A New Restaurant

There is a saying in management training that says to “inspect what you expect.”  What that means is, if you have expectations about the way you want your restaurant to operate, you have to be vigilant to make sure your staff is living up to those expectations.

A while back John Foley at The Restaurant Blog with AllBusiness wrote about restaurants that let standards slip because of lack of attention by owners and management.  This lack of attention could be because you see it every day and you just don’t notice it anymore, or because the poor performance of your staff has worn you down.  While the first is a problem that is common to many businesses, it can be remedied.  The second problem is inexcusable, but don’t worry, it can also be remedied.

Looking With New Eyes

A few months ago I wrote about looking at your restaurant as if you were a first time customer.  I said that you have to look at your restaurant through new eyes.  Really make an effort to see what areas need tidied, repainted, or scrubbed down. 

It’s easy to start overlooking the little details.  Keeping up with cleaning and updating your restaurant is a never ending, and often thankless task.  You scour the floors and counters, and as soon as the next day’s crew comes in, the place is a mess again.  Sometimes you get tired of cleaning the same mess over and over again, but if you want to be successful, you have to do what you have to do.  The hard part is, no one notices how hard you work to keep it clean.  However, if you start to fall down on the cleaning, everyone will start to notice.

It is critical that you make time to look at your restaurant with a critical eye to find the places where quality is starting to slip.

Setting the Bar Higher

The second problem I mentioned was that sometimes owners get tired of butting head with their staff, so they lower their standards to a level that the staff is more comfortable with.  That is a quick way to put your restaurant out of business,

Let’s face it, no one is more interested in the success of your restaurant than you are.  If you think your staff is going to voluntarily go the extra mile for your success you are sorely mistaken.  You will find a few that are conscientious enough to help you out, but for the most part, they will not do it on their own.  It is up to you to set the standards for the restaurant, then make sure your crew delivers.  If they don’t, replace them.

This is a business that chews up underachievers and spits them out.  Restaurants fail at an alarming rate.  Don’t allow your restaurant to fail because you lost your focus on the day to day upkeep of your facility.