Guide to run a restaurant

Ultimately, any restaurateur has to have a passion for food, wine, people, and service if they are to succeed.

Essential guide to run a restaurant, lets start with:

Property;

There’s a lot more to acquiring a new restaurant than simply waiting for another to close. While this remains a workable approach in some parts of the world, both first time restaurateurs and expanding groups that want to set up shop in prime areas need to be considerably more proactive these days. In general, there are two main things to consider when looking for property; whether its style and size is suitable and whether the location is right.

Location is key Choosing the right location is probably the most difficult decision you will have to make as a restaurateur. Its location will not only dictate the cost but also have a potentially huge impact on whether it is a success, so getting it right is essential. To ensure you pick the right location it is vital to first understand what it is your restaurant needs. A large brasserie will require sitting in a high footfall area while a more modest project can be located in a quieter – and cheaper – location. A high-end venture might not need to rely on passing trade but its postcode and clientèle will be important. Thus, there is no such thing as the perfect location, just the perfect location for a specific business.

Know your area Knowing where to open a restaurant requires more than rudimentary knowledge of a particular area. Some operators will stand outside a site before signing on
the lease, looking at the people that walk past during key trading times and asking themselves how likely each one is to visit the restaurant. Understanding nearby businesses and their workers’ eating patterns is equally useful, as is knowing what the competition is like. If an area is empty on a mid-week lunchtime, alarm bells should be ringing.

Footfall isn't everything Yet not every restaurant needs footfall. Generally speaking, the more special occasion driven a restaurant is the less it will rely on a steady stream of potential customers because the majority of its tables will be pre-booked. For some ambitious restaurants a remote location makes sense as space is comparatively cheap and the pilgrimage to the restaurant becomes part of the dining experience. The winding journey to famed Spanish restaurant El Bulli has always been part of its charm, for example.

In northern Sweden, Fäviken lays claim to being among the most isolated restaurants on the planet (it has the same latitude as Iceland) but still manages to fill its tables due to its gastronomic status – it is a regular on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list.

Fäviken Restaurant in Northern Sweden

The ‘off pitch’ approach In the face of unaffordable premiums, high rents and poor availability, some operators with suitable concepts are going ‘off-pitch’, essentially taking sites in low-footfall, non-obvious locations. Some restaurateurs have almost single-handedly turned around an area off the back of an off-pitch location. In 1999 New York restaurateur Keith McNally opened French/US bistro Pastis in the city’s then decidedly unglamorous Meatpacking District. Today, Meatpacking is one of Manhattan’s hottest restaurant locations.

Back in 2011, casual dining brand MEATliquor was formed after taking a rather insalubrious site underneath a car park by London’s Oxford Street. The space was in poor condition and had been rejected by a number of other restaurant groups, not least because there was only two years on the lease with the landlord planning to knock down the building and start again. However, the low cost of the site and its cheap rent made it a very attractive location to launch a new business.

Life before bricks and mortar MEATliquor started life in a van serving burgers in pub car parks and is one of many street food businesses worldwide to have made the transition from mobile catering to bricks and mortar. Operating a food truck is not only a cost-effective way of assessing whether your concept has legs and whether there is a demand for your food, it can also help you scope out potential locations with minimal investment. Having a proven street food business can even attract investors when you look to go permanent.

LA-based Korean-American chef Roy Choi has become one of the most trendy chefs in the US off the back of his ‘Korexican’ food truck Kogi. Soup and a sandwich concept Tom + Chee, meanwhile, was founded in a tent outside a Cincinnati ice rink in 2009 and now operates 12 sites with an additional 150 units running under a franchise agreement. Its current success can arguably be put down to its early street food approach to business.

Chef Roy Choi and his his ‘Korexican’ food truck Kogi.

Does the site work? Operating as a food truck also gives valuable insight into how a business needs to operate before you invest in a property. For first-time restaurateurs knowing this is essential, as only then can they correctly assess whether a potential site is suitable.

Common mistakes include failing to properly check planning regulations, meaning that permission for vital kit such as extraction isn't granted, rendering the site useless. If you’re relying on outside space, have you checked with the correct authorities that you can serve food and drink outside. If not, a huge revenue stream could be put at risk.

Can you afford it? The final question you need to ask yourself about any site is one of funds. Property costs often take in premiums, landlord fees, business rates and other expenses – you’ll need to factor what this all means initially and then on a monthly basis, and calculate how much revenue you’ll need to make to cover these costs (as well as food, energy and staffing costs). A site’s affordability should be based on whether you can cover the costs even if you've had a bad month. If you can’t, you could find yourself having to seek additional funding, often at great cost.

Guide to site selection

Do...

Check planning regs There are horror stories of newcomers buying sites with no hope of planning permission for necessities, effectively rendering the space useless. Speak to planners prior to signing a lease
Go in with a watertight business plan Landlords won’t take you seriously unless you have a detailed business plan. A good plan will consider pitfalls and opportunities and outline best and worst case scenarios
Consider why the restaurant is for sale Do a background check to ensure that the previous business didn’t close for a reason that might impact on your chances of success
Research the area Count the footfall of passing trade, not just on a busy weekend but on a Monday lunchtime to gauge your potential customer base
Think off the beaten path Popular high street locations might be a nobrainer but you could get more bang for your buck on a cheaper street
Assess the competition Not all competition is bad – a restaurant destination can bring in the customers – but if there’s already two or three places doing what you do then you might want to reconsider
Be bold Sometimes you just need to go with a hunch on a location. Don’t be scared to do so.

