The 10 biggest problems of small and medium sized restaurants.

Beware of these 10 pitfalls for small and medium sized restaurants.

We asked restaurant advisors, managers, and owners of different types of restaurants and cafes to share their experience with you. What aspects of their business are the most important to make a success?

Here are the top 10 difficulties which you are likely to face in doing your restaurant business:

1. Staff.

Of course, these are the people who guests see and interact with . A guest may never see the restaurant owner or a chef, but they see waiters, hostess, managers. So it is very important to hire and keep good employees. Usually, you can’t allow to pay your staff too much, but flexible working hours and other types of rewards may be just as important for them. And remember that every new person will make mistakes as a newbie, so additional costs involved to train them are inevitable.

2. Management and employee scheduling.

Even the best employees can’t work well without good management — so you should always dive in to be sure that the whole staff understands each other well.

3. Controlling costs.

Everything goes so fast, that some costs can be neglected and forgotten during the process. But at the end of the month you are going to pay them anyway and will see everything in the reports. There are many ways to automate this process to avoid “surprises” at the end of the accounting period.

4. Customer service.

Today it is not enough to just smile and do your job well. You need to be memorable and stand out. There are many ways to achieve this and we are happy to share them with you.

5. Promotion and marketing.

Very often the owner focuses on the concept, dishes, and staff and forgets about customers themselves. However, retaining customers and attracting new ones requires constant effort.

6. Multiple menus and pricing.

You need to exceed expectations in recipes, execute well portion control and price your food so that it helps you maximize your earnings.

7. Design of all materials, especially the menu.

It would be a big mistake to treat your menu as a simple list of food and drink items. Rather, this is part of your concept or even the soul of your business. So make sure to find good designers who can understand your concept and make your menu visually attractive.

8. Employee theft.

It could be a huge problem that damages your business until you reveal it and can find a way to eliminate it, completely or almost completely.

9. Bills and taxes.

A huge subject that deserves a separate article or even a few.:)

10. Guest Experience.

Today in the digital world you should be the first to see a bad review and make every effort to turn it into a neutral or a positive one. Customer reviews are a powerful tool to maximize your revenue if you learn to handle them properly.

In the coming days we are posting a few more articles to explore some of these areas in detail and show you the most efficient ways to avoid these pitfalls.

Pick the topics that you would like to discuss in-depth and write numbers in the comment below.

Not seeing something on the list but want to discuss it too? Write it in the comments