Typsy | KRG Hospitality

December 3, 2018by krghospitality krghospitality No Comments

Make More Money This Festive Season

6 Ways Restaurants Can Make More Money this Festive Season
Originally Posted on Typsy – By Doug Radkey

Festive Season. These two words signal colder weather (in most areas), delicious comfort food, creative drinks, memorable parties, laughter with friends & family, and of course – gift giving.

These are also two words that nearly everyone seems to look forward to throughout the year, including that of restaurant owners. The reason is quite simple; consumers are often in a generous mood which equals longer stays and more spending dollars.

Restaurants, bars, and cafes have the opportunity to generate an abundance of awareness, an increase in revenue per guest, and even repeatable business in what can be defined as the often slower months following the Festive Season (yes it is possible).

Let’s jump right into some Festive strategies your concept or venue should consider this holiday season:

1. Cross-Promotions

Make sure that special events and other winter-related promotions are planned for well in advance, ideally 1-2 months prior. This season is such a large opportunity, that a true marketing plan should be developed just for the season. The festive cheer that starts the season, for example, can act as a forerunner to both Christmas and New Years Eve parties, packages, and other revenue generating opportunities such as gift card sales.

Speaking of gift cards – create a marketing program specifically around these money-makers. Restaurants are the most popular choice for consumers to purchase gift cards, with 41% of total gift card spend going to restaurants. But don’t just sell the one card. Create a promotion that includes spending an ‘x’ amount of dollars on a card before Christmas, and receive a second card with an amount of ‘x’ that can only be used in January or February. Add value, be aggressive, and get people through your doors over the next two months when sales are traditionally lagging.

2. Labor Management

Similar to that of the retail sector and depending on the size of the restaurant, additional staff may need to be hired to handle the extra covers that are waiting to come in. This is where planning ahead really comes into play. To be fair to yourself, your team, your new hires, and your guests, you need to ensure you leave yourself enough time for interviewing, talent selection, onboarding, and training before the peak of Christmas season truly hits.

Both front-of-house and back-of-house systems and their teams need to be reviewed to ensure your operations are prepared. Customer service and speed in the kitchen or bar should not be hindered by the fact it’s getting busier. You can ‘scale’ your business by being prepared; create mock schedules and see where there may be gaps to ensure a high standard of service is available when your restaurant needs to shine.

Speaking of staff, let’s not forget about their valuable time! Ensure they’re given time to spend with their friends and family too. Be flexible with your scheduling – and don’t forget to thank them for their loyalty and commitment!

3. Off-Premise Dining

With the increase in delivery and off-premise dining, the Festive Season may not show any signs of slowing that segment down this year. Is your restaurant prepared to market the catering and delivery of food and beverage to office parties and house parties?

This presents an opportunity to offer the catering of a traditional or concept-infused, Christmas focused meal or buffet style dinner — right to their door!

Create a variation of value-added packages for different sized parties and request 72 hours (or more) notice (with deposit) to have it prepped and delivered, right on time. Just don’t forget the high-quality take-out containers and plates for an easy clean-up afterward!

Pre-ordered packages such as this will generate cash-flow, control potential waste, and control staff costs.

4. Food Menu

Is your restaurant in a position to offer a traditionally plated meal or other harvest/winter flavors? How about a unique variation or infusion based on your restaurant’s concept and kitchen structure?

Don’t be afraid to think outside-the-box and get creative. For example, if you’re a Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) near a parade route, create an easy-to-eat holiday inspired option for ‘on-the-go’.

Develop a holiday-themed menu with your entire team (kitchen and bar team) with your target market and concept kept close in mind. Make it a fun exercise for everyone. As always, keep the specialized menu small and inviting to reduce inventory, prep-time, additional staff requirements, and potential waste.

You also want to keep in mind that a lot of the guests visiting may have never stepped foot in your establishment before because they’re just tagging along with a large party. Think of allergens and include dishes that vegans, vegetarians, and guests with other primary food sensitivities would still enjoy.

5. Beverage Menu

Having the right drinks on your menu is just as important as the food. The Christmas season is the best time of year to sell both pre-and-after-dinner drinks if you’re a dine-in restaurant.

You have to have the mindset that every drop counts!

While pre-and-after dinner drinks are big sellers, you can make a larger impact by offering ‘session drinks’ – drinks with a lower level of alcohol – or just zero-proof drinks all-together.

The drinking ‘culture’ associated with alcohol, in particular, has definitely changed over the past decade thanks to strict driving laws, the cost of ‘going out’, and the sophistication of consumers.

Show off your bar teams talent by creating ‘theatre’ in your beverages in addition to a balance in alcohol levels which should be promoted with the right mix of marketing.

When crafting your beverage menu, keep sustainability, speed, price, and perception of value in mind – for both non-alcohol and alcohol driven drinks.

6. Christmas & New Year’s Parties

You have the square footage, you have the approved capacity, and you have the kitchen/bar. These are the needed ingredients required to host an exclusive or intimate type event at any venue. Whether you have the capacity for 20 or 200 plus guests, there is an opportunity to generate awareness, revenue, and repeat customers by becoming known within your community for being the ‘best host in town’.

To make event management work for your restaurant, it must create a unique and memorable guest experience, which is no different than traditional dining strategies. Whether you’re hosting your own New Year’s Eve party or renting out your space before Christmas for a variety of private events – ensure there are defined (but value driven) food & beverage packages and a financial deposit made to protect your bottom line.

You also want to ensure there is a communication strategy in place to let other guests know if your venue is closed for a private event. Maximize each event by being organized, well staffed, and engaged. Take it a step further by providing guests at the event – an opportunity to revisit in January or February with a measurable gift (a coupon for a free appetizer or $10 gift card, for example).

