7 Tips to Run a Small Business Restaurant in High Foot Traffic Area

Time for celebration? You need to find a perfect restaurant for celebrating the happy news. But which restaurant is a good choice for a customer? One restaurant may offer a good ambiance with a casual menu while on the other hand, a fancy décor with a French menu is the priority for many.

Despite the customer’s choice, there are several factors involved when it comes to running a successful restaurant. People want to have memorable experiences at dine-ins. And yet, still many restaurants get shut down in their first year of business.

In this article, we will understand the reason behind a failing restaurant and also discuss classy tips that entrepreneurs can utilize to run a houseful of bookings.

Why does Restaurant Fail?

The restaurant business is competitive. Driving customers towards your business is not only about a hot meal. The effort is beyond it. One must understand the target market, and about the competitor's approach as well. If you fail to understand either, your restaurant is doomed.

A restaurant business may fail to explore its full potential for a couple of reasons;

• Planning beyond the allocated budget
• Target wrong market
• The menu is expensive than what the customer is willing to give
• Lack of bookkeeping for restaurants (for financial purposes)
• Lack of food hygiene
• Slow or inefficient staff etc.

According to a Restaurant Startup and Growth magazine study,

“23% of the total restaurants fail to run successfully in Dallas, Texas. However, only 7-14% of restaurants are able to make it to their second and third year.”

All you need to do is to avoid making the mistakes others made. You need to have a business plan, marketing plan, and financial plan to run things smoothly.

Tips to Run Small Restaurant Business skillfully

Running a restaurant is a tedious task. With the stiff competition these days, the pandemic has been cruel to the top.

So ho can a restaurant business survive in such crucial times? Let’s find out.

1. Unique Selling Point (USP)

Why would a customer want to come to dine at your restaurant? You need to give them a good reason to influence their choice for dinner, lunch, or breakfast.

So what can be your USP?

It can be a signature dish, the theme of the restaurant, a star chef, a pet-friendly option, 24/7 delivery service, and so on. It could even be a combination of two or more unique selling points. A restaurant is known for its uniqueness, so choose one wisely.

2. The Location Matters

Just because your restaurant is located in a high foot traffic area does NOT mean that you will get a houseful. But it does mean you have intense competition because chances are there are other restaurants or cafes in the area too.

Choosing an area highly accessible by the customer will cost you golden eggs. The rents are not cheap and the utilities and cost of maintenance are sky high too. So, it’s important to do market research.

Once you have identified your customer’s potential base, you can target them. For instance, a restaurant with parking space these days may do better as car dine-in is also a safer option for customers due to COVID-19.

3. Financial Concerns

A sudden slump in your funds can cause sudden shock when ordering the inventory only to find out that you are short on reserves.

When you hire bookkeepers for restaurants they do the math for you. Your accounts are taken care of, books are handled and also they use the accounting and bookkeeping software that helps them to keep the financial task organized and up-to-date.

As a restaurateur, you need to hire remote bookkeepers. They charge nominal prices and so is a cost-effective way to maintain financial structure.

4. Chef and Restaurant Concept

We talked about USP above, but let’s continue from there. Hiring an excellent chef is not an option but a must-pick. Make sure to hire someone who has the right credentials and taste palette that matches your restaurant theme.

Chefs are the rockstars of the restaurant. They can make or break the repute of the restaurant with one dish. So they have a huge responsibility on their shoulders. Plus, the menu they create is a mirror reflection of the restaurant concept you want to display to the audience.

For instance, if yours is a four-season restaurant, you need a valid, quick, and classy menu as per seasonal demand. So the chef must be able to create unique recipes.

5. Training for Staff

Food and interior are the two most outstanding qualities of a restaurant but so is the staff. A discourteous staff not following the proper hygiene parameters will leave a negative impression on the customer.

That’s when the staff training must kick in. for instance;

• Their set of instructions for each task must be clear like serving, dishwashing, table cleaning, being plight, etc.
• Train them to make the customer feel welcomed with a polite smile and properly groomed attire.
• They must be able to handle emergency situations like a fire, or customer complaint.

Do not forget, your staff has certain expectations from you too. You need to make them feel appreciated, valued, and motivated. Offering a competitive salary, quality working conditions, ample work holidays, and performance incentives are just some of the basic key points to consider.

6. Technology for Operational Efficiency

Operational efficiency is the most commonly overlooked factor behind a restaurant’s failure. The faster the restaurant operations are integrated with technological tools the smoother the process will be.

Some of the most common technology-oriented operations are contactless dine-in, online reservations, free WiFi, mobile app ordering, contactless payment, and so on.

To survive the fierce competition, restaurants today are investing in high-end technological software and strategies. It includes bookkeeping, inventory, payroll, etc. also, it helps to minimize human error.

7. Market your Restaurant Business

Marketing the business is a fundamental approach to become successful these days. Make sure to create a user-friendly website. It implies that you have an online presence (showing credibility), and ask the customers to leave reviews on your website.

Write and update quality content on your website that includes blogs, images of the latest dishes, services, or any USP that makes you a distinct choice.

The use of social media, especially Instagram and Facebook will do wonders for your restaurant. If you had low foot traffic, this will help you to reach a wider audience. Your potential customers are sitting online as well. Create useful unique social media pages too for promotions.

Conclusion

You can develop new strategies to run a restaurant business. Remember that online marketing strategies keep updating, so be adaptive in learning new trends and insights to make your restaurant business a success. If you treat your small restaurant business as a corporate entity you will be able to run it professionally no matter the size.