Whether you’ve just expanded your restaurant business or even found a franchise opportunity that appealed to you, the service industry can prove to be a reliable, consistent, and quite lucrative venture. But as with any other industry, the restaurant sector is also incredibly competitive, and franchises can be particularly challenging to manage if you don’t have enough knowledge and experience. To help you turn this business venture into a success, here are some key considerations for running a restaurant franchise efficiently:
Research and development
If you’d like your restaurant business to grow, investing in continuous research and development will be crucial for success. This means experimenting with flavors and developing new dishes, reading more about the latest restaurant kitchen equipment, finding new techniques and practicing their implementation, or even traveling the world in an effort to find additional culinary inspiration. No matter what you decide to do, remember that innovation is absolutely essential, as it represents that one factor that interests and entices your customers, and encourages them to keep coming back for more.
Prime restaurant locations
Along with overlooked kitchen supplies and new, enticing dishes, the right location truly makes a franchise. Accessible locations with available parking that are suitable for your target audience while not coming with plenty of competition are the ideal solution for any restaurant. However, the areas themselves need to be attractive enough to potentially allure an ever wider customer base. If your franchise is situated in Los Angeles, for example, combining seaside locations with downtown restaurants can allow you to cover a wide range of potential audiences. Regardless of the specific city you’re in, similar central locations with plenty of traffic are bound to bring success.
Good customer service
Your restaurant franchise is unlikely to thrive without great customer service and positive feedback from your consumers. After all, it’s the exceptional service that brought you growth and expansion opportunities in the first place. So, try to invest more time in educating your staff and reinforcing core company values. Essential customer service skills such as patience, attentiveness, and friendliness should be the main priority for your staff. Attempt to create a more positive, supportive, and flexible workplace as well, to ensure your servers can stay efficient, listen actively, and solve issues easily, even with overly demanding customers.
Captivating interior design
Certain consumers appreciate the ambiance as much as great food and brilliant customer service. Australians, for instance, tend to choose restaurants with a captivating interior design over the most enjoyable food, as it makes them feel more comfortable and relaxed. That is why many local restaurants often equip their locations with bentwood chairs from Melbourne that perfectly complement charming rustic and bistro-style decors. Such a complete and captivating design is crucial for attracting a wider audience, and you should do the same for your franchise as well. This will give you the opportunity to ensure consistency and a unique appeal.
Quality and consistency
If you’ve ever wondered why famous American restaurant franchises are able to achieve such high levels of success, the answer is surprisingly simple – they are able to maintain the same quality throughout. No matter how difficult times may get, you should aim to do the same. High-quality food and consistency throughout the franchise are key to building confidence and respect among your consumers. Never cut corners on the freshness of your ingredients, partner only with the best suppliers, and aim to deliver the same quality and consistency in each restaurant in order to reach success.
Training and support
Apart from design and commercial architecture trends, you also need to focus on your staff. They are a valuable aspect of your business that keeps your franchise running like a well-oiled machine. For that reason, they deserve to be valued and appreciated. Aim to support your staff through feedback and encouragement, provide them with training and development opportunities regularly, and treat them like family. Not only will this create a healthier and more productive work environment, but it could also help to shape your brand image, making you more respected and trusted in your local communities.
Great marketing strategies
Marketing is another necessary aspect of the restaurant business that enables you to promote your franchise, increase profits, and potentially improve your operations as well. If you haven’t already, attempt to create a more comprehensive marketing strategy to reach higher levels of success. This means building a great website, posting relevant and interesting content that engages consumers, creating social media profiles and updating them regularly, reaching out to print and digital media, or even paying for advertisements online and in local publications.
Final comments
Running a restaurant business is never an easy task, especially when you’re responsible for a franchise with endless moving parts. But with enough preparation, new knowledge, and the helpful tips mentioned above, managing your restaurant franchise can be a more streamlined and successful process.
Written by Derek Lotts
