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Ready to Open your Restaurant?
Opening your restaurant can be a dream come true. You have done everything you can think of to get ready for opening day. You have trained your staff and you’re ready to open your doors to the general public. Before you actually open, there are a few final things to think of. It will make it easier for you to provide a flawless level of service to all of the restaurant patrons.
Invest in Technology
You may be surprised by the amount of technology that is available for today’s restaurants. Various tech tools can go a long way to making sure that your restaurant runs smoothly. You can save a lot of money and get the help where you need it the most.
Implementing a POS system in a restaurant is one of the most important technologies for you to embrace. It makes it easier for employees to get the orders into the kitchen. You don’t want to run the risk of cooks not being able to read someone’s handwriting. Plus, the POS systems can provide you with a large number of reports. You can learn what your revenue is by day, what the most popular dishes are, and much more.
Test Employee Knowledge
In order to provide the best level of customer service, you need to make sure that your employees know what they are doing. Front of house and back of house employees need to have their knowledge tested before you let them run everything on their own. Do the cooks know how to cook the various menu items using the proper portion sizes? Do the servers know what types of alcohol you have behind the bar? Do the hosts know the table numbers? These are all things you want to sort out before you open the doors to your restaurant.
Schedule a Soft Opening
Scheduling a soft opening can be the best way to have a trial run. With a soft opening, you open your restaurant to family and friends only. It’s a chance for everyone to do their job without the pressure of getting negative reviews. If there are major issues, such as food taking too long or servers not being able to answer guest questions, you can address them. You can decide how long you want your soft opening to last before you begin promoting that you’re open to the general public.
Manage Reviews
Start managing online reviews from day one. Many people wait to see that there are reviews on Facebook, Yelp, and other sites before they choose to eat at a restaurant. You may want to get friends, family, and even food critics to visit during the soft opening so that you can start getting reviews up online. From there, be sure that you regularly check for reviews. If there are negative reviews anywhere, learn from them. After all, if a large number of people are complaining about a particular issue, it is likely an issue that you can fix.
When you decide to open a restaurant, it’s important to do so in an organized fashion. Investing in technology and making sure that you’re ready for the grand opening are critical to your success.
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