What is restaurant management?

Restaurant management is the day-to-day management of the business. It includes, but is not limited to, the following duties:

• Overseeing daily operations
• Managing workers
• Financial planning
• Planning company strategies
• Ensuring marketing strategies are working
• Managing the restaurant’s reputation

All of these duties are what make up a restaurant manager’s job and should be seen as important to both the job and the company.

Related: How to Manage Employees

Why restaurant management is important

When managing a restaurant it is important to have an in-depth understanding of the business and how it’s running. This is because a restaurant is a fast-paced environment and managers do not have a lot of time to be learning about the business and the restaurant industry as a whole.

Managers have to be able to learn every aspect of their job quickly so they are not falling behind during service or need to ask too many questions. Though they can spend some time training when the restaurant is slow, those moments are not enough for a restaurant manager to learn everything they need to know about the job.

Having good restaurant management is also important as it will help the business track performance. Tracking performance is when you note how busy the restaurant is and see what times during the week have the most successful service. This is important as it will help inform the manager as to how much staff is needed on a given shift.

Managing a restaurant requires expertise in customer service. This is important as the amount of business you get relies on providing good customer service. The better the manager is at customer service, the better the rest of the staff will be and the restaurant will be successful.

Good restaurant management is also important as the manager has a hand in every aspect of the business. Since the manager is so involved in all aspects of the business, they can have a big effect on the success of the restaurant. A good manager can mean that the restaurant is successful as they are able to keep up with everything that is needed for such a fast-paced environment.

For more on this, keep reading for our eight tips and tricks to managing a restaurant.

8 tips and tricks to managing a restaurant

Managing a restaurant is not easy. We’ve come up with eight tricks and tips that you can use to make the job a bit easier.

1. Be Consistent

Working at a restaurant means you have to be okay with working at a high speed, staying on your feet and always putting the customer first. This type of environment can be stressful for workers as there is a lot of pressure on them to not only work quickly but also, be perfect.

Having someone that is consistent when it comes to rules and how they deal with issues can allow staff to feel relaxed despite the busy environment. You need to be consistent with

• how you communicate
• how do you maintain rules
• what are your expectations 

By being consistent in these ways, you are providing good support for your staff so they do not have to worry about how things will be handled.

2. Be Proactive

Being proactive means that you are able to anticipate things before they happen. This is important in restaurant management as the restaurant needs to be functioning at a high level without stopping to fix problems. Due to the nature of the restaurant industry, you need to stay on your toes to keep up with the changes while at the same time providing good reliable service every day.

This means you need to be able to anticipate issues before they arise. A good restaurant manager will always look to the future when planning for the following:

• staffing needs
• menu changes
• marketing campaigns
• food and supplies inventory
• customer trends

Staying proactive in these areas will mean you will have a well-run restaurant that can always keep up with customers’ needs.

3. Prioritize Staff Retention

Having the same staff in a restaurant is extremely important, especially when it comes to the back of house. The chefs and line cooks are crucial to how good the food is, so you want as much retention there as possible. Being able to produce a good plate of food for each customer each day will require very talented and loyal chefs, so make sure to prioritize retaining them.

All staff should be very well trained so that they can do their jobs without having to ask you questions. For example, if a customer has a question about the menu, you want your wait staff to be able to answer the question without having to run back to the kitchen to ask the chef.

Related: How to Build an Effective Coaching Culture

This is because the chef should not have to stop what they’re doing in order to answer a question about the menu. This could disrupt the service, which is never a good thing in the restaurant business.

In order to avoid having to train people all the time, prioritizing staff retention is a very important aspect of good restaurant management. Also, the hiring and training process can be expensive, so try to keep your staff happy so that they stick around for the long haul.

4. Customer Experience is Everything

Make sure to always keep an eye on customer satisfaction. Try to spend a few shifts a week simply interacting with customers and watch them as they interact with your staff as well. There is a lot you can learn about their satisfaction simply by observing how they react to the atmosphere and food.

By observing your customers you can come up with ways to improve the client experience. Remember that customer experience is a combination of ambiance, cleanliness(especially bathroom), friendly staff, unique food and not having to wait too long to be seated. If any of these aspects are lacking, think of ways to improve them so that the overall experience is always stellar.

5. Take Word of Mouth Seriously

Having clients recommend your food to their family and friends can make a huge difference in the number of customers who come to your restaurant. Make sure that you are taking this aspect of the business seriously so that you do not miss out on gaining new clients.

One way to do this is by getting good customer reviews. People will try a restaurant if it has good customer reviews as they trust those people to tell the truth about their experience.

If you do not have many customer reviews, try doing a promotion where people who post a review on your website or social media will get a free appetizer on their next visit. This will boost the number of reviews you have while at the same time bring customers back. Both of which are very positive things for a restaurant.

6. Invest In Advertising

Making an investment in advertising can be very beneficial for the overall revenue of the company. With restaurants, you will need ways of getting your brand out to the public so having advertisements to help with this.

One of the best ways to do this is through social media. Having someone to help with social media can bring in new customers to your restaurant, which is always something to strive for.

A social media specialist can make sure that your posts are relevant to the market and will bring new eyes to your brand. Investing in something like this means that you have more time for other parts of your job which is important when running a restaurant.

7. Learn to Delegate

Though this can be difficult to do, learning how to delegate some of your responsibilities is important when managing a restaurant. You want the restaurant to be able to function properly when you’re not there so that you can take time off without worrying about what is going on at work.

A lot of restaurant managers allow themselves to get run down as they work whenever the restaurant is open, which could be up to seven days a week. Not being able to rest and take care of yourself is not good for you and not good for the company. You will not be functioning at your best if you do not take care of yourself so make sure to take breaks when needed.

8. Get a Mentor

Having a mentor can help motivate you when you are feeling overwhelmed by the pace of the restaurant business. Being a manager of a restaurant is not easy, so having someone you can talk to about the business can be extremely helpful.

A mentor can be a good sounding board for issues and may give you a different perspective on a particular problem. They can also help inspire you as you will be able to see the ways in which they are successful and emulate that.

When managing a restaurant there are a lot of different things you have to take care of. Hopefully, these tips and tricks will help you bring success to your business.