In the years leading up to #2020, I heard from many people who wanted to open a restaurant, believing it’s a romantic and profitable business. In addition, if you start small, you don’t need to invest a lot of money. Room, kitchen, bar, food — that's all you need. Particularly if you know how to cook yourself, the task seems downright simple. However, in this simplicity lies the question: why doesn’t everyone succeed at opening a lucrative restaurant?
Ideally, before opening a #restaurant, you should be fully prepared. You need to know how to run a restaurant, after all. This includes a long list of processes, comprising quality control, service, accounting, managing your employees’ work, sanitary standards and #marketing, to name a few. For those who have some experience in this field, your job is already easier. But often, people who have only every visited a restaurant try to open one themselves.
In this case, one of two things can happen: either you're lucky...or you’re not. Say you find the right location, a solid chef, a competent manager, a designer who understands your vision; that is, those employees who directly provide the main functionality. As the owner, you’ll simply have to control the actions of these specialists — a much easier task when those specialists have the appropriate experience. But if luck isn’t on your side and you don’t immediately find skillful employees? What if you came across a lousy manager or a chef who cooks bland food? And how can you tell the difference right away? This is where a fiasco can happen!
In order to start any #business in general, and a #restaurant in particular, you need to understand what you want to do, who your audience is, and you ideally need to know the entire process from the inside out. People often approach me with the question: “I want to open a restaurant; where do I begin?" And almost always, the following dialogue develops.
- Have you ever worked in a restaurant?
- No.
- Do you know how to cook?
- No.
- What can you do?
- I go to restaurants all the time and I think I can surmise how it works.
- Do you know how to operate a restaurant, organize supplies, prepare food, control and manage processes?
- No.
- Why would you open a restaurant?
- I think it would be a great investment.
For your #business to work out, you must understand the process you are planning to launch and what’s at stake. However, there are certain exceptions. If you have enough money, you can afford to hire a renowned #chef and a competent bookkeeper who knows how to control the accounting. This, in principle, is enough to ensure a successful #restaurant. But the question arises: who are you in this story? Just an #investor or a person who runs a restaurant? In any case, you will have to delve into the process yourself; there is no other path to success.
If you want to do business, love your business and convince yourself that you are doing everything right. And be a little adventurous.
The restaurant business, like any other business, is a combination of mathematics, psychology and #creativity. One must be able to properly manage all the flows. Each person has her own character, her own potential and her own energy. There is such a thing as too passive and too aggressive; we must try to harmonize all the elements so that employees bring maximum benefit to the business.
In business, I only have three rules:
1. Be #professional.
2. Be honest.
3. Be creative.
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