A restaurant is a food service business model, structured to prepare specific foods and targeting a particular marketplace. As is with any other business the motive is to drive profits which call for the correct choice; start-up and management decisions. This is achievable where the focus on healthy eating is well addressed, but this comes with its challenges listed here but not limited to:
• Choice of the market target, which requires an answer to:
• Which location?
• Which category of customers?
• What type of food?
• Staff: Serving staff, Chefs, Management and back office
• Food pricing and cost management
• Compliance with the authorities and regulatory bodies
How to overcome these challenges?
Some restaurant businesses are overseen by the owners who often do not have the essential skills to keep afloat. This makes them find themselves in compromising situations where there is low business, demotivated staff, poor customer service and eventually a loss-making business.
The restaurant consulting packages an absolute solution to these problems and gives the business owner an easy time to plan well. Irrespective of the size, be it a major hotel, a 300-location plan, or a one-unit restaurant, a consultant will bring value in terms of improvement, growth, transformation or a whole new development.
The importance of a restaurant consultant
In this dynamic industry, consulting service is the sort to bring sobriety in all operations. This ensures that everyone is happy, from the owner to the customers and staff, and that the business is on the positive.
The services that a consultant will offer include:
• Enhance the operating systems so that there is improved profitability. This ensures that there is a flow of work, time is not wasted and there is efficiency. It calls for JIT (Just in Time) services. Service inputs are ordered and delivered in good time, meals and foodstuff prepared in time, and customer service availed all the time obligatorily. Tasks are properly arranged and matched to talents. Some of these tasks will include cleaning schedules, side work, daily sales reporting.
• A consultant develops a menu, analyses it and design improvements so that the restaurant can be properly positioned in brand competition.
• Bring on board a censored workforce with skills and experience. They are able to cultivate aspects of growth be it in starting restaurants, ongoing or those that seek turnarounds.
• New concepts of progression. This is from idea reproduction, development to implementation which ensures all details are incorporated.
• A consultant will do talent search, recruit and acquire pursuit to the restaurant business requirements.
• They will do culture and talent development for the existing staff so that efficiency is achieved at high levels.
• They will do bottom to top entrepreneurial review and make necessary adjustments geared towards the best performance.
• Tailor cost management patterns for optimal operations and therefore achieve a profitable business. This mainly revolves around labor costs.
• Leverage on the industry trends and ensure the best practice, which conforms to the regulations and authorities guidelines, are followed.
Client-Consultant relationship
It is important to keep an open relationship with the consultant. The relationship should be built in trust and no secrets should be kept by the client. It works best where full information disclosure is given at the onset. The client should understand that professionals help in guiding and not making judgments on earlier decisions taken.
The process of finding a consultant is painful and sometimes throws the client out of the comfort zone. It is so because they ask antagonizing questions in striving to understand the background and model the best solution for the client.
Although this may not be in good taste for the client, it helps open up for healthy conversations which eventually give guidance to forwarding looking business.
A pronounced professional will have challenging questions to the client geared towards making quality solutions. They will develop a better workforce whether existing or recruited from outside. When you find one of these calibers then know you are headed in the right direction. Always strive to embrace the suggested changes, because by no means changes will come even without an invitation.