By truly knowing and understanding your target market, your concept, and the neighboring business environment, the Festive Season is an excellent time to showcase your brand and your creativity – ultimately generating awareness, revenue, and repeat business opportunities, ultimately setting the tone for the following year!

October 2, 2018by krghospitality krghospitality No Comments

Your Media Strategy Ready for Launch

How to Get Your Media Strategy Ready for Launch
Originally Posted on Typsy – By Doug Radkey 10/02/2018

The development of a restaurant can be extremely daunting with its many moving parts and it’s easy to miss crucial start-up strategies within the mix of it all.

One you don’t want to overlook is your intended media launch strategy. Today, the word ‘media’ means so much more than your local newspaper outlet.

The worst thing you can do is start your marketing and promotional campaigns one week before opening or simply expect a Field of Dreams “if you build it, they will come” type of scenario to work.

Hint: it doesn’t!

A successful restaurant launch includes building plenty of buzz for the three-four months leading up to the opening. It also means developing what we call a communications strategy to deal with the variety of media outlets both before and after opening.

A strong communications strategy will prepare you for the most effective social, digital, and community-related marketing tools in relation with targeted media partnerships which will then target your specified audience across a multitude of touch-points.

Aside from the established chain restaurants, many aspiring and independent restaurateurs do not have the budget for their own in-house marketing team (or outsourcing an award-winning agency). And that’s okay. In order to be fully present within your community both before and after opening, restaurateurs just need to ensure they have the necessary marketing plans in place.

This means projecting the right voice to attract the right audience. This also means determining the tone of your content, the nature of your interaction, and the overall approach to your brands messaging.

It also means knowing how to handle any third party media attention before and after opening.

To develop an effective communications strategy – you want to focus on three key areas: your social media, your public relations, and your direct-to-consumer channels. Let’s have a look at each.

Social Media

Within both your marketing and communications plan, you firstwant to develop a social media strategy. There is no getting around this today. Use plenty of simple, cost-effective strategies in the weeks prior to opening to create the buzz you want (and need). These methods will also maximize exposure (to both the public and other media outlets) in addition to early revenue opportunities during what’s known as your ‘honeymoon period’ – the first three months of operating.

This includes developing and/or executing on:

Social media channels, like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, that your target audience actually uses each and every day
The development of strategic monthly content calendars for each social channel
The creation of social media contests and sales-driven promotions
Social media paid-advertising campaigns to further build your targeted community
Digital marketing partnerships where you can leverage both social media and email marketing
Food and beverage photography and videography strategies to enhance your visuals

It’s not easy building an online community from scratch. Your social media presence must have a strategy behind it – not a ‘spray and pray’ method of posting a food photo and hoping your target market will engage with it. It is imperative that you’re consistent, unique, and strategic. You also want to build digital partnerships that will help you successfully piggy-back on another’s already built social media community.

Public Relations

Leading up to the opening and for the first one-to-two months after – you want to build strong relations with your local media partners. Pairing this with a strong social media strategy is crucial in developing the awareness you need to get a head start in generating revenue.

You want to consider the following methods:

The development of your key brand messages to create consistency and reduce confusion
The creation, management, and distribution of press materials including a press kit, fact sheets, press releases, and owner/chef biographies
The development of a targeted media list – online, print, and broadcast. Know beforehand who you want and don’t want to associate throughout your local media. Don’t waste time meeting with media outlets that don’t have the same target audience as you do
Partnering with key influencers (bloggers) and tastemakers (farmers, breweries, wineries, and other key suppliers to your restaurant)
The identification and training of your start-up brand ambassadors; this includes ownership, management, and other priority personnel

At a minimum, you want to send out press releases and contact your local restaurant bloggers, podcasters, food critics, and social media influencers. Engage with your local industry dignitaries on social media and then inform them of your newly developed restaurant. Create an invite only event either before or during your soft opening to maximize on their value and to amplify your story.

Direct-to-Customer

To tie all of your social media and public relations together to create a winning communications strategy, you want to include a variety of direct-to-consumer campaigns throughout the first 30-90 days of opening.

You want to ensure your target market is seeing your brand across a variety of channels. Pending your choice of concept – you want to entice them to visit your venue approximately three times before the end of your honeymoon period.

You can achieve this by creating the emotion that your target audience is going to miss out on the hottest new restaurant in town (FOMO – Fear Of Missing Out). You can do this by creating the following:

A variety of menu tasting and beverage pairing events
Direct mail marketing campaigns to targeted hyper-local neighborhoods
Community marketing outreach and partnership opportunities (events, donations, and sponsorships)
Site sampling and street activations by personally taking food samples and marketing material to local businesses (using your developed brand ambassador strategy)
In-house return visit campaigns that measure the return-frequency of customers

How will you reach the maximum number of targeted customers with the least amount of spending to maximize your return-on-investment? How will you plan to be memorable and stand out from the competition as time goes on? Start early and be creative, imaginative, and bold in all of your efforts while being prepared to handle social media, public relations, and direct-to-consumer strategies.

August 6, 2018by krghospitality krghospitality No Comments

The Ultimate Checklist for Restaurants

The Ultimate Opening Day Checklist for Restaurants
Originally Posted on Typsy – By Doug Radkey 08/06/2018

Before opening your doors to the public, there is an enormous and often overwhelming list of both tasks and strategic milestones to first complete.

This list traditionally starts 3-6 months (sometimes even more) prior to opening day.

In this industry, there is never a ‘one-size fits all’ approach, but there are some general guidelines to follow, that any seasoned restaurateur will likely agree with, no matter if it’s a 3 month or 6 month project.

Your opening day checklist shouldn’t just be a piece of paper either, it is ideal to hold weekly meetings throughout the start-up phase and consider using an online project management dashboard to promote effective communication within your entire start-up team.