Don’t ...

Go it alone It’s worth paying for expert advice from someone that knows the property game. A small misunderstanding of the terms of a deal can mean the difference between profit and loss
Forget alcohol licensing Strict alcohol laws, in particular in UK and many US states and Middle Eastern countries, can be prohibitive. It pays to know the rules
Overreach If it’s your first restaurant project don’t jump in with a 300-seat beast. Smaller restaurants are more readily available, less costly to buy, cheaper to run and easier to fill
Undercapitalise One of the main reasons restaurateurs go under soon after opening is that they don’t keep enough money aside to deal with the uncertainties that come with running a restaurant. Always keep something back
Undertake structural work lightly Significant changes to a site – ie moving a staircase or kitchen – can be considerably more costly than you might first think
Just rely on an agent’s advice Remember, a property agent has a vested interest in selling you a site
Panic buy Don’t take a site just because you can’t find something more suitable.

Design

A well planned dining room can increase customer numbers

The way your restaurant looks speaks volumes about what customers can expect, but don’t sacrifice functionality for style!

Designing an incredible dining room can be one of the most fun and exciting parts of opening a restaurant, but it is also one of the most important. How you choose to do it will not only have an immediate impact on your wallet, but it will remain constant throughout the running of the operation. Menus can change at the drop of a hat and staff will ebb and flow, but the design of the dining room is more long term. Getting it wrong can prove not just costly but fatal.

Separate form from function When considering the design of a restaurant it’s essential to think about its form and function separately and work out what you want from each. A great looking restaurant might be a pain for staff to manage, which could affect service time and quality, while a meticulously thought out restaurant from a staffing point of view may leave customers cold.

The first step to good design, therefore, is understanding the requirements of the space, such as what the restaurant is and how many times you want to turn tables. This might sound a premature consideration, but how long you want diners to dwell in a place – whether it be a fine dining restaurant or an all-day diner – will have an impact on everything from the type of seats you buy and the lighting you use to the size of doorways and the space required for a bar and reception area.

These considerations will form part of the design brief a restaurant operator gives
to their designers. A good brief should include the target customer in terms of age and demographic, average spend and the speed of service you require, as design can impact on all of these. Working with an architect will help you achieve these goals, but never assume a contractor understands the hospitality business. An architect wants the building to look nice but it also needs to be practical, functional and, importantly, easy for staff to serve people and take money.

Setting a budget Whether you've got £50,000 or £5m to spend, if you don’t budget properly you’ll be in trouble. Architects and designers will always spend your budget, so if you've miscalculated on certain areas you might find yourself scratching around for additional funds. There’s no rigid rule on spend per sq ft but between £120 and £220 per sq ft is a good starting point. First-time restaurateurs should be looking to spend no more than £150 per sq ft.

Thankfully, with the ‘worn look’ being the current restaurant style of choice, restaurateurs are finding this figure is easily achievable. However, don’t be fooled into thinking you can use cheap materials as a result of this fashion. Integral fixtures, such as floor, walls, bars and toilets, shouldn't require replacing for at least 10 years so need to be made from solid materials.

Merely stripping the walls back to bare bricks because everyone else is doing it isn't reason enough to do so !

You should also have a contingency plan in place for over spend, with around 15% on construction costs and 15% on overall project costs. And keep these costs to yourself, otherwise your builder and designer are likely to factor those into the overall equation as well.

Having integrity Designers talk a lot about achieving ‘truth’ in a design, which comes in many forms. Whether it’s the nostalgic style used across the Fu group of restaurants in Shanghai, which are located in historical buildings; the turn of the century, European feel of Corbin and King’s stunning London restaurants; or the rough ‘n’ ready look of Brooklyn establishments, a good design has to be believable and not just a facsimile of what is already out there. Merely stripping the walls back to bare bricks just because everyone else is doing it isn't reason enough to do so – any such approach should tally with the overall feel of a restaurant. Whatever the spend, and whatever style, customers are now more concerned with integrity than how much something might have cost.

Working with a building’s architecture and surroundings can help with this integrity. From cornicing and Victorian fireplaces to poured concrete and exposed ducting, a building’s integral features, and what you do with them, can vary widely, so it’s important to know what you want to achieve. A cool reconciliation of period features and modern trends is, say designers, the Holy Grail.

Choose fittings carefully Furniture choice is also important. A badly planned restaurant with 100 seats could possibly only serve 80 guests if the table sizes aren't matched to the average party size, ie only seat six or eight and can’t be moved apart. A well planned restaurant, with 80 seats could serve 150 guests if tables could be moved together.

Furniture also influences the speed of customer turnover. Very comfortable seating should only be used when a restaurant wants to encourage customers to linger or to draw them away from another area in order to free up space.

And don’t forget acoustics. While the current fashion for bare walls, wooden flooring and marble work all help create that sought-after brasserie buzz, they can add to interior noise pollution and are not always conducive to a relaxed conversation. The Oxford Hearing Centre, which offers independent advice on all aspects of hearing, suggests the use of tablecloths and soft furnishings and wall art to absorb excessive noise.

