Creativity is a wonderful thing. Lots of people assume (erroneously) that there are two kinds of people; creatives and everybody else. But we all know this to be a fallacy. Make no mistake… Everybody is creative! The beauty of creativity is that it’s such a broad and multifaceted concept. There are so many forms of creativity, yet so many assume that if they don’t paint, write, act, dance or sing that they’re not creative. Even if you have no interest in the arts in your extracurricular activities, it’s likely that your work or other endeavors allow you opportunities for creativity. Whether your canvas is the building site or the javascript suite and whether your brush strokes are lines of code or rows of bricks, every day we’re afforded opportunities to create and build. Nowhere is this truer than the service industry.
Many involved in the culinary arts are unaware of just how much art they bring to their work. Like any artist, they take time to learn their craft and master the subtle art of sculpting flavors using an eclectic palette of ingredients. They work with food to create beautiful presentation just like any sculptor shaping a thing of beauty out of raw material. And there’s no truer form of creative expression for an ambitious and talented chef than opening their own restaurant. Many chefs endure long hours, stressful working conditions and erratic shift patterns with big smiles on their faces because they know that they’re working towards a very particular endgame. The prospect of some day opening up their own restaurant and being able to make their own mark on the culinary world is the dream that many hard working chefs strive towards.
But upon becoming masters of their craft, sourcing the necessary funding, coming up with a great concept and opening their doors to the public, many talented chefs have found that the reality does not necessarily reflect their hopes or dreams. While they’re living their own dreams, they quickly find that they are embroiled in kitchen nightmares that not even Gordon Ramsay could save them from. Here we’ll learn why many successful chefs become struggling restaurateurs and look at some of the common reasons why they find themselves failing as well as suggesting some ways of sidestepping the common hurdles that threaten to send their potentially successful businesses spiraling into debt and even bankruptcy. If you don’t like the idea of joining the 60% of restaurant businesses that fold in their first year, read on.
Good chef / bad restaurateur
It’s very easy for a good chef to become a bad restaurateur. In fact, it happens all the time. Like any other entrepreneur, a restaurateur must rely on a very particular set of skills which is quite disparate to those they may have honed in the kitchen. While some of those skills are obviously transferable; patience, time management, proper resource allocation and above all passion, even the most seasoned (pun sort of intended) chefs struggle with the daily realities of running a business. In order to make a success of your restaurant enterprise you’ll need to walk a fine line between using your skills in the kitchen and the office. It’s a tricky balancing act that even the best sometimes struggle with…
You’re spending too much time in the kitchen and not enough time in the office
Let’s start with the obvious. As a chef you know where your skills lie and it’s oh so tempting to remain in that comfort zone. Moreover you know that your culinary expertise and culinary vision are your USP. After all, if there’s one thing a restaurant needs to distinguish itself from the legions of others out there, it’s something unique. need it’s a unique selling point. But the kitchen is rarely the best place to get a good understanding of how well your restaurant is functioning as a business. Sure, you may be able to keep a close eye on the quality of the product you offer (and that’s certainly important), but that’s just one aspect of what makes a healthy and successful restaurant.
A good product needs good management behind it, and even chefs who are used to managing a workforce in the kitchen can struggle with the concept of management from a strategic perspective. Small businesses need to be agile and reactive and restaurants are no exception. They need to keep a close eye on their competitors and embrace market research. They need to stay in touch with the needs and desires of their customers. They need to look closely at their metric data. They need to know when they’re quiet and why, which dishes are selling and which aren’t. Spending all of your time in the kitchen can give you a very narrow perspective which can limit your efficacy as a manager and entrepreneur.
You’re under spending on personnel
Of course, the reason many restaurateurs spend a lot of their time in the kitchen is because they feel that only they can rally the troops in the kitchen to create a quality of product that is becoming of your restaurant. But while this may seem admirable, this noble intention can mask a less than palatable truth… You don’t trust your staff as much as you should. Part of entrepreneurship that many struggle with is coming to the realization that your business needs to be able to handle your absence without any discernible dip in quality.
If you’re unable to do this, it may be that you’re under spending on personnel. While it’s completely understandable for a restaurant to be concerned about overhead costs, you shouldn’t be afraid to invest for success. Putting your money into not only recruiting the best talent in your kitchen but also training and developing them is an essential area of spending for restaurants. Under staffed, under trained kitchens mean long wait times, mistakes and cold food going out to tables. Surely, you wouldn’t want to besmirch your own reputation that way?
You’re under spending on equipment
Just as it’s necessary to spend money on the people who can bring you success, it’s also vital that you spend as much as is necessary on the equipment inside and outside of the kitchen to help take your restaurant to new heights. Even a great chef can be hindered by poor quality knives or a temperamental oven.
Be sure not to neglect your office when it comes to business spending. Anything that can increase your productivity and insulate your business from risk is a worthy spend. You’d be surprised at how important the right accounting resources are to a restaurant. Even if you’re allergic to math, if behoves you to get familiar with the basics of restaurant accounting. Your restaurant needs a healthy enough cash flow to pay staff and bills on time to ensure employee productivity and avoid late fees which can eat into your profit margins. Speaking of margins, you also need to be cognizant of the various costs and selling prices. If you’re able to calculate the cost of every single plate of food that passes through the kitchen door and every bottle of wine consumed, you’re well positioned to manage your restaurant strategically. You also need to be able to quantify how hard your employees are working for you and whether they’re justifying their pay. As important as it is to avoid under investing on staff, you must also get ruthless with employees who aren’t making more for the business than they cost.
If you’re unable to do this yourself, you need to invest in an outsourced restaurant accounting professional or at least some POS software which can help to calculate the majority of this for you and feed that data back to you in the form of easy to follow reports.
Your menu is too diffuse
When you’re starting out in the restaurant business it’s all too easy to get over excited. You will likely have a back catalogue of recipes under your belt that you’re just itching to share with the world. But going back to Gordon Ramsay and his Kitchen Nightmares, one of the most common criticisms of the restaurants on that show is that the menus are too diffuse, offering a selection of dishes that’s a little too wide and inevitably results in a dip in quality.
A menu that’s too big may offer lots of choice, but it inevitably comes at the expense of quality and freshness. A menu that’s too big can also be pretty wasteful, resulting in many ingredients for less popular dishes going to waste.
Your passion is clouding your judgment
Passion is one of the most important qualities in any entrepreneur. But there’s a fine line between passion and vanity. Passion can be a powerful motivator, but it can also drive you at great velocity in the wrong direction. It can help you power through a rough day and block out the negatives, but it can also make you invulnerable to criticism.
Your passion can blind you to the fact that a dish you’re proud of just isn’t selling. It can make you resistant to the idea of changing branding that doesn’t resonate with your target market. By all means own and embrace your passion but don’t let it close your ears to changes that can better your business.
Avoid these common pitfalls and you’ll be well placed to ensure that your restaurant grows from strength to strength.
