By: Anne Buck, Restaurant Owner/Consultant and Culinary Author
Success in any business is never granted, it is earned. No where is this more evident than in the restaurant business. Being a restaurant owner seems so glamorous to outsiders, but the truth of restaurant ownership is anything but!
Hard work, determination, knowledge of marketing, people skills, business sense, common sense and endless energy are needed to succeed in the restaurant business.
My own restaurant followed the above principles along with my philosophy of starting out small. It is so important to your ultimate success that you never start something larger than you can handle. This is something that can put you on the path to failure.
However, if you start small and expand as your customer base builds, you will be allowing your customers to pay for your expansion and additional employees. You will have put in the necessary time in the beginning years to get the restaurant off on the right path, and now, when you have built it up and need to expand, you will have the funds, the customer base and the best employees to help you continue building upon that success.
Too many times people want everything in place upfront. They want the best of everything. They want the flash, glitz and glimmer. They want the largest restaurant in town. They start off so much in debt to their restaurant that they don’t own the restaurant…it owns them. A huge debt when you first begin in the business can put you on a downward spiral from which you may not be able to recover. This leads to resentment which then shows in the quality of the food and the overall appearance of the restaurant, and ultimately results in the complete failure and closure of the restaurant.
When I opened my first restaurant, I stayed close to my philosophy, I started small and had a creative menu serving a specialty that no one else in the area had, and everything grew from that small beginning.
Although I do agree with others that location is a very important part of creating a successful restaurant, it’s not always necessary. More important is that you stand out from the others. You offer better food, better prices and better customer service.
In my travels as a culinary writer, I seek out the smaller, off the beaten path places. The ones that are not on the main streets. These are usually the hidden gems. And so it was with my first restaurant. It was off the main streets, surrounded by residential neighborhoods and some offices. People would always ask, “how do people find you?” I would respond by telling them that when you serve great food at a great price, people will always find you. That proved to be true in my case and with so many others I have interviewed or consulted with over the years.
Success grows upon itself to become larger and larger. This is the snowball effect. Once you take those baby steps towards your ultimate goals, it begins to get easier. Put out a great product and your customers will do the advertising for you. Treat each customer like they are part of the family and they will return bringing their families with them. Never allow things to get bigger than you can control and you will be helping to control your own destiny in the restaurant business.
I have now finally gotten to a place in my life where I can step away from the day-to-day work in the restaurants and devote more to my consultation and writing. My plan to start small and allow my customers to help me grow proved successful for me and hopefully the same philosophy will work for you.
Anne Buck has written numerous food articles and is the creator of the syndicated food column, “Cooking with Chef Anne”. She is the author of several culinary books, including: Open Your Restaurant, Sandwich Shop, Cafe, Coffee Shop or Food Truck Debt-Free!