Back of house vs front of house While the overall feel of the dining room is likely to be the key focus for a restaurateur, they neglect back of house areas at their peril. With staffing shortages an issue on a global scale, and with the nature of the job meaning that staff regularly move around the sector, being able to hold onto your workforce is becoming increasingly challenging. Many companies look to wages and additional benefits as ways of retaining staff, but the design of the restaurant can also play a part.

Dos & Don’ts

Do...

Take inspiration Successful designers are magpies, taking ideas from other areas – restaurants or otherwise – and repurposing them for their own use
Consider your staff and business A well designed restaurant should first meet the needs of your business and your staff. Only then can you look after your customers properly
Have a clear business plan and budget and stick to it Any overspend at this early stage could have a long-term knock-on effect on your business and is the reason why many restaurants fail before getting off the ground
Achieve truth in your design Take advantage of historic features and play to a building’s existing strengths.
Think about longevity A dining room sees a lot of action – it needs to be built to last
Understand your space requirements This should drive your design. Trying to create an intimate experience in a 200-cover restaurant is likely to end in failure
Be creative This is your one chance to make your restaurant stand out from the pack. Don’t blow it by being humdrum

Don’t ...

Neglect comfort Hard or stylish surfaces or furnishing should not be used at the expense of comfort – unless you want a very quick table turn
Scrimp on the boring stuff Cutting corners on extraction and lay-out in order to buy an eye-popping centrepiece isn't a good investment
Copy Bare-faced imitation isn't a form of flattery, it will wind up your peers and make your customers feel suspicious
Reveal your hand Keep some money in reserve and off the plans, otherwise your designer and architect will no doubt spend it
Forget acoustics How a place sounds is as important as how it looks. A fine dining restaurant might use textures such a tablecloths and carpets to absorb sound, a brasserie will have bare tables and floors
Go for form over function Your staff won’t appreciate it and neither will your customers if you have a beautiful dining room that is impossible to manage
Overlook the toilets/restrooms They might be an afterthought but they should still reflect the dining room. People want comfort during their comfort break

Recruitment

Happy staff are less likely to leave you!

Recruiting and maintaining a great team requires constant vigilance. Here’s how to tackle it

Recruit whether you need to or not, because when you need somebody it’s too late. That’s the advice you’ll hear time and time again from restaurant groups. You should be looking at CVs every day and making time to see the person who pops in and says, ‘have you got any jobs?’. A restaurant should always be looking at strengthening its team.

If that makes staffing seem like the crucial factor in a restaurant’s success, then arguably it is. Without high-quality staff, a restaurant is nothing – you can have a great concept, amazing food and the sexiest design, but without staff who can knit that whole experience together your restaurant will underachieve.

Calculating your wage bill Obviously, different styles of operation require teams of varying sizes with differing skills, but your wage bill should usually fall within a range of 24% (fast food) to 35% (fine dining) of projected total costs. In terms of salaries – internationally, highest in the Nordic countries and Australia – most observers agree that the days of restaurants paying minimum wage are fading fast. Even in the grab ‘n’ go sector, the best employers now pay staff starting salaries above minimum wage, while in major cities such as London, Hong Kong and New York a shortage of kitchen talent means that new operators are increasingly poaching chefs from rivals with outlandish salaries.

Although the restaurant industry tends to attract a lot of transient staff – particularly

for front of house roles – many people don’t want to move around and are instead looking for a great working environment, of which salary plays a major part. Whether directly through the pay packet or more commonly through site-specific bonus schemes, it is worth first researching what your competitors are paying and, as you design your concept, planning how you might pay your staff marginally higher wages or offer other benefits.

There’s more to work than money Salary is not the only factor: employers are looking to reduce the hours kitchen staff work. Some are even taking the decision to close on very lucrative days such as Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day as a form of staff incentive. This decision can hit the bottom line in terms of turnover, but giving staff time off for important family occasions can be a huge motivational tool that will help the business run smoothly throughout the rest of the year.

If you’re unsure about what benefits staff would find the most attractive and motivational, then don’t be afraid to do some casual research. Knowing what makes your workforce tick – ie shorter shifts, better pay, staff rewards – can really help incentive them and make them feel genuinely valued.

In terms of front-of-house staff, companies need to demonstrate evidence of good ongoing training opportunities, both in food and beverage and management skills, and provide clear paths of promotion for the many graduates who now view hospitality as a long-term career.

When it comes to advertising vacancies, the best advice is do everything. The obvious stuff is productive: promoting vacancies in-store and on your website; advertising in the trade media and on online hospitality jobs boards; exploiting social media channels; and using free online ad sites. The more noise you make about a vacancy the better, and not just the job itself but also the benefits that come with it.

Referrals are king The most productive external recruitment tool – referrals from existing staff – is one that new operators will not be able to access. It is essential, however, that growing brands introduce effective systems to both advertise jobs internally and incentivise staff to recommend people.

The selection process for front of house staff usually involves an initial CV cull; a first-stage of telephone or face-to face interviews; a second interview in a group or role-play situation, observed by managers; and often test-shifts (where that is legal; it tends not to be in unionised territories). Some UK restaurant chains put candidates through a day of group games to test their interaction with others, while it is common practice for groups across the world to take over college kitchens and put pre-selected kitchen applicants through their paces.

At fine dining level, finding staff with relevant experience can be an issue. However, outside of that rarefied fine dining world, and certainly for junior staff, operators rarely demand previous experience. A lot of how the industry recruits staff is based on attitude.