Let’s have a look at a generic restaurant opening-day checklist with the appropriate time-frames that should be shared with all members of your opening day team.

Design and Build

Even prior to signing your lease, you should have a grasp of who your design and construction or renovation team will be. Don’t waste your time afterwards sourcing and negotiating – the clock is now ticking.

For many independent operators, this is often 120-180 days away from your projected opening day. This is also where having your feasibility study, concept development plan, and business plan will help speed up the process, positioning you to make strategic – business driven decisions.

During this period you should expect the following:

Completed schematic designs (engineer and architect related drawings)
Submission of drawings to local municipality for approvals
The hiring of your project/construction manager or foreman
Receive quotes for exhaust hood systems and any other customized concept specifics that may need additional lead time outside of 2.5-3 months.

The project manager should then put in place what is known as a ‘gantt chart’ indicating construction or renovation milestones. From there, the construction of your restaurant dictates the remainder of the schedule for concept and operational specifics. You should work backwards from that projected completion date, often 90 days, and by ideally adding 2-3 weeks for potential delays.

3 – 4 Months Out:

Apply for liquor license – if required
Finalize graphic designs and other branding initiatives
Secure both web and social domains
Order bar and kitchen equipment – order earlier for customized equipment
Order furniture for restaurant (tables, chairs, umbrellas etc.)
Order any additional millwork related pieces for your concept – earlier for customized ones
Develop vision, mission, value, and culture statements for your concept
Develop staff positions, specified roles, job descriptions, and wage structures
Prepare your operational strategies (marketing plans, training programs, onboard packages, staff policies, operational templates/checklists etc.)
Decide and finalize choice of operational vendors; cleaners, pest control, grease trap cleaners, exhaust hood cleaners, security, telecommunications etc.

60 Days Out:

Install exterior signage and execute first portion of marketing plan including social media launch
Create start-up menu and prepare your food and beverage supply chain management
Setup payroll structure with bookkeeper and all staff paperwork filing processes
Interview and onboard any key management (chef and/or general manager)
Decide and order small-wares for both the kitchen and bar area
Decide and order staff uniforms with any logo artwork or embroidery
Decide and order point-of-sale systems in addition to any sound, video, and digital menu boards
Cost out menu and prepare both menu covers, design, and engineering strategies
Review current construction status and milestones – adjust remainder of schedule as needed
Install (and test) all kitchen & bar equipment and organize all ordered small-wares
Interview and onboard remainder of your team leading up to 30 days to opening

30 Days Out:

Install point-of-sale system and merchant services for both testing and training
Finalize recipe booklet & menu cards with photos for both kitchen and bar area
Setup line and employee stations; walk-through menu, steps required, and adjust
Begin 1-2 weeks of training for all new hires focusing on operations, equipment, and service sequence
Order and organize all food and beverage for training, soft openings, and opening day
Execute 30 day marketing and media launch strategies to begin second phase of building buzz
Create staff schedules for the next two weeks of soft openings plus first week of opening
Construction should be nearing completion minus final touch-ups and inspections
Setup a preventative maintenance program for all equipment and create emergency contact list

14 Days Out:

Host a photo/video shoot for food, beverage, and interior for marketing purposes.
Host first week of soft openings – using a strategic list of invite only guests
Make tweaks to operations and service sequence by observing timing, traffic flow, and guest emotions

7 Days Out:

Execute final portion of start-up marketing, media, and promotions plan.
Host second (and often final) week of soft openings – using a strategic list of invite only guests
Finalize tweaks to operations and service sequence by observing timing, traffic flow, and guest emotions

Opening Day:

D-day has arrived. Are you ready? By now all the previous groundwork you’ve done should mean that you’re prepared to open your doors to the public. Just a few more things before you celebrate:

Ensure venue, both interior and exterior, is impeccably clean with no signs of construction
By completing both training and a two week soft opening – your team should be confident and well prepared for the first round of guests
Be calm, you got this!

As you can see, there is so much that goes into an opening and one should not attempt to go about it alone. Starting a restaurant, whether ‘from scratch’ or by over-taking an already built establishment (and re-branding), is incredibly challenging.

But by being prepared with the appropriate plans and checklists, you’ll be opening your restaurant with success!

July 13, 2018by krghospitality krghospitality No Comments

Perfect Pitch to Investors

How to Deliver the Perfect Pitch to Investors
Originally Posted on Typsy – By Doug Radkey 07/13/2018

Sometimes, in order to reach our dreams, we need a little help. Starting (or growing) a scalable and sustainable restaurant or hospitality business is not cheap. Many aspiring restaurateurs need a business partner or investment group to help reach their financial targets.

Here’s what we know: The average start-up restaurant, (in US dollars) can range from $295,000 to $660,000+ depending on a variety of factors, including of course the size of establishment, whether it’s a ‘from-scratch’ project, and the choice of overall concept.

No matter how you look at it, that’s a lot of money.

So how can you get financial help? You can’t just walk up to someone and ask for $100,000 for example. You need to get out in both the financial and hospitality community and network to build up both solid and referable business relationships. You then need to prepare yourself and your concept for investors.

But how do you do that successfully for your hospitality business? Here’s how:

Be Prepared

Let’s hope you’ve completed a feasibility study, concept development plan, and business plan (hint: if you haven’t – get started, you won’t get far without these plans). Once those plans are finalized and tweaked, you want to begin preparing yourself for investors by ‘working backwards’ from your completed business plan.

Investors receive numerous proposals per month or year. They may not have the time to read through all of your plans, initially. You want to narrow it down to 10-12 impactful slides followed by 1-2 pages of your ‘executive summary’, and then a 60 second elevator-type pitch.

When crafting a proposal to investors, the return on their investment will always be their first and most critical concern, so keep that in mind.

