The Untold Secrets To Running A Restaurant Business Like A Real Pro

Managing a restaurant is no walk in the park. Even before you declare your restaurant “open for business”, there are a lot of things that needs to be done and needs to be taken care of. There’s no denying that restaurant owners are hardworking and very knowledgeable individuals.

But any successful restaurant owner will tell you that knowing how to manage a restaurant isn’t enough. Thing is, most restaurant owners have no idea what their role is in running a restaurant business.

Here are some tips from a master restaurant entrepreneur, Ray Kroc, creator of the McDonald’s empire.

1. Work “on” the business and not “in” it
The problem with most restaurant owners is they work “in” the business and not “on” it. They confuse participation with good management. Just because you’re willing to roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty doesn’t mean you’re doing a good job managing the business.

Fact is you’re doing the opposite.

The primary role of a restaurant owner is to take a step back and analyze. Think. Figure out what needs to be done to improve operations, to hasten speed of service, to improve the menu, etc. If you’re working “in” the restaurant, there’s no way you’ll accomplish any of these.

2. Success is in the system
Anyone who’s ever lived in the 20th century will tell you that McDonald’s is the biggest fast food chain in the world. How did Ray Kroc manage to build thousands of restaurants around the world exactly the same way?

It’s in the system, Ray believes. Ray believes, restaurants can’t afford extraordinary people, but they can make ordinary people produce extraordinary results with the help of an excellent system. He also believes consistent quality is only possible with a good system.

You may or may not be thinking about starting a franchise restaurant business. But you definitely need a good system to run your restaurant. Take my word for it. Take Ray’s word for it.

The full article can be found here.

Check back on Online Marketing for Restaurants next week for more restaurant marketing tips.

Top Five Things You Need To Know About OpenTable As A Restaurant System

One interesting topic in the foodservice industry is OpenTable, an online restaurant system that attaches to a restaurant’s existing website, allowing customers to book tables online. I must admit, it sounded like a wonderful idea at first. But truth is some restaurant operators are saying the exact opposite about OpenTable. The consensus is that OpenTable had so much potential were it properly managed by the company that created it.

As a restaurant operator, you must be interested in signing up OpenTable as your online restaurant system. Brooklyn-based technie Jonathan Wegener wrote about OpenTable on his blog. This is what he had to say.

• OpenTable makes money from restaurant businesses that pay a one-time installation charge, a monthly subscription fee, plus another fee for every guest seated through the service.
• OpenTable charges $0.25 per diner booked through the restaurant’s website, and $1 per diner that booked directly through the OpenTable restaurant system.
• According to OpenTable’s finance records, the restaurant system seated 57% of diners directly through its service. The remaining 43% booked through the restaurant’s website. These statistics show OpenTable as an effective marketing tool.
• OpenTable has 8,090 member restaurants that pay $515 each month.
• On average, OpenTable fills 345 seats every month or 14 seats daily.

Okay, let’s talk real numbers. If OpenTable charges $515 and seats 345 diners, on average, every month, then the cost of the restaurant system is closer to $1.50 per diner.

But here is the thing. More or less 43% of OpenTable’s reservations are directed from the restaurant’s website, meaning the customers were going to reserve seats anyway even without OpenTable running things around. Simply put, the customer has already decided to book a table before OpenTable steps in. So the real value of OpenTable’s service is actually 197 new customers for a $515 monthly fee. That’s $2.61 per seated customer.

Another blogger writes about OpenTable,

“In my mind, the question of whether or not to sign up for Open Table boils down to whether or not I feel Contigo needs to take advantage of Open Table’s substantial marketing power.”

The decision is still yours whether OpenTable would prove to be an effective restaurant system for your business. I’m just saying the facts, and the facts are saying that it’s $2.61 per diner, not $1.50.

Do you think a monthly $515 is a worthy investment for this restaurant system?