Train to gain In fact, there has been a huge shift in recent years to intensive training of new recruits, using a blend of initial classroom work followed by extended in-job training. In Hong Kong, celebrated restaurateur Harlan Goldstein uses the promise of training and career progression to attract and retain candidates. “You've really got to try to work with the staff to get them on a career path or training programme as well as offer good benefits so that they have clear progression,” he says
Goldstein, who operates restaurants including Penthouse by Harlan Goldstein, doesn't tend to advertise for jobs but uses word of mouth and tries to employ from within his existing teams. In any city, the hospitality industry is a small community and good word-of-mouth is a crucial recruitment tool, he believes.

If you are determined to find the right candidates – and you should be – then recruitment goes beyond simply placing a job ad on social media, sitting back and hoping for the best. It starts back at concept design and thinking about how your space can be staff friendly, and continues long after launch.

Do's & Don’t

Do...

Research your competitors Knowing what restaurants around you are paying their staff is useful when calculating what to offer new recruits
Invest in training It might seem like unnecessary expenditure, but staff who feel valued are more likely to stay with you, thus reducing your recruitment costs
Offer key personnel a stake in the business As an incentive to put the hours in, there’s nothing like having ownership of a business
Advertise everywhere The more noise you make about a vacant position the better
Promote a long-term career potential Offering job security and progression can be the single biggest incentive for staff looking to get on the career ladder
Team up with local colleges/ universities for staff Places of education are often a fertile ground for new recruits
Consider staffing from the outset Factoring in staffing costs and numbers, rotas and service style at an early stage in your restaurant planning can really help the recruitment process

Don’t ...

Underestimate the power of word of mouth Peer to peer recommendation is a powerful thing and can bring some great recruits into your business
Pass up decent workers because the position is already filled If a brilliant candidate comes your way, look to create a role for them in your business. Don’t let them go
Just look for experience Personality and a positive, friendly attitude can be equally, if not more, important in the hospitality industry
Rely on cash as an incentive Staff respond to more things than money these days – offering job security, flexible working hours, holidays and other benefits will make your business more attractive to prospective workers
Only look for staff when you need them Keep one eye out for decent workers at all times, even if you have no jobs available – you never know when you’ll need them
Overlook internal promotion In some restaurant groups up to 70% of positions filled for a new opening come from existing staff members, meaning you often don’t have to cast the net too wide

Technology

An integral part of your business plan needs to be your digital strategy. If it’s not, you risk getting left behind.

Technology such as an effective EPoS system is critical to the smooth running of a restaurant, but it pays to understand exactly what you need... and what you don’t

Anyone looking to open a restaurant these days almost needs to be as technologically savvy as they are operationally, such is the glut of digital innovation that has hit the hospitality market in recent years. From pay at table apps to tablet ordering and queuing systems, there’s a gizmo for practically every part of a restaurant’s operation these days.

Knowing which technology to choose, therefore, and identifying that which can bring tangible benefits to your business rather than just looking cool can be rather tricky. While the allure to be seen as an early adopter might be strong, the purchase of systems that don’t deliver what they promise can prove very costly.

The growing role of technology One obstacle that some restaurateurs still need to overcome when considering technology is the belief that it has no place in the hospitality industry. There’s always been a debate in the industry that technology is not important, because restaurants are about people. But technology allows people to do their jobs to the highest possible standard, and to do it consistently.

Knowing your business Before buying any technology, the first thing you must consider is how your customers will interact with your restaurant. While in the past this may have been a secondary consideration, it should now form an essential part of the decision making process, and, the jumping off point should be an EPoS system.

If you’re opening a fast casual restaurant you might want people to order at the counter but also have staff go round tables with a handheld system to take additional drink or dessert orders. A fine dining venue might want to use tablets for wine lists while a coffee shop might opt for a system whereby customers can order a second cup of coffee using their phone so as not to lose their seat.

Deciding what you need Knowing which kit you need is only half the battle – you’ll still need to decide on other aspects such as after sales care. Restaurant technology can be broken down into a number of pillars, including hardware, software and support. When choosing hardware only buy what you need. Most restaurants require the basics, an EPoS machine with a cash drawer, credit card machine and receipt printer and maybe a kitchen display system to help chefs with orders. After that, consider carefully what else you’ll require. Don’t buy too much kit. You can always add but it’s more difficult to return something you don’t use. I go into many restaurants and see a till that’s redundant.

Another thing restaurateurs should avoid is getting technology to do everything from the get-go. You might want your EPoS for loyalty programmes, stock control and to have a labour function, but having it do it all these from day one often isn't helpful. These components can really help your business over the long-term, but when you’re opening a restaurant, you've got a lot to worry about. Be prepared to expand your system as you grow – don’t expect to do it all at once.

Tech support should also be considered. Companies offer support for anything from office hours up to 24 hours a day, the latter often being very expensive. In most cases a problem can be solved in office hours, so if there’s an issue at the end of the day it can be addressed first thing, so don’t shell out for more support than you actually need.

Don’t forget the training Another key issue with technology is ensuring staff have the requisite training to use it properly. Systems training is often an after-thought, Some suppliers
don’t include it in their initial quote and then charge a lot for it. It’s essential that you factor it in – if nobody in your business understands the system, then your support calls escalate and service starts to suffer. Work out a training plan – does the system have training modes that staff can practice on?

