Going into business with food is the lifelong dream of many people out there – even people who haven’t any previous experience with food. You’ll know this if you’ve ever watched programs starring Gordon Ramsay on TV. He helps restaurants to become better businesses, and often finds that the owner has no previous business experience, or even experience with cooking great food. The lessons we can learn from Godon can actually be applied to any food business. Take a look at the things we can learn from him below if you plan on going into business with food:
Being Arrogant Is A Huge No No
People usually open restaurants for an ego boost. They want to look good, when in reality, they couldn’t throw together a salad. You don’t need qualifications to open a restaurant, and that’s where the problem lies. You need to make sure you’re taking the time to learn about the food business, and that you’re committed to starting something great. It’s going to take hard work, time, and commitment.
Doing Your Homework
You need to make sure you know your customers and cater for them if you’re going to open a great local restaurant. Make sure you look at the competition and figure out what their strengths and weaknesses are.
Choose The Right Chef
The chef is one of the most important hires and investments you’ll make. You need to have a chef that can motivate other members of staff, lead them, and bring customers back with delicious food. They need to be handle the heat in the kitchen!
Build A Great Team
As well as having a great chef, you need to make sure that the team you hire are great too. You need to make sure they are talented, that you motivate them continuously, and that their roles within your business are clear. Being a control freak should be avoided too.
Putting Together A Great Menu
You might think you’re catering for everybody by putting together a great menu, but the more dishes you have, the lower the standard tends to be. People in the kitchen won’t be able to create delicious, high quality dishes because there’s just too much to remember. You’ll have food going off in the fridge too. A simple menu should be your first port of call, and you should focus on quality.
Keeping It Clean And Organised
Any food business needs to be as clean and organised as possible. Not just clean, but you should be able to eat off the side clean. An unhygienic restaurant is bad for customers and staff. Having the right certificates in place is important. Make sure any packaging solutions you use in the kitchen or for the customers to take food away are suitable, say CL Smith. Customers might not finish their meals and want to take the rest away with them.
Stay Flexible
You’re going to need to adapt to conditions in the food business – they are always changing. It might be reducing cost, changing your menu – whatever it is, you need to be able to act fast. Being able to change something if it’s not working is essential.