Perfect Your Pitch Decks

Combining your three plans (feasibility + concept + business), what are the most important and impactful pieces of information that an investor would look for?

This is a great opportunity, within 10-12 slides, to include:

Your overall market size
Gaps in the market
Competitive advantages
Start-up costs
Architectural notes
Menu development
Key performance indicators
Other financial highlights

Refine Your Executive Summary

Now, take your pitch decks and narrow that key information down to 1-2 pages of the most important and impactful information. If you can’t capture their interest in your executive summary, you need to keep re-drafting it until it screams ‘WOW’.

Often times, this is the first document they will want to read, before getting into pitch decks or even your business plan.

Know Your Elevator Pitch

Sixty seconds. How can you grab the attention of an investor in one minute or less? Show your passion through the pitch while answering the three most critical questions the investor will want to hear, even before they ask you.

This is where you want to hit them with:

How they will make their money back
What problem or market gap you are filling
What your overall business concept is

Be Strategic

Investors want to know where their money is going, how it is going to be used, and how they’re going to get it back. Being strategic also means to expect the unexpected, and be prepared for it. You also want to identify your strengths, opportunities, and challenges.

If you’ve completed your plans correctly, you should know your numbers. Be prepared to answer key financial questions (for example KPI’s) – which should all be backed
up with both facts and strategic (SMART) objectives.

Show them your benchmarks for:

Revenue per customer throughout different times of the day
Break-even strategies
Detailed labor reports, inc. revenue per labor hour
Detailed food and beverage costs
Marketing and advertising budgets
Revenue per square foot
Revenue per available seat

Know Your Limits

Don’t be surprised that investors will have an interest in your business, (after all it is their money and reputation that’s on the line) so be prepared to answer some challenging questions:

Are you willing to negotiate any control of the restaurant to investors?
When will the restaurant begin to turn a profit? What are the monthly cash-flow projections?
What are the projected profits of the restaurant over the next 1-3 years; and is it realistic?
What is your role in the project and who will be surrounding you for support?
What are the chances the restaurant concept will fail? What is the exit strategy

Before you pitch your heart out, have a long, hard, think about these and know where you stand. It’s better that you know your boundaries rather than step into a deal that you’re not happy with.

Leave an Impression

Lastly, be confident and memorable – show your passion, your level of experience, as well as your true understanding of your business concept. Utilize additional resources such as photos, drawings, videos, market research, testimonials, and even food or beverage samples to help enhance your presentation.

If you’re turned away by an investor (or bank), don’t let it get you down. Learn from the experience, make any adjustments from their feedback, and try again.

Asking for money isn’t easy – but being prepared, strategic, and memorable – will help you get closer to winning that next investor pitch.

April 24, 2018by krghospitality krghospitality No Comments

Ready to Open a Second Location

5 Signs You’re Ready to Open a Second Location
Originally Posted on Typsy by Doug Radkey – 04/24/2018

Opening a second restaurant location is not as easy as many people may think. Just because “you’ve been there – done that” once doesn’t mean it’s going to be any easier the second time around. In fact, many restaurateurs find it more difficult than the first one.

A common first challenge is that many restaurants, even the most successful restaurants, are simply not ready or properly positioned for this type of expansion. There are numerous circumstances that need to be executed on first, many of which are often overlooked.

To take a restaurant from one location to two or three takes a variety of planning methods, in-depth market research, and the proper execution of a variety of systems. Sound familiar?

Let’s have a look at the indicators so you can ready yourself for growth and expansion!

1. You’re Mentally & Physically Prepared

By now you should know if you have the willingness to sacrifice in addition to the required systemized thinking, social skills, creativity, stress management, and passion to lead a restaurant to success. But that’s just one restaurant, now you’re considering multiplying all of that by two (or more).

Are you ready?

We know restaurant owners more often than not, wear too many hats, leading to upwards of 60 to 80+ hours of work per week. You have to truly ask yourself if you’re in the right mindset and have structured your personal life to endure this type of growth. This is where surrounding yourself with the right professionals (supporting cast) and/or considering a business partnership might be ideal for some – to reduce both risk and potential burnout with the opening of a second unit.

2. Your Previous Restaurant Isn’t Dependent on You

How critical is your presence to the operations and day-to-day success of the restaurant? If it is highly dependent on you; what would happen if your time was shared at a secondary location? What often happens is an independent owner will spend more time at the new location, leaving the first location vulnerable.

That’s why it’s important to take the time to consider the right management team for multiple locations to ensure there is no collapse of the first location and a strong start for the second location.

This includes additional chefs, managers, and supervisors in addition to start-up specialists like consultants, designers, engineers, and architects that will save you time, money, and energy during this growth stage.

3. You Have Strong Systems and Processes in Place

Arguably one of the most important aspects in terms of growth is ensuring that each restaurant (current and the potential new one) has consistent systems in place. Duplication of the same winning formula is the key to early success.

Developing daily routines, service sequences, training programs, communication methods, hiring practices, and customer experience strategies to name a few – is absolutely critical.

It takes effort, honesty, training, reviews, and accountability by the entire team to ensure these basic systems work and are implemented on a daily basis. If you feel there is a gap in any of these systems, it needs to be addressed immediately before any second location is considered.

4. You’re Financially Ready

Is the current restaurant highly profitable and maintaining the most important key performance indicators? Could there be any further financial improvement at the current location? Could it help financially carry the second location if needed for a period of time? If so – for how long and by how much?

Again, just because one restaurant is profitable, doesn’t mean the second unit will have immediate profitability. It takes a deep dive into the books to make a verifiable business decision to expand. Work with trusted and experienced accountants to fully understand the financial health of the current location and the viability of a second.

5. Your Restaurant is a Good Market Fit

Conducting a feasibility study for the second location is just as important as completing one for the first location.