Technology always moves forward A sensible purchase is one that takes into account future trends and how quickly systems can be replicated in new venues. With growing demand for takeaway or delivery options, for example, and the shift away from chip and pin payment to mobile devices, restaurants should be adopting technology that will work with future innovation rather than be superseded by it. An integral part of your business plan needs to be your digital strategy, If it’s not, you risk getting left behind.

Mobile reporting app

The most important thing with your EPoS is to not limit yourself. When opening one site, a mobile reporting app might not seem that important because you can see what people are ordering. As soon as you open a second site, you’re not there half the time and you’ll really value that app. The same with delivery and takeaway – what are you going to do next year and can it be done without replacing your system? That’s what you need to think about.

kitting out your restaurant

Dos & Don’ts

Do...

Consider your restaurant’s needs before buying Understanding your customer’s behaviour is essential when deciding what technology you need, and what you don’t
Think about ongoing support Having a system in place for when things go wrong is important, but avoid forking out for levels of support you won’t need
Train staff properly You can have all the bells and whistles you want, but if staff can’t use your sparkling new piece of kit then it’s effectively redundant
Keep an eye on future trends Will your tech be compatible with future innovation? Will it work with systems that allow delivery or mobile payments? If not, then it could be costly a few years down the line
Take into account restaurant layout Different floors and areas might mean you need more than one EPoS terminal, but don’t invest in numerous terminals just for the sake of it
Have an open mind Technology can bring major benefits so be open to what it can offer your business
Consider millenials Millenials – also known as Generation Y – are tech-savvy consumers that tend to embrace modern technology in social environments such as restaurants

Don’t ...

Over buy It is easy to add more equipment when necessary, but harder to take it away
Try and meet all your requirements at once A new POS system doesn’t have to manage stock, loyalty, labour and everything else from day one
Think that technology isn’t for the hospitality sector Technology might never replace human interaction, but it often enhances it
Buy technology for technology’s sake If it doesn’t add value to the business or the customer experience then don’t buy it – however cool it looks
Get sucked into unnecessary extended warranties Most technology is built to last these days, so don’t fork out for extra cover unless it’s absolutely critical
Overlook your key customer base With an ageing population in many countries of the world, ensure that any technology you introduce is consumer friendly, however old your typical customer is
Just think of your one site How technology can be installed into future openings should be a key consideration

Kitchen kit

You need to invest in good quality kit. It gives you piece of mind

The kitchen is the engine room of any restaurant, so it’s essential you kit it out correctly

Whether your kitchen’s the size of an Olympic swimming pool or just one of its changing rooms, making the most of its space is essential. A well thought out and functional kitchen will ensure your chefs are happy – and a happy chef is a productive one.

With so much kitchen equipment to choose from and so many decisions to make (do you go for gas or induction cookers, use multi-functional equipment or buy separate kit for each job?) the best place to start is by understanding the needs of your restaurant in terms of menu and number of covers and how you can fulfil those needs.

Clearly there is certain kit that will be part of most commercial kitchens, predominantly a combi-oven, deep fat fryers, a cooking range, ware-washers and refrigeration and freezing equipment. Yet there are numerous things to consider when buying even these most obvious of items.

Size is everything One common mistake when buying equipment is choosing something that won’t be powerful enough to meet your needs a few years down the line. This doesn't mean you should be buying ovens or washers three times the size you require, as they will inevitably cost more to run and dramatically increase your bills, but you should factor in potential growth. If you don’t, you’ll be left wanting during busy periods and could be forced to upgrade earlier than expected.

Calculating the size kit you need will vary depending on its function. For ware-washers, you should ensure the model reflects the amount of crockery or glasses that will need to be washed during your busiest period, while fridges should be capacious enough to easily hold sufficient stock – overloading will greatly hamper its efficiency and cause the fan to burn out prematurely. With deep fat fryers, on the other hand, avoid the temptation to buy big as most of the food cooks in the top two inches of the oil meaning that too large a fryer will be costly in heating up unused oil.

Food comes first Another common mistake chefs often make when considering which equipment to buy is being beguiled by the latest innovations. While kit such as water baths are often seen as ‘must haves’ in the sector it’s no use forking out large sums for them if you’re not actually going to use them.

A kitchen’s equipment should also be based on a restaurant’s menu, both present and future, rather than the equipment dictating what the food should be. Don’t fall into the trap of incorporating sous vide into your menu, for example, just because you've bought a water bath and vac pac machine.

Energy efficiency is key Kitchens are notorious energy users and the industry should be doing its bit for the environment by sourcing the most energy efficient equipment it can. Being green isn't high on most chefs’ list of priorities, however, but saving money should be – choosing energy efficient equipment means you can help save the environment as well as help your bank balance.

By opting for induction over gas cookers significant savings can be made as induction hobs are typically 90% efficient compared with hot plates (55%) and gas hobs (50%). This is because while gas cooking heats up the pan and its surrounding area, induction generates heat in the pan itself rather than the cooking area.

This has other benefits too. By only heating up the pan, induction makes for a cooler and more pleasant kitchen which, as well as creating a nice place to work, also saves on the cost of air conditioning or ventilation.

