What Successful Restaurant Owners Have
So you want to be a restaurant owner? Or maybe you want to remember why you got into the restaurant industry in the first place, and own a restaurant. In this video, I'm going share the things you must have in place to run a successful restaurant.
About What Successful Restaurant Owners Have...
If you really want to be in the restaurant business or you’re trying to remember why you got into it in the first place, I feel your pain. I’m going to share three things you must have in place to be a successful restaurant owner. So, if you’ve been in business either one year or 30 years, I’ve got to take you back to basics. If you’re brand new, and are searching, going, "Gosh, do I really want to do this," I'm going to give you those three things you must have in place to answer the question, "Should I get this business in the first place?"
Number one: passion. Oh my gosh, you better have a passion for this business. Creating hospitality, creating memories. If you want to be in the food business, you’re competing with a gas station, and I don’t want to compete with a gas station. Now, I want to create memories. You’ve got to love hospitality. That’s taking care of guests, taking care of your employees, really just putting out the best experience possible. We have an opportunity to literally touch people’s lives on a day-to-day basis. If you don’t have a passion for hospitality, you don’t belong in this business.
Number two: you must know your numbers. This is a wide spectrum. Let me just give you a brush stroke of what I mean on knowing your numbers. You have to have budgets. Create your targets so you know what success looks like in your business. You’ve got to know your prime cost, the one number you must know to have any chance of making money. Last but not least you need timely and accurate profit and lost statements. That way, when I take my budget, and I take my actual numbers, and I know they’re accurate, I can measure success, I can identify challenges, and I can proactively manage my business; change my future.
Number three: you’ve got to have a clear vision of your concept. I cannot tell you how many people are ready to open a restaurant and they just, they don’t know. They don’t know what kind of restaurant they want to be, they don’t have an idea of what their menu is supposed to look like. How the hell do you build a restaurant if you don’t know your menu? It has to do with everything in your business. The decor you’ve chosen, their uniforms, the flatware, the price-point, the quality of product, style of service. Everything comes down to your menu. If you don’t have a clear idea of your concept, how the hell do you open a restaurant? Unfortunately, some people have opened a restaurant without a clear concept, and you have to reinvent yourself.
If you want to be a restaurant owner, you must have three things. You have to have a desire - a passion - for hospitality, you have to know your numbers, and you have to have a clear vision.
If you would like to learn more about the importance of systems and how to run a restaurant, read our free special report, Is Your Food Distributor Screwing You? 5 Things You Can Do Now to Lower Food Cost. Download it here. Be sure to visit my YouTube channel for more helpful restaurant management video tips.
