund. You should be investing in your business if you expect it to grow. The full blog linked here.
Inefficient employee management is all about the failure to train staff on all aspects of bar management. It takes proper management to run a successful bar. Indeed, some of the employees at your bar will come in with previous experience when you hire them. Others will come in without any experience. Either way, you should train them to do things your way.
You should bear in mind the fact that the unorganized or irresponsible scheduling of tasks upsets and demoralizes employees. This will ultimately have an impact on the way they serve clients. Always inform them about any significant changes that you are about to make.
Arguably, this is the main cause of most business problems in the hospitality industry or any industry for that matter. If there is a communication breakdown, it will be difficult for information to be conveyed from the management to employees and vice versa.
To avoid this mistake, you should have a well-stipulated communication strategy that allows you to address issues promptly. This will also ensure that decisions are communicated and explained efficiently. It will also be easy for you to resolve internal problems among employees.
As a bar owner or manager, you need to stay apprised with what’s trending in the industry. Losing touch with what’s happening out there means that you are also missing out on business opportunities. Patrons love getting a taste of things that are trending out there.
You are likely to lose them if you fail to offer what they want. You can keep in touch with the latest trends by regularly visiting online forums besides attending industry events, such as the National Restaurant Association Show. This will help you network as well as stay in touch with trending topics in your industry.