Energy efficient kit may involve a bigger initial outlay – low water pass-through dishwashers and greener refrigerators often cost more than their less efficient cousins – but shelling out less at the start could be a false economy. Kit such as ware-washers should last at least 10 years so the lower running costs of a more efficient piece of kit, including less detergent, water and electricity use, will pay in the long-term.

Form and function While most kit is selected on what it can do, there are other things to bear in mind when picking a model that suits. Kit that is difficult to clean should be avoided, so look for any obvious dirt traps. Also consider how it is put together. When buying a refrigerator, for example, there’s often a choice between one with either a top or bottom mounted condenser. Top-mounted fridges are good because the condenser’s lofty position makes it less likely to pull in clogging material such as dust, but it can draw in grease-laden steam instead if located near a cooking line. The general rule of thumb is that top-mounted fridges are better suited for dry store areas while bottom-mounted models suit hotter areas of the kitchen.

Also, there’s little point having an all-singing, all-dancing piece of kit that works fine until your head chef goes on holiday and the rest of the brigade haven’t a clue how to use it. New kit must be suitable for everyone to use easily and properly, so look for the latest systems with simple push-button technology, as well as those that have easy-to-use touch-screens and tutorials. With the kitchen increasingly becoming a multinational hub, training material should come in a number of languages.

And don’t underestimate the value of good after-care and servicing. Heavy duty equipment such as ovens and dishwashers are put through their paces on an hourly basis and are inevitably going to break down at some point – usually when you need them the most. You should be safe in the knowledge that the brand you've bought has comprehensive after-sales support, including holding a good stock of spare parts and consumables (such as water filters) and can arrange ‘preventative planned maintenance’ service contracts on equipment.

The last thing you need when your combi-oven explodes mid-service is to be put through to a call centre

Kit parade: choosing the best equipment

Dos & Don’ts

Do...

Ask, do I really need it? Kitchens across the world are littered with equipment that seemed like a good idea at the time, but now sits unused and unloved
Phone a friend Before splashing out £10,000 on the latest bit of kitchen wizardry, speak with chefs who already use the equipment to get their opinion. Also, go and see the coveted kit in action
Make it staff proof New kit should be suitable for everyone to use, so look for the latest systems that make use of simple push-button technology. Also ensure that any kitchen training material is multilingual
Ensure it’s easy to clean Having to employ a specialist team of contortionists or people with small hands to clean your kit is not cool
Buy well known models Not only are they likely to last longer but their parts will be readily available
Build a dummy version first Mapping out a kitchen in a suitable space will show you instantly whether its workable in practice rather than just on paper
Get your team involved They’ll be the ones cooking in it, so it’s good to get their feedback so that they feel they have ownership of the space

Don’t ...

Be afraid to ask about the kit Good manufacturers will be able to provide reliable output figures and running costs for their equipment
Underestimate your requirements Too small kit will play havoc with your business during peak periods and could have a major impact on your restaurant’s performance
Buy big for the sake of it Using only a small part of any kit is inefficient. Is that extra large oven taking up valuable space that could be put to better use?
Think short-term Advances in technology mean you need one eye on the future if you want to avoid your kit becoming obsolete a few years down the line. Check if kit can be upgraded with new software when the time comes
Forget about after care Having good after sales support could save you in a crisis – you don’t want to be put through to a call centre mid busy service
Just go for looks Beautiful looking equipment might be easy on the eye, but if it’s not easy to clean as well then things could soon turn ugly
Buy inefficient equipment They might be cheaper in the short-term, but you’ll end up paying for them in terms of utility bills and other running costs

Reservations

How to sweat your assets without losing friends and alienating people

It nearly goes without saying but efficiently managing the flow of diners that (hopefully) want to visit your restaurant is perhaps the single most important aspect of being a restaurateur. Those that can manage tables effectively will be rewarded with happy customers, happy staff and full coffers, while those that don’t will end up with a dining room that’s hopelessly busy one hour and deathly quiet the next.

The no reservations revolution Perhaps the best place to start is to consider whether you need a reservations system at all. No bookings restaurants are becoming increasingly popular in the Western world, particularly in larger cities. Such restaurants tend to be casual in style and low in price point – think pizza joints and burger bars – but recently more ambitious restaurants have started to realise that scrapping bookings can maximise revenue because– assuming you’re popular enough to have a queue – tables are never left empty.

There has been some backlash, however, with some diners irritated they can’t book and have to queue. Some restaurants compromise by allowing customers to book at lunchtimes or allowing large tables to book. Le Chateaubriand in Paris allows tables to be booked between 6pm and 9pm but after that it’s a free-for-all, while Balthazar in New York books out most of its tables but leaves the bar area for those without reservations.

Managing capacity effectively If you do take bookings the primary objective is to make sure your restaurant’s capacity is being maximised while simultaneously ensuring that neither back

of house or the dining room becomes overwhelmed. Kitchens that cook fresh food from scratch will likely collapse if the whole dining room is allowed to order at the same time, so restaurants generally stagger bookings at set intervals during busy shifts.

Some restaurants sweat their assets in the evening with a split-sitting: the service period is divided into two with one early and one late sitting. At some venues this can work very effectively, especially in major cities where a good proportion of diners won’t mind eating late into the evening. The drawback is that it’s harder to stagger the bookings within a small window, which can put pressure on front of house and, especially, the back of house team.

