Running a business of any kind is a challenging feat, to say the least. While every industry has its triumphs and its fall backs, the importance of persevering and maintaining the passion must remain the primary focus. Without a passion for one’s business, the project can never be successful in the long run. One of the most gruelling and rewarding industries to build an empire under the umbrella of is the hospitality industry. Starting and running a restaurant is draining on every level imaginable. With 100-hour work weeks, dilemmas in the kitchen and at the diner’s tables, and the occasional culinary disaster (and everything else in between), keeping a restaurant afloat and thriving can be a taxing experience.
As with any business, restaurant owners must be responsible, accountable, enthusiastic, realistic, a dreamer, open to change, determined, and passionate (to name a few). Being a restaurant owner demands the ability to wear multiple hats – sometimes at all once. Empires in the restaurant industry have sprouted from passion projects, and have gone the distance because of the owner’s passion and drive to make their concept thrive. The restaurant business is brutal and extremely competitive, but it is also incredibly rewarding.
Opening night at a restaurant is often unprecedented chaos. With the first night of production for diners, staff getting used to the work environment, and consequent reviews happening all within a matter of hours, most – if not all – new restaurants experience the reality of running a business built on the foundations of hospitality in an intense atmosphere. It can be daunting and sometimes downright stressful, but if all goes well on opening night then the restaurant is likely to experience coming months (and hopefully years) of happy dinners, raving reviews, and an influx of financial and emotional wealth. The most successful restaurateurs in the industry all have one very important thing in common: the will to succeed, even when it all feels like it is starting to come apart at the seams.
Defining the concept of the restaurant is of vital importance. Opening a fine dining restaurant that has no clear direction or core concept can be damaging because restaurateurs often find themselves treading water, trying to stay float after the boat has already begun to fill with water. When the restaurant is a shell – even before any work even goes into constructing the interior and exterior, and creating the menu – this is where restaurateurs should be delving into the depths of what their restaurant stands for, so that by the time the restaurant opens there is a clear direction – without direction, ships sink. There is no use planning a course once the foundation is laid, the concept must be nailed down before any construction can begin. Opening and running a restaurant demands that owners and staff must be at the very least prepared for the unexpected, and confident in their ability to find solutions when the unexpected occurs.
Potential diners live in a world where everything centres around technology, and so they want to see the technology that they use being implemented in every experience, making their lives easier. Online ordering and reviews, kiosk menu browsing, and pay wave are just some of the tech advancements that restaurants have or are turning to to make their business venture excel and continue to succeed. Restaurants thrive on their own merit, yes, but they also thrive and flourish on word of mouth reviews. Most of us tend to go to new restaurants because people that we know have raved about them and recommended them so highly. In this regard, ensuring that the restaurant takes care of its diners to the highest standard is arguably the most important trait of a successful venture.
Owning and running a fine dining restaurant demands and takes a lot out of any person. To be able to turn an idea based on passion into a strong empire requires an innate sense of not only the concept that the restaurant centres around, but the things that make that restaurant unique. In a world where every single idea seems to be inspired by a concept that already exists, the way that a restauranteur approaches and runs their restaurant can set them apart and give them a distinctive edge over their competitors. Running a restaurant is a lucrative business, but it also requires consistent effort and grit to keep it thriving, not simply surviving (or worse, failing). In a world where food is considered a form of artistic expression, having a restaurant that amplifies that expression, and excels in customer service and implementation, will ensure that the restaurant is a staple in the community, and an empire for the ages.