1. Work On Your Restaurant, Not Just In It
As a business owner, you can’t fall into the trap of “if you want something done right, you need to do it yourself.” You need to create a restaurant that doesn’t depend on you to be successful. You have to be committed to working on your business, such as work on budgets, marketing, systems, developing and holding your managers accountable, versus working in it actually bussing tables, flipping burgers and managing shifts.
2. Creating Personal Freedom
Most people start their restaurant dreaming of happy guests, financial freedom and the flexibility to do what they want when they want to do it. Unfortunately, most restaurant owners find themselves handcuffed to their restaurant. The first step toward gaining the freedom you desire is to remember why you got into the business in the first place and tapping back into your passion for hospitality, the desire to create memories for your guests.
3. Developing Your Plan for Success
A restaurant that works takes care of you and your family as well as delights your guests and engages your team. Creating the restaurant of your dreams requires you to communicate your core values, develop a financial plan, implement the systems to get you there and more importantly… take action on those plans and systems.
4. Becoming the Leader Your Business Needs
Your restaurant is a direct reflection of you. How you feel about yourself, the way you think about your guests and team members and everything you do will all materialize in some form when it comes to your results. If you don’t start down the path of always learning what you don’t know and becoming better at leading your team, your business will stagnate or, worse, fail. That’s why it’s vital you develop your leadership skills each and every month.
5. Implementing the Right Systems
There’s a reason why the big-chain restaurants kick our ass, there’s a system, a process, a way to do everything in their four walls… their way. You as an independent restaurant owner have to understand you need to implement the same systems and tools they use to achieve financial success, all while being 100% operated by managers. The added benefit to this is your guests will come to expect a consistently great dining experience each and every time they visit you… which increases your sales.
6. Developing a High-Performing Management Team
The key to your success is allowing your managers to run your restaurant if you want your business to grow without being dependent on you being there. By implementing systems, training your managers to those systems and holding them accountable, you can create a team of engaged and dedicated people committed to your dream—so you can finally have the business results you deserve, all while having the freedom you’ve always wanted.
7. Always Improving Your Systems
The key to any business staying on top of their game, but especially a restaurant, is innovation! Without innovation, your restaurant will stagnate and die. The beautiful part of systematizing your restaurant is you create a culture where the details matter and one that embraces change, which means your management team will always be looking for a better way to do things.
Two Guys Kitchen & Catering