Customers that visit a restaurant for a special occasion won’t take too kindly to being given a time limit. If you do set one, make it clear from the point of booking that you will need the table back later in the evening. An alternative to split sitting is to offer a cheaper and quicker menu before the busy part of the evening.

Choosing the right tools Bookings can be taken in person, by telephone, via email or with the aid of an online booking system. Most restaurants will take bookings via any of these means but increasingly businesses are avoiding taking them in person or by the phone because it’s more labour intensive. In fact many now only take bookings online.

There is an overwhelming number of tools available to help fill and manage tables and it’s important to choose the right IT system to manage your dining room. Some come bundled with a restaurant’s EPoS system while others function independently. Some even talk to the system that runs the kitchen.

Restaurants can choose to sign up to one – or multiple – bookings platforms that will generally take a small commission for each diner they bring into the restaurant. Some can be embedded into a restaurant’s website while others are entirely separate. Bookings platforms are often designed to suit specific business requirements. For example, some are geared towards attracting discount-hungry customers while others specialise in shifting tables last minute or supplying high-spending diners.

The wonder of walk-ins Most restaurants that take bookings will want to leave some tables free. For all but the most special occasion-driven restaurants being constantly booked up is a deterrent – customers like to think there’s at least a chance of getting a table. Seating customers that turn up without a booking (known as walk-ins) makes things easier on the kitchen as restaurant managers can decide whether and when to seat extra diners based on how busy the kitchen is. It’s also a great way of solving the problems associated with no-shows.

Kitchens that cook fresh food will collapse if the whole dining room is allowed to order at the same time

Reducing no-shows No-shows can be as high as 20% in some restaurants, and many believe that the move to online bookings is to blame. Some of the worst offenders book multiple restaurant tables in advance then decide what they’re in the mood for that evening. It’s a source of considerable frustration for restaurateurs. Some chefs delight in ringing no-shows in the early hours to ask if they’re planning on putting in an appearance.

Restaurants have a number of tactics to discourage no shows, the most obvious being making those that don’t turn up pay via either a deposit or taking credit card details at the point of booking and charging a set amount if they don’t show. However, both these practices are a potential turn-off and, generally speaking, only high-profile restaurants can get away with it. Research has shown that the more details a restaurant takes from a customer the more likely they are to show up so, if possible, take a phone number as well as an email address.

Just the ticket? Frustrated by no-shows, Nick Kokonas, co-founder of Chicago restaurant Aliena, developed a ticketing system called Tock. Customers pick a date and time and pay up front just as they would for a theatre or plane ticket. All sales on Tock are final, so diners can’t get a refund, although they can transfer their tickets to someone else.

However you choose to run your dining room, ensure the strategy fits your operation – what’s right for an all-you-can eat rib shack won’t be for a local bistro or a tasting menu-only place. And be prepared to constantly re-evaluate your policy.

Fuss-free ways to run your dining room

Dos & Don’ts

Do...

Collect customer data Many restaurants still don’t know who their customers are. Take down email addresses and phone numbers and keep the information safe
Use social media to fill cancelled bookings Many high-end establishments announce last minute availability on social media
Choose a decent reservations management system A quality dining room management system is essential. Depending on the style and scale of your operation it may be worth investing in a system that communicates with your overall EPoS and kitchen management tools
Ask whether I need to take reservations at all If you run a casual establishment you might benefit from not taking bookings. This increases throughput because tables are never left empty until people that have booked turn up
Confirm bookings Customers are much more likely to show up if you remind them on the day
Stagger timings Control the flow of tickets into the kitchen by staggering bookings at 15-20 minute intervals
Consider an early evening menu These are a great way of sweating your assets during quieter periods

Don’t ...

Always say yes Sad though it is, sometimes you won’t be able to take a group of guests. It’s better to say no than to provide poor service because you’re too busy
Share booking responsibility Somebody senior should be in charge of all bookings to ensure reservations run smoothly
Hide people away People are much more likely to walk into a busy looking restaurant so make sure the first tables you seat are visible from the street
Divide the evening service into two without thinking it through While split sittings (two services, one early and one late) work for some restaurants they can put huge pressure on the kitchen and make diners feel rushed
Make customers that have booked wait too long for their table While this is standard practice in some cities it generally rubs people up the wrong way
Choose an unintegrated table management system Manually entering bookings from one system to another is a pain and can lead to costly mistakes
Seat tables until the whole party has shown up If some don’t show it may be possible to use a smaller table

Marketing

Good word of mouth can be brilliant for business, but relying on it to bring in custom can be a risky tactic

There’s one crucial element you can’t ignore if you want customers pouring through the doors from day one – marketing. Whether you’re a blossoming chain with a healthy budget, or a first-time restaurateur on a shoestring, you need to market your restaurant both on and offline and let the world know you exist.

Don’t worry about your marketing channel, worry about your message

The power of PR So, where should you start? The first big decision to make is whether to hire a PR agency or not. A good PR firm can secure coverage for your restaurant in newspapers, magazines, on websites and blogs. The best will have extensive contacts across the media, and pick the best outlets to target for your brand. But juicy press coverage can make a big dent in your budget, so you may be wondering… is it worth it?

PRs will tell you that their work is crucial to a brand new restaurant, and nothing beats a great editorial piece about your anticipated opening. Where a PR really comes into their own, however, is in freeing you up to focus on what's really important – opening your restaurant.

