5 Ways to rescue your restaurant
When you opened your restaurant you had big dreams and a plan. Then there was a change in the market and perhaps your plan went astray. It happens...
Actually, it happens all the time... ( Happened to me once or twice )
Many restaurant owners get stuck during those challenges. They lose their faith and become prey to self-doubt. Then comes the friendly advice from a “friend” (even though they have never owned a business themselves) Out of desperation, you listen. You add this and that, hoping to revive your brand. It might get a few new customers in the door, however the more you stray away from your original brand identity, the more customers you lose. It becomes a very turbulent ride. Welcome to the slow death of your restaurant brand!
So....
Here are 5 powerful tips to get you back on track.
1. Be Honest! First you need to be honest with yourself. You also need to take personal accountability for where your brand is now.
It’s easy to point the finger and place blame. There are no good people to hire.... competition is taking my customers.... or most common '' Chef left me''....
All of these statements are just excuses!
Excuses are bullsh*t!
There is always 4 crucial reasons why restaurant isnt successful - you are probably one of the reasons!
If you cannot be honest with yourself first, there is no real reason for you to read on.
Now, if you’re ready to take responsibility for the current state of your restaurant then let’s continue.
2. Get Back to Basics & focus on the fundamentals. Passion is everything but you need to put the hard work into it too! When you find your restaurant going off track, the best thing to do is to start back at the beginning, now is the time to go back and review your notes about your brand and what you originally stood for, take a look @ your menu and see if you have strayed away from your original notes, f you have, now might be a good time to dial your menu back in alignment with your brand. This happens often when the restaurant owner is not the chef. Every chef wants to leave their mark on the menu. That can become an issue when you’ve gone through multiple chefs!
Remember that the restaurant’s menu should support the brand, not the ego of the person running the kitchen. ( thats so damn important!... ( ill leave this subject for the next blog)
3. Fall in Love With Your Brand!
There’s an interesting term in psychology called the Law of familiarity, which basically says, if you’re around something enough you’ll tend to take it for granted. Just like any relationship, you have a relationship with your brand. When times are good, you love each other. When times are bad, not so much.If your restaurant is struggling, it’s easy to take it for granted. ( I give my businesses sex - i like to think of my business as male or female, females require love & affection, males are down to business & business only! What sex is your business ? Handle your business like a business or care for it with love and affection.
It’s easy to avoid the hard stuff and focus only on the activities you still enjoy doing. It’s easy to sit in the office and say you’re busy with paperwork. It’s easy to sit there and have hope that the market will turn around and come back in your favor. Let’s get this straight right now: ***Hope is not a strategy***!
You need to go back in time to the mindset and feelings you had when your restaurant was new. Think of the energy you had, think of the passion you had. Think of how unstoppable you felt, tap into that and find a few reasons you still love your brand.
4. “To take no action, is an action.” By now you might have noticed a few things that have caused your brand to go off track. The next thing to do is to make an action plan and make a commitment to do something with that plan.
A real decision happens when you actually take action towards it. If you haven’t taken action, then you truly have not committed.
Talk is cheap, a lot of restaurant owners talk about improving this and that, but few do. Mostly, you can spot those that won’t take action by their use of the word “should.” I know, I should cost out my menu. I should start marketing on Facebook. I should repair the sink in the ladies’ bathroom. They basically just should all over themselves. Be one of the few that actually take action over those that just talk about it.
5. Get Help! We are right at the end of your phone line, if you need help with anything, dont be shy to ask!