Starting, Owning and Marketing A Restaurant Blog|Starting and Owning a Restaurant - Construction, Planning, Marketing, Opening and Managing a New Restaurant

New or old, restaurants generate huge amounts of trash and garbage. There are receptacles in the kitchen, dining areas and usually outside the doors. Each of the different cans usually have plastic liner bags that cover the inside areas. These thin layers hide each restaurant area’s waste that are easily distinguished if opened.

While I cal it “Dumpster Diving”, the issue is really about cutting restaurant costs. There is no better method than seeing what is thrown away. Over the years here is what I have found while performing this miserable task resulting in a shower and subsequent savings:

·         Customer waste that lead to changes of uneaten side dishes and entrees that were half eaten.

·         How about a half pan of mashed potatoes that cooks threw out from the previous evening? We could have made many things from them. Or that half of a red onion the prep guys didn’t need.

·         The celery tops, onion skins, parsley stems, green pepper centers and tomato ends would make an awesome vegetable stock.

·         While you are in the trash digging around, you might as well pick out those cocktail forks you keep replacing, the ramekins and butter knives too.

·         Seafood restaurants need those shrimp shells, fish bones and lobster heads for a soup base.

·         Oh yes, then there is that quart of tuna salad that someone let spoil.

·         What about those half dozen empty Corona bottles in the bottom of the kitchen prep bag of trash? Was someone pilfering beer and, worse yet, drinking while working?

There is no end to discoveries and assumptions that can be made. How well is your kitchen being managed? Are there far too many broken glasses, plates and smallwares? Are you serving far too much side sauces, extra sour cream and salad dressings? Is your bread coming back in it’s original unused condition that indicates customer disatisfaction or over use by the servers?

Now if I can find the rubber gloves, dishwasher’s apron and old tennis shoes ready to be thrown away, I’ll see how well we are running this retaurant and keeping costs down.

A new restaurant operation is like bringing a puppy home from the dog pound. Everybody loves it, but you are the one who is up all night with the crying and yelping, cleaning up the messes until trained, picking up the chewed new pair of shoes and tripping over the ball of fur with every step.

From the outside, the puppy is cute and cuddly - just like a new restaurant. No one sees that you are scrambling to train staff, get the food out of the kitchen perfect, adjusting schedules, paying unforeseen invoices and hoping there is enough cash flow to make at least your break-even point. It’s a nightmare.

The first 30 days of any restaurant operation cannot be evaluated. Sales are driven in many cases by the curious who just visit because you are new. Costs are escalated due to extra staff, over ordering of product and the usual smallwares you need that were not in the plans. Throw the first thirty days out. Don’t try to judge your future based on your first month.

The days that count are the 100 days that follow the opening month. These are the days when reliable and predictable trends begin to develop. The “Big 100″ (100 days following your first month) are the days that can tell you what you need to do and set the tone for further growth and profitable enhancement. Here are some things that should emerge with your analysis;

• You should be able to accurately discover what your exact daily break-even number is.
• You should see a trend of lower operating costs that should be going down due to tweaks you make as you age. Food costs should be concise as compared to sales.
• There should be a clear picture of what your marketing has done and the demographic draw of existing business.
• The Big 100 should have produced the numbers that allow you to go back and compare to your plan. Are there adjustments necessary to the plan or your operation? What were the biggest surprises? What were the biggest disappointments? What new goals do you need to establish? Is your menu where it should be?

The Big 100 is the platform for you next 6 months of planning. What marketing changes do you need to make? What food trends do you want to expand? What internal changes need to be made to reduce costs or waste? Staffing changes? Hours of operations? Does the seating, lighting, decor and customer areas need adjustment? All of these questions and many more become the basis for your new business plan.

When you open a new restaurant with a relatively soft opening, you hope sales grow through word of mouth. This is the strongest form of marketing you can do. If your product and value is acceptable to the customer, plus you meet service expectations, increasing sales will be the reward.

As I indicated in the previous post, the weekend would tell the story if our message was spreading throghout the community. On Saturday we reached a new plateau with $2000 in sales, despite the season’s coldest weather and no seating outside. Happy we are, but the work isn’t done.

As sales increase, both good and problematic things occur. The good outweighs the bad in our case. Here is a list of things we will continue to work on:

• At several points during the day, we were on a wait. We have to subtlely find ways to turn tables a little quicker. Things like pre-bussing, slower coffee refills after guest has finished eating and quicker table setup will help.
• Notably the new servers are having a few problems ringing correct descriptions of the food they want. Better menu knowledge and consistent input into the kitchen will help ticket times.
• Any restaurant strives for consistency. Servers need more direction on the items they prepare at their station. Salads, topping waffles and plate garnish was inconsistent.

The good part of the day was the kitchen’s ability to meet reasonable ticket times, even at the peak of business. While we have potentially another 25 seats outside during pleasant weather, it appears we have the capacity in the kitchen. Another busy day will confirm that.

Another positive was relatively few problems with any returned food, customer complaints or server errors. That means training and diligence in policing each ticket is paying dividends.

As business increases, so does the need for inventory. We have been trying to keep our Inventory Form up to date as product came in the door. The link above shows an Excel spreadsheet that is color coded based on various items we want to note. One color may be for a particular supplier. Price highlighting means a date when last price confirmation was made. Your form can be modified according to your needs.

Your ability to maintain inventory levels is important because:

• Your restaurant cannot  be out of menu items on a regular basis to avoid customer disappointment.
• Over ordering can lead to waste and spoilage.
• Ordering the proper quantities negotiated with suppliers will keep costs in check. Make sure your supplier has a copy of your inventory sheet for their records when placing an order. It will simplify the process and reduce order mistakes.

Overall, the first eight days of operations have been very gratifying and helps to alleviate some of the reservations we have had about opening a restaurant in this economy. We still have a lot of work to do, but we feel we are on the right track.