RESTAURANT STARTUP
Starting your own restaurant can be exciting and
fulfilling. Many successful people leave lucrative posts to
experience the joy of opening and operating their own
restaurant. The ones who are successful will tell you that it
isn't a task to take on lightly. Many of them have no more
business opening a restaurant than they do an airline.
Opening a restaurant takes a lot more thought than picking a
location, copying a few of your favorite cooking show recipes, and
signing a lease. A restaurant consultant can take
the guess work out of it. Look for a one that can provide the
following:
Project Management
Opening a restaurant is a project. All projects require
resolve and focus to shepherd all of the variables associated with
the process. If not controlled, the project will spin out of
control, incurring more expenses and wasting valuable time. A
sound restaurant consulting firm can take the reigns, protect the
project from common mistakes and apply the full weight of their
resources to get the job done right the first time.
Business Plans
Nothing is more important to help
you get your idea off the ground than a solid Business Plan. In order to
secure the funds needed in the shortest possible time your Business
Plan must be well thought, organized, accurate and thorough. It
also must have a robust financial modeling and profit structure
section to demonstrate to any investor that your concept is on
solid ground from the beginning.
Pitch Books
Once your investors are aligned,
the preferred way to secure the best possible location for the most
favorable terms is through your Pitch Book presentation.
Competition for "A" locations is fierce and landlords are concerned
about one thing: "Are you a solvent, long term tenant who will pay
their rent on time". An organized, professional presentation will
give you the edge you need.
War Boards
We can keep you on track through
developing a project calendar - or "War Board" - to tell you what
you should be doing and when you should be doing it. We've opened
too many restaurants to "wing it". We calendar everything from
liquor license application to purchasing office supplies to
training and mock runs.
Hiring Fairs
Staffing your restaurant with the
best available talent is not for the faint of heart. Running
an ad in the paper and putting some applications in the trailer two
weeks before opening is akin to penciling your new restaurant's
epitaph. Your staff is what will make or break you.
Make sure you have someone on your team who is dedicated to this
process and will compel the best available employee candidates to
walk through your doors.
Training Programs & Manuals
Whomever should write your training
manuals will need to start by getting to know your business. What
are your food and service goals? What is unique? What do you want
your brand to say? What variables are at play? Then they should
tailor a training program with manuals that achieve results. No
manual can train your staff...only you and your staff can train
your staff so the author must focus on programs and manuals that
can be easily taught, validated, and maintained.
Culture
Determining how to care for your
sales generators (ahem...those are your employees) to make them
selling machines is a function of your culture, not your written
word. You must teach managers how to behave as a unified
force. Your culture should value principle-centered
leadership,and "hiring smart" versus "managing
tough". Your work environment and the
behavior of the people inside the four walls constitues your
culture. A smart restaurant owner understands that they
cannot do it all and a good restaurant consultant can show you how
to create an environment of trust, execution, and reward to yield
long-term results.