Consider these factors: Where are you planning on developing this second location? How close will it be to the first location? Is the market large and strong enough to support a second location of the same brand? What has made the first location so successful? Will you need to scale or adjust the concept?

There are numerous market related questions that need to be addressed.

Outside of the company structure, choice of concept, financial viability, and overall market – growing restaurants need to consider supplier consistency and overall marketing plans for numerous outlets.

There are many positives to growing into multiple locations, but it should only be done when the time is truly right and when it is done for the right reasons. It’s important to not forget the fundamentals of restaurant operations; where consistency, the quality of food and beverage, customer service, and overall guest experience is paramount at each location.

January 16, 2018by krghospitality krghospitality No Comments

Lowering Your Risk Before Opening a New Restaurant

Lowering Your Risk Before Opening a New Restaurant
Originally Posted on Typsy by Doug Radkey – 01/16/2018

Early recognition of risk is crucial for the success of any business, and arguably more so for restaurants. To ensure proper positioning and ongoing success, it’s vital for a restaurateur to understand the variety of operational, financial, legal, systematic, and people-related risks to not only opening a restaurant, but operating one too.

Identifying risks from the very early stages will position a restaurant to be disciplined and prepared for when things may ‘go wrong’ down the road. Identifying risks will also help streamline a restaurants’ processes while improving communication and implementing a variety of systematic control methods, something every restaurant needs for long-term success.

The opposite of risk, is opportunity, and that’s why focusing on with these seven tips will help you avoid pitfalls before opening your restaurant.

1. Assess Yourself First

First and foremost, the hospitality industry is not for everyone. It’s not what it’s made out to be on television and across some social media feeds. This industry is cut-throat; plain and simple. Take the time to look in the mirror and ask yourself about the required character traits.

You then want to ask yourself, and also write down detailed responses to:

Why you want to open a restaurant or bar
Why you think many restaurants fail within 18 months
What the difference is between success and survival
Explaining expectations of profit versus the lifestyle you want to live
Explaining how important growth is to you, both personally and in business.

Do you feel you have what it takes? This industry requires sacrifice, systemized thinking, social skills, creativity, stress management, and a lot of passion. The first opportunity in risk management – starts with you.

2. Plan Thoroughly

One word that cannot be stressed enough during the start-up phase is of course, planning. Sometimes, however, even with a high level of planning in place, things can unfortunately go sideways — and they can happen fast.

This is where having a strategic combination of feasibility studies, concept development plans, and business plans will be beneficial and provide you with an opportunity to set the tone early, for the upcoming project.

These plans will analyze and reduce the risk for many potential, common, and ‘unforeseen’ events during both start-up and operational stages.

3. Form a Strategic Team

You’re determined, positive, confident, adaptable, and crave learning experiences. Being an a restaurateur combines an enormous amount of passion and vision for creating food, drink, and experiences – and a drive to be undeterred by a high level of unprecedented risks.

But you shouldn’t go about it alone. Work with a team of supporters; including mentors, consultants, accountants, lawyers, designers, engineers, and chef/bar focused experts.

They will help minimize start-up and operational risks by creating efficient systems that will undoubtedly streamline your restaurant and both its start-up and ongoing processes. You will also be given the opportunity to learn a lot from these professionals in their respective fields which will assist you both short-term and long-term.

4. Do a Financial Check-Up

One of the many headaches aspiring restaurateurs face is the simple fact of running out of money before the restaurant even opens – a common, but detrimental risk.

A thorough set of plans reviewed by consultants, accountants, and designers – will prepare a restaurant for potentially hidden costs by measuring realistic financial scenarios. Ideally, there should be at least three months worth of operating capital set aside for opening day.

Aspiring restaurateurs should also analyze the potential for leasing equipment and other assets while comparing interest rates and exit strategies for each potential financial program they may apply to.

Restaurant owners should also ensure they have a credit check report and a statement of personal net worth, and to clear any outstanding debt with past creditors prior to starting a restaurant. Most importantly, set aside savings (ideally 6-12 months worth) for yourself and your family in case the restaurant is off to a slower start than originally predicted.

5. Complete All Business Paperwork

Make sure you receive the full list of permits that your local municipality requires for starting a restaurant or bar. Visit your city clerk office to receive the entire list, in writing, plus their associated fees and timeline for approval. Overlooking one or more of the required permits or licenses can result in a delayed opening and course, further additional costs.

These may include business registration forms, business licensing, building permits, zoning adjustments, occupancy certificates, ventilation, electrical and plumbing permits, outdoor signage permits, health and safety inspection certificates, liquor licenses, and others. Each municipality, province/state, and federal government will be different, so ensure you receive the correct information for your specific location.

A restaurant also needs to measure a variety of liability factors. Disaster can strike at any moment, therefore an aspiring restaurateur should ‘hire’ an insurance broker, to source the best general liability insurance, property insurance, off-premise insurance, liquor liability insurance, and workers compensation insurance to reduce risk, costs, and any personal liability.

6. Assess Your Restaurant’s Location

Choosing a location is an exciting component of starting a restaurant, but it comes with its own variety of risks. New restaurateurs often find out after a lease is signed that their property may not be fully compatible for a restaurant and will need further upgrades to meet standards for energy and ventilation, plus any revised building and/or health codes (to name a few).

This is where working with a commercial realtor, property inspector, engineer, and commercial lawyer will reduce any potential shortcomings while looking for specific leasehold concessions and exit clauses that will reduce your own risk, down the road, if the restaurant is unsuccessful.

7. Prepare Your Restaurant’s Operational Setup

When it comes to restaurants, bars, and cafes etc; the producers, manufacturers, delivery drivers, owners, managers, and servers ultimately share the responsibility to create a safe and enjoyable dining experience.

