A restaurant is perhaps one of the most difficult types of business to run. The products you offer have to be constantly changed and improved, your customers can destroy your reputation with a single bad comment, and there are a hundred different things that can go wrong. But despite all of the challenges, many people still enjoy the idea of starting a restaurant because it’s something that is close to their skills and hobbies, or they might just enjoy the idea of sharing their passion for food.
So if you’re adamant about starting a restaurant of your own, we’ve put together a couple of common mistakes that people make when starting up their own food business.
Failing to test your idea before investing a lot of money into it
While you might personally love the food that you or your team creates, that doesn’t say much about how it’s perceived by the general public. You absolutely need to test your idea before you scale up and turn it into a restaurant. There are many brands and successful restaurants out there that started as food trucks, in markets or even selling food out of their home with a delivery service. If you’re serious about growing a restaurant then you need to test out your ideas, show locals your food, and get them interested in eating it more often.
Forgetting about online orders
People love the convenience of having food delivered straight to their homes now. They love using services like DoorDash or UberEats, and sometimes they even like the idea of ordering a meal ahead of time and picking it up on their way home or once it’s ready. For this, you’ll need an online ordering system for restaurants and a partnership with a delivery service if you decide not to hire your own delivery staff. This can be a fantastic way to reach new customers and grow your brand, but you need to remember that your food has to be compatible in a delivery environment. It’s hard to safely deliver things like soups or food that doesn’t taste as great as when it is freshly fried or prepared.
Neglecting the importance of general business responsibilities
Far too many people seem to neglect basic business responsibilities such as dealing with their finances, monitoring customer feedback, and training staff so they can offer a fantastic customer experience. The key to managing a successful restaurant is ultimately to remember that it’s a business. Passion aside, there are many important responsibilities to keep an eye on and you need to have trained staff helping you if you lack business management experience. If you forget that your restaurant is a business and you’re only focusing on the food, then concerns like your finances are going to catch up and make things even more difficult.
In short, restaurants tend to have high failure rates because passion and stubbornness tend to trump logical decision-making. Remember that you’re running a business and treat it as such, then you’ll see more success with your restaurant.
