There are many different things you'll need to consider when
you run a restaurant. Each one of these elements, from the food you serve to
the cost of the ingredients to the décor and theme of the restaurant, will go
towards creating the finished product “ the restaurant experience itself.
Although you might have to look at each smaller area of business, you always
need to have the overall goal in mind if you're going to make sure everything
adds up to make it work.
Being efficient is one of the smaller elements that has to
be in place if you want to be successful. It's no good if you have the most
amazing food and the ambiance of your restaurant is stunning if the food takes
forever to be served; people just won't want to wait and it will give them a
negative view of what you do, no matter how great everything else is. With that
in mind, here are some brilliant tips for making your restaurant more
efficient. Ensure you put as many of these ideas into practice as you can and
you'll find that your efficiency improves hugely, allowing you to work on other
areas to make sure your restaurant is exactly what your customers need it to be.
Read on to find out more.
Listen To Employee Feedback
A lot of business owners, and perhaps especially restaurant
owners, will be focused on their customers and not pay too much attention to
their staff. This makes sense in one way; without customers, you won't have a
business, so you need to ensure they are as happy as possible. However, bear in
mind that you won't have a business without employees either, so both are as important as one another. This
is why you need to ask for and listen to feedback from your employees.
Remember that your team is on the front line when it comes
to your business. They are the ones who are dealing directly with customers,
and they are the ones who will hear the complaints and the praise. It's crucial
that you allow them as many opportunities as possible to pass this information
on to your and other team members because it is a vital part of becoming a
better business.
Perhaps a number of different customers have mentioned that
the service is slow or that there isn't enough seasoning in the food or even
that there are too many (or too few) items on the menu, for example. It could be
any of these things or something entirely different. It's important for the
team to know they can pass this information on and that you'll listen and, if
necessary, make changes to improve things. This way, customers will learn that
what they say matters, and staff will know that they can help customers. This
will add up to a great experience for everyone and, ultimately, a profitable business.
It's not just customer feedback your team needs to be
comfortable with passing along; if there is something that just isn't working,
they need to know they can mention it to you and that you'll look into it for
them. Perhaps some important equipment is missing from the kitchen and it would
be more efficient if you were to buy it. Perhaps someone has read about how
music can make a restaurant run more smoothly and be more comfortable, and you
can look into the best background music for restaurants and make a change. Maybe it's the working
conditions that need to be amended; the hours or the number of breaks, for
example.
The point is, if an employee has some feedback for you, you
need to ensure you listen to them. You won't be able to implement every idea,
but if you listen and make changes where you can (if they make sense to put in
place), then everyone will know they can come to you with ideas or let you know
what's not working, helping the business grow into a much more efficient one
overall.
Be Organized
In order for any business to be more efficient, it has to be
as organized as possible. When it comes to a restaurant, this is absolutely
crucial. Think about how many moving parts you have in your restaurant business;
from the waiting staff to the kitchen to the suppliers and so on, everyone has to know exactly what they are doing and
how to do it well in order to ensure customers are happy and food is served in
the best way. When you have a disorganized restaurant, orders will be lost,
food will be late, the wrong dishes will be served, and customers might be
charged the wrong prices. It won't be long before people stop coming to you,
even if the food is great; no one wants to be in the midst of a disorganized
restaurant when they just want to go out for a nice meal.
Look into ways to create the most organized business you
can. This will often rely on technology. You can have a good ordering system,
for example. Rather than having waiting staff write things down on a pad or try to remember each different order, have them use a quick service point of sale system or electronic tablets that send the order directly to the kitchen “ fewer mistakes will be made and the food
can start to be cooked more quickly. This will also help with billing, as
everything will automatically be added up.
Another way to be organized is when it comes to stock and
inventory. The last thing you'll want is to have to tell customers that a
certain menu item is off because you didn't order enough or didn't realize that
you were running low. It's always disappointing when a customer has to hear
this as they're given the menu, and it can taint their experience of your establishment
right from the start. Therefore, you need to have a robust inventory and
stock-checking system in place, which ensures you always order ingredients when
your stock reaches a certain level, for example. This can be done
automatically, although it's always wise to have a manual check just to be
sure; otherwise, you might end up with too much food that could go to waste.
All in all, the more streamlined you can make your restaurant, both in terms of the customer
experience and for your staff, the more efficient everything will be. Your
customers will be happy and will hopefully return as they had a great
experience.
Keep Your Staff Motivated
When it comes to a restaurant, your team really is one of
the most important elements. If a customer can be sure that they'll be treated
well by happy, helpful waiting staff when they eat in your restaurant, they'll
be more likely to come to you in the first place, and come back for return
visits. They'll also tell other people about how great the service was. This is
one of the most important things for customers when it comes to choosing a
place to eat “ sometimes more so than the food itself.
This is why it's so important to have a good team and to keep them motivated so they'll continue to give your
customers a positive experience. We mentioned listening to your staff above,
and that is absolutely vital. However, there are more things you can do to help
keep everyone uplifted and motivated.
Incentives are one excellent option. If people have something specific to work
towards, whether it's a monetary bonus, extra vacation days, a voucher for a
favorite store, or anything else, they will tend to work harder “ they'll give
their job their all. For some business owners, this is not something they like
to do as they feel their team should work hard no matter what, but that's not
the way to go about keeping your team motivated. Think about how you feel when
you can get a reward; you'll work harder even if you were working hard to begin
with. So your team will be the same, and a prize or incentive at the end of the
week or month is a goal to work towards that can really make a difference.
Get The Layout Right
When you're thinking of how to make your restaurant more
efficient, you'll probably consider the points above regarding your team and
the equipment and technology you have in place. However, there is another very
important element of being more efficient when you run a restaurant that you may
not have considered; the layout.
Having the wrong layout in your restaurant can mean your
staff finds it hard to get to various tables. It might be difficult to
manoeuvrer food about without spilling anything or dropping dishes. Team
members might have to wait until others have cleared the restaurant area before
they can deliver food to their allocated tables. This will slow everything up.
Even if it's only a few seconds' delay, this can soon add up to a much bigger
issue.
Plus, your customers may not feel comfortable in the space you have provided. People
won't want to be crammed in and pushed together. They'll want to be able to get
to their seat easily and to leave it when they want to. They'll want a clear
path to the bathroom and the exit.
These are all things you'll need to ensure you think about
when you're designing the layout of your restaurant. It might mean you have to put in fewer
tables than you planned, but even if this might cut into your profits, if it
means people are happier to come to your restaurant, you should be able to make
up the difference.