Transparency, traceability, and accountability in terms of food and beverage, must be a top concern when deciding on vendors to ensure all product entering your restaurant are not only safe for your customers, but for your community.

Knowing and understanding your concept will also assist in kitchen, bar, and storage requirements – reducing the risk for spoilage, theft, and accidents.

There is so much that goes into operational setup, but focusing on the above plus proper HR programs, staff training programs, allergen disclosures, secured networks, and overall venue related security, will create a safer environment for both your employees and customers; reducing a long list of risks and potential lawsuits.

Life happens, things go wrong, but being prepared is what will make you stand out from the others. It takes planning, effort, and an experienced support team to overcome the impact of an unfortunate event when opening your restaurant.

December 6, 2017by krghospitality krghospitality No Comments

Conducting Restaurant Staff Performance Reviews

Conducting Restaurant Staff Performance Reviews
Originally Posted on Typsy by Doug Radkey – 12/06/2017

It takes happy, engaged employees to create memorable guest experiences. To do this requires leadership, culture, and accountability. This in turn will develop a cycle of improved revenue, loyal customers, and a decrease in employee turnover.

One of the many methods used to create culture and accountability, is that of performance evaluations. This type of evaluation is extremely helpful to track an employee’s step-by-step development and is highly beneficial; for the employee, restaurant owner, operator, or manager.

Staff evaluations highlight areas the employee may be excelling at and areas that are in need of improvement. It also provides an opportunity to develop performance based rewards, which is an excellent way to reduce employee turnover costs and keep employees engaged in their day-to-day tasks.

The key ingredient however to a winning employee evaluation program is consistency. Be consistent in the timing of evaluations, your required standards, and with all employees (meaning do not single any one employee out from the others).

Asides from consistency, it’s ideal to also keep the following six tips and steps in mind when conducting staff performance reviews:

1. Create the Foundations Early

Make it known during the on-boarding process that all employees are subject to both regular and scheduled evaluations.

Design a complete staff performance plan by formulating accurate job descriptions, job expectations, standard operating procedures, on-boarding processes, pay scale development, training programs, and team building exercises.

These systems will create the foundations to work from, for future performance based evaluations.

2. Schedule Evaluations in Advance

When it comes time to complete an evaluation, the employee shouldn’t be surprised. It’s either part of the scheduled evaluations that they’ve been made aware of from the start, or you’ve had regular discussions with them, leading to a required off-schedule evaluation.

When you schedule an evaluation in advance, you can explain to them the entire process and provide them with a copy of the evaluation forms, so they’re equally prepared.

3. Encourage Self-Evaluation

This form of evaluation is often over-looked by many employers, though it is an extremely important aspect to the overall evaluation process. It is best practice to have employees fill out the exact same evaluation form to see how their personal observations may pair with your observation.

Finding out how they feel about their own performance will set the tone for the evaluation meeting. It will also open a brief discussion period about any obstacles they may be experiencing to achieve a stronger performance.

4. It’s Not All About Your Employees

Performance reviews should develop an opportunity to create ‘two-way’ communication. Don’t make it all about the employee. Use this time to ask if there is anything the restaurant can do to make their job or employment experience better for them and their team mates.

Make note of this discussion and see if there are any trends or consistencies among the answers from multiple employees so you as the owner, operator, or manager can take immediate action to improve.

5. Provide Balanced Feedback

The overall staff evaluation should look at the quality of their work, including their dependability, attendance record, customer service rating, team-based communication, openness to feedback, and how they’ve handled unique or stressful situations. It is ideal to score and rank each category out of 10, to provide a measurable goal for improvement.

You want to take this time to provide honest feedback with a solid direction to improve on the requirements of the hospitality driven business.

Discuss the previous period, but keep in mind that at least 50 percent of the performance evaluation should be spent on the future. When talking, use simple, direct language while comparing each issue to a note within your completed standard operating procedures. This is how effective leadership is then respected.

If there is a below average score, anticipate the possibility of a confrontation or negative reaction. However, as the leader, if you’re properly prepared for the evaluation, you can take a proactive measure by following every negative with a positive, to reduce this possibility and to keep the momentum of the meeting in check.

You want to spend more time on the positives to enhance the performance improvement plan.

6. Set-Up a Performance Improvement Plan

This is the opportunity to improve on performance, morale, motivation, personal development, and overall profitability. By using a series of ‘SMART’ goals (Specific, Measureable, Attainable, Realistic, Timely) an employer can create a system of reward and accountability.

Whether it was an excellent, average, or below average review, there should always be an improvement plan in place. It’s ideal to provide three SMART goals for each individual to work on between now and the next review or specified time for improvement. As the employer, is there any further support and/or resources they need from you to achieve these goals?

Write these goals on the performance review form, discuss any rewards/incentives, and ensure both parties sign it for optimum accountability.

Completing these reviews on a consistent basis will provide employers with the opportunity to develop happy, engaged employees.

November 1, 2017by krghospitality krghospitality No Comments

What to Look for in a Restaurant Business Partner

What to Look for in a Restaurant Business Partner
Originally Posted on Typsy by Doug Radkey – 11/01/2017

If you’ve worked as a leader in the restaurant industry, then you know what it’s like. You know that leaders have to be willing to make sacrifices and acquire the systemized thinking, social skills, creativity, stress management, and passion that it takes to be successful.

Becoming a restaurateur combines an enormous amount of passion and vision. You have to create food, drink, and overall experiences with a drive that is undeterred by the high number of unprecedented risks. You must be determined, positive, confident, adaptable, and crave learning experiences.

And even if you do have all of those qualities, it can often be too much for one person to endure. This is when considering a partnership might be ideal for some.

It’s not uncommon for restaurants to be started or initially operated by a partnership, and you will be hard pressed to find a well-known restaurant brand that didn’t start as a partnership before becoming a larger corporation.

