Restaurant Business Plans: Big Picture Thinking

The critical question for any restaurant operator to be asked is: “Are you working in your business or are you working on your business?” If you are working in your business, you are the cook if the cook doesn’t show; you are the bus boy if the bus boy calls in sick.

Working in your business means you aren’t working on your restaurant business plan. One is exclusive to the other. Working on your business means you are focusing on the long-term growth of your restaurant and includes: vision, mission and quality standards. Working on your restaurant business plan also means developing a continual stream of new products, personnel management, restaurant communications and restaurant marketing solutions.

Communications and marketing are at the cornerstone of building any business and the restaurant business is no exception. It has been my experience that while most restaurant operators are extremely astute when it comes to their customers, they are at a loss when it comes to restaurant business plans including the aspects of communications and marketing.

The most essential piece to your restaurant business plan, in terms of communications and marketing, is your menu design. Your menu design is the one employee who never gets tired, never calls in sick, never forgets to offer an item and never forgets the price. If your menu design is effective, it can bring in more restaurant profits from your customers more often, and get them to like it more.

An effective restaurant business plan requires that you spend a lot of time thinking about the menu design and to recognize when you need to outsource the work of restaurant marketing and communications. The sign of a truly wise business owner is one who understands his or her shortcomings and delegates the work to experts.