However, partnerships aren’t easy. They come with their own set of challenges, both at the start-up phase and during the operational stage.

There must be a common vision, mission, and commitment, and a high level of communication, creativity, and expertise between partners. Effective partners will also play off each other’s strengths and weaknesses to succeed in this cutthroat industry.

Here are a few elements to consider when determining if a restaurant partnership is right for you. This is what you should be looking for in a business partner today.

1. Have a Three-Step Plan

Before engaging in serious partnership discussions or agreements, it is crucial to complete a feasibility study, concept development plan, and business plan. Is the idea of a partnership even feasible? Can your restaurant concept withstand not only the market, but also two or more owners? Is there enough of a profit margin for all partners to live a healthy lifestyle? What are the short and long-term goals?

Many questions need to be answered before you make any decisions, and these plans will lay the foundation needed to move forward.

2. Conduct a SWOT Analysis

There should be a competitive SWOT analysis within the business plan, but it is also ideal to complete a thorough SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) on both a personal and partnership level.

What strengths and weaknesses do you each possess, what opportunities exist if you decide to partner, and what threats will present themselves if you formulate a partnership?

For full effectiveness, have all potential partner(s) complete the same and analyze all of the responses.

3. Create Statements

To ensure potential partners are on the same page, it is imperative that you all have a similar vision, mission, value, and culture statements. Complete an exercise, similar to the SWOT analysis, in which each individual writes a statement addressing those four categories. These answers should then be compared against one another.

A partnership will inevitably run into hard challenges if visions and goals are not equally aligned. If you cannot cohesively agree on these statements at this stage, don’t move on to the next step.

4. Review the Laws

It’s absolutely critical to review your national and local business laws, regulations, taxes, and how they may relate to structured partnerships, liability, and asset management. Many countries, states, provinces and local municipalities have different information on their registered requirements.

Study this information and review it with both an accountant and a lawyer, so you can determine which partnership structure is best for your unique situation.

5. Draft an Agreement

Restaurants, bars, and other hospitality related businesses are really no different to traditional businesses. There needs to be a comprehensive and clear partnership agreement in place, even if it is a friend or family member as the potential partner.

The agreement must clearly state the financial structure of the partnership (investment, return and profit share) in addition to property management involvement, labor involvement, and overall activeness within the business.

Will both partners be active in the day-to-day operations, or will one act as a ‘silent partner’? Often, one partner looks after the back-of-house while another looks after the front-of-house, or is one partner just there to assist in finances while the other operates the business? Every minor detail must be documented, reviewed by a lawyer, and signed for liability and accountability purposes.

At the end of the day, successful partnerships rely on setting realistic (S.M.A.R.T) goals, open communication, frequent meetings, defined roles, and sound business structure. Only partner with other individuals who are willing to be open, honest, and respectful, and share the same values that you do.

You will need a balance of planning, trust and talent to be compatible. There will undoubtedly be stressful situations throughout the start-up phase, operational phase, and overall partnership that will reveal who you have really partnered with.

By executing these steps, you should be able to limit any surprises. The same goes for partnerships as it does for business in general; if you fail to plan, then you plan to fail.

September 28, 2017by krghospitality krghospitality No Comments

How to Set Employee Expectations in Your Restaurant or Bar

How to Set Employee Expectations in Your Restaurant or Bar
Originally Posted on Typsy by Doug Radkey – 09/28/2017

Effective communication can provide your restaurant with two things. First of all, it creates an atmosphere where both front of house and back of house employees are excited, motivated, and honest. Second of all, it helps you establish workplace expectations, which can lower staff turnover costs.

Proper communication starts from the top, and from the time someone is employed (or arguably during the interview stage). The key to setting expectations, communication, and a positive working environment starts with onboarding, operation manuals, and formal training.

Onboarding

The true meaning of onboarding is often overlooked within the restaurant industry, though it should be a priority! It’s an opportunity to introduce new hires to your expectations and culture.

It’s also your chance to define what it means to be productive, promote compliance, and create the footprint for a memorable working experience.

Use the first day to discuss:

Short-term and long-term goals
The history of the restaurant
The vision
The mission
The values that make you who you are
Why customers enjoy your establishment

Create an open dialogue and allow for questions. Discuss the importance of manuals and training and set realistic goals for training completion.

The days of throwing new hires into the fire on their first day of work needs to come to an end; no matter their level of experience.

If restaurants hire for a mix of values and experience, versus experience alone, and create a systematic approach to hiring through proper job advertisements, interview processes, onboarding, manuals, and training, they will see an immediate difference in their culture and turnover costs.

This is why it’s important to remember that ‘values beat experience, when experience doesn’t work hard’.

The onboarding process should also be fun and exciting. Consider taking the process to the next level by developing a creative welcome package that consists of inexpensive but valuable tools, resources, and restaurant branded products that will go along with the paperwork needed for new hires.

This will instantly make your new hires feel like they’re a part of a team and set your restaurant apart from others in the immediate area. The added bonus is they will probably take a photo of their welcome package and share it with their social network!

Operation Manuals

Operation manuals should further outline items like:

Key statements
Policies
Probation periods
Scheduling
Harassment
Pay scales
Pay schedules
Tipping procedures
Emergency procedures
Pre-shift meetings
Opening/closing checklists

There should also be a complete kitchen and bar recipe manual that is continuously updated based on the current menu.

It probably sounds like this is going to be a large and heavy book (that no one will read because it sounds boring). Keep the categories short but impactful, and consider breaking them up into separate mini-packages.

You also want to keep in mind the variety of ages within your team and how they may react to different training and manual related material.

Consider creating a mix of visuals, infographics, videos, and written material in your operations manual. Incorporating video into the mix is a great way to create consistency in your messaging, and it will save you valuable resources over time.

It is imperative, however, that all components within the operations manual have a form of accountability. Make sure your new employees are signing off on their responsibilities so you have something to keep on record. They must ‘own’ it!

Staff Training

Staff training plays the third and final role in developing employee expectations. New hires need to be taught the specifics of your restaurant’s concept and business model.

They need to learn how to interact with customers, service sequences, food and beverage production, and specific equipment safety.

An advanced training program will offer adhoc training and cross-training opportunities. It will also offer a mix of classroom-style training (offline or online with a tool like Typsy), off-site training (at a brewery or winery for example), and on-the-job training (shadowing) that should be followed by tests to ensure the messages are being received.

The value of a training program lies within its structure. A winning training program will not try to train an employee all in one day, and you shouldn’t expect new hires to remember everything they learn in one session for the rest of their employment. It is imperative that a training program also includes refreshers and reviews, something that can be done in pre-shift meetings or during a restaurant’s periodic downtime.

A high percentage of employee turnover occurs within the first few weeks of employment. Step into a new hire’s shoes and remember your first days on the job, whether in a restaurant or another industry. How was your experience? Was it positive, memorable, and engaging? Most will likely say not.

In summary, you want to develop systems, experiences, confidence, morale, and consistency, which will set the expectations needed to successfully operate a restaurant.

If you have the correct mindset, the correct programs, and the correct leadership, any previous onboarding, operation manual and training nightmares will simultaneously go away, benefiting operators, employees, and yes, even the guest.

It takes a complete team effort and it starts from day one.

August 31, 2017by krghospitality krghospitality No Comments

How to Develop a Restaurant Menu – For Real

How to Develop a Restaurant Menu – For Real
Originally Posted on Typsy by Doug Radkey 08/31/2017

It doesn’t matter if you’re developing your very first restaurant menu or you’re planning to re-invent your current one – you need to have a strategy in place with both the food and beverages on offer.

If you’ve done a concept development plan, you’re already on the right path. Your restaurant menu is there to give meaning to the overall guest experience while also delivering emotions and brand personality.

These are the fundamentals of a restaurant’s concept.

To develop a memorable food and beverage menu, however, you must have a thorough understanding of your target customers. You should also undertake an advanced hyper-local analysis (competitive analysis) and aim to understand your local economic factors.

If you’re just starting out, developing a menu concept will assist both you and your architect in designing a kitchen and bar layout that is going to deliver effective productivity, storage, and preparation.

Here are a few tips to help you get started.

1. Develop Your Menu Concept

First and foremost, you should ask yourself what you want your restaurant to be known for. The best ‘what’ in your area? From here, you can begin to develop a flavor profile with supporting elements such as colors and textures that will deliver that promise.

The goal is to keep it simple and memorable. Try to keep your menu under 24 items for optimal productivity, and to minimize confusion and anxiety among your guests (and staff).

Remember, guests prefer to make a decision within 120 seconds.

Take this time to list out your desired menu and if it’s too large, begin to narrow it down.

2. Develop a List of Core Ingredients

Developing a menu and/or new and specific dishes and drinks can take a lot of trial and error. It’s important to understand your concept and target market while working with flavors that will make customers go ‘wow’!

Put together a list of the core ingredients that will deliver that wow factor within your desired menu. You’ll also want to consider how you can repurpose raw ingredients as much as possible to reduce food costs and potential waste.

Consider this; how can the kitchen & bar collaborate to maximize the yield on ingredients?

When considering ingredients, try using as much product from around you as possible – for example, produce that is in season, food artisans from your area, or meats from a local farm/butcher. Take this time to list out all the main ingredients you will require.

3. Investigate Your Supply Chain

Now that you know your concept and its core ingredients, where can you find them?

You want to reduce your risk (and often costs) by eliminating as many third parties as possible within the supply chain. When planning your menu(s), list out a limited number of targeted suppliers, including data on their company history, any past product recalls, their storage facilities, delivery logistics, and ethical working environment.

Build a list of two to three local butchers, seafood suppliers, dry goods, craft breweries, local wineries, and produce suppliers (etc.) needed for your concept.

4. Cost Out Your Menu Items

Using a recipe management program or simply inputting available data into a spreadsheet will allow you to begin analyzing your menu concept, its portions, and each associated item with its core list of ingredients.

Based on the concept, noted ingredients, and each supplier’s cost, can the menu items be priced accordingly for your target customers and local economy? Is there enough room for profit based on your location’s needs? Is there enough balance in the pricing? What is the goal for average revenue per customer?

This is where having a business plan in place will assist in understanding appropriate key performance indicators (KPIs) required to be a successful restaurant.

5. Visualize Plating and Glassware

Now that you have the concept and initial costs figured out, you can move along to the next step. Many aspiring restaurateurs forget about this one. It’s time to consider how your guests will eat and drink your menu offerings.

How will it look on the plate or in the glass? How will the colors contrast with one another? Is the dish or drink ‘Instagram’-worthy? Which elements should go on a fork or spoon together?

If it’s available for take-out, how will the menu item perform after being in a container for 10+ minutes on the drive home?

It’s ideal to plate it three different ways, test it, take photos, and also test its longevity if it is going to be available for take-out.

Again, trial and error makes perfect.

6. Run a Test Kitchen

This is arguably the most exciting aspect – testing the flavors! Do the menu items meet and exceed your expectations? Give each item a few different tweaks and decide which is best. Get others involved in the process and don’t be afraid to use a soft opening to gather further feedback.

You may want to take photos and put them on social media to see which ones gather the most engagement from a visual standpoint.

At the end of the day, the key to a profitable and memorable menu is to keep it small and focused with signature items that you want to be known for – while differentiating your concept from local competition and offering a balance in pricing.

This is the recipe for success!