If you're concerned about which PR company to choose, the best bet is to ask friends in the industry for recommendations, as well as look at coverage of recent openings. If you see a lot of a restaurant you respect, do a bit of Googling and find out who’s doing their PR.

Once you've hired a company, it’s difficult to quantify their effectiveness in dollars, euros or pounds. A good agency, however, should send through coverage as soon as it happens and can say what the estimated readership is – for print and online. Ultimately, the test of effective PR is whether your restaurant is booked out.

Online and offline marketing When it comes to marketing, you need to cover all bases: both on and offline. While a marketing consultant can advise on offline strategies like brand collaborations, local business outreach and digital marketing, there’s a lot you can do yourself, if you have time to put in the legwork. Community relations prior to opening can make a big difference. In a business or retail district, for example, you could consider hosting a happy hour for businesses in the area, sending a catered lunch to an office park, or creating a special night of the week offer. Involving restaurant staff in a local charity event before opening can also generate goodwill among potential customers.

Restaurateurs have been known to pound the neighbourhood pavements to find out who the local businesses are and then make contact with them on Twitter. It also makes sense to reach out to residents with a discounted soft opening. If your restaurant sits in the fine dining arena, consider working closely with hotel and luxury lifestyle concierges.

Online, don’t overlook review sites, as well as booking sites which are used by both leisure and business diners. A lot of customers go to these sites, whether it be for reviews, offers, promotions or just to be aware what’s near them.

Any restaurant looking to open a second, third or even hundredth site should have an online database of customers and should let them know where they’re opening next. A lot of restaurants still overlook this when launching a new site, but existing customers are already aware of your brand and could provide an easy win in the early days.

Mastering social media For growing interest in your brand, few things beat social media, which is by far the least expensive way to make an impact-full marketing push – because it is free. But before you fire up Twitter and start telling the world how wonderful your restaurant is, there’s a few things you should know.

The first is that you should tackle social media as early as possible. By starting early in a restaurant’s life cycle and creating a very specific voice and feel for your channels, a restaurant can begin to engage with its potential customers on the most basic of levels. Twitter can help create an invaluable early buzz about your restaurant in the run up to its opening.

Tackle social media as early as possible

Indeed, most experts recommend Instagram as one of the most important channels for promoting a restaurant. Customers want to see behind the scenes of a restaurant, its food and its staff, so give them something to get their teeth into. Tweeting pictures of the specials board, an exciting new dish or a new cocktail serve can generate interest and also encourage past customers to pay another visit. But remember, pictures should be of good quality, as they reflect on your brand.

One mistake many restaurants make is to use social media solely as a bragging platform. Content must be interesting, not simply self-promotional. Social media channels are also excellent ways to answer questions, get feedback and improve the overall customer experience.

In house knowledge You can hire outside firms to run your social media, but experts agree the most successful accounts are those run by restaurants themselves. Once you’ve decided who’s handling your social media, aim for consistency and a tone of voice that reflects your brand. This could even mean paying for social media training for yourself, your head chef or front of house staff.

One of the best things about social media is, of course, that it is free to use. So if you’re operating on a shoestring, can you get away with spending almost nothing on promotion and still market your restaurant effectively?

Received wisdom says you should have a dedicated marketing budget, however small. Whether you spend it on PR, social media or local marketing is then up to you.

Marketing your restaurant

Do's & Don'ts

Do...

Ask friends and peers for PR recommendations A PR company’s website might be all singing and dancing, but nothing tells the full story like someone you trust
Reach out to local businesses and residents Once the hype has died down and the ‘food tourists’ have moved on, these are the people who will be your restaurant’s bread and butter
Tell existing customers you’re opening a new place Don’t overlook your established clientele when opening another site, as they are already a captive audience
Make use of tools such as Twitter and Instagram They are free, easy to use and can be very effective if used correctly
Consider both online and offline marketing Everyone might talk about digital these days, but good old fashioned marketing should still be part of your strategy
Ensure food shots are good Brilliant food shots speak volumes about a place – unfortunately so do bad ones
Update your website It’s often the first point of call for potential customers and therefore a key marketing tool

Don’t ...

Rely on social media to get the word out While it may feel like the whole world’s on Twitter and Facebook, many of your potential customers – especially the ones with the deepest pockets – probably don’t use either
Do it yourself unless you have the time Marketing is more labour-intensive than you might think. Not doing it at all is better than doing a half job of it
Just self promote on social media While it’s important to keep your followers updated with what you’re up to, if it’s a constant stream of marketing then people will soon switch off
Spend on marketing at the expense of food quality, staff training etc There’s no point encouraging people to come to your restaurant if they will be disappointed once they get there
Overlook review sites Love them or loathe them, such sites can be crucial to your business. Ensuring your company details are correct on each site is important
Forget the biggest marketing boost of all The dining and customer experience that you offer is the most effective way of spreading positivity about your restaurant

Ultimately, the test of effective PR is whether your restaurant is booked out!

Service

Service is the most important part of any restaurant – despite what any chef will say!

Heston Blumenthal might be best known for his scientific approach to gastronomy and famous dishes such as egg and bacon ice cream at his famous UK restaurant The Fat Duck, but the multi-Michelin starred chef isn't all about what’s on the plate.

Blumenthal famously believes that it is service, rather than food, that is the most vital part of his restaurant’s offer, using the logic that however good the food is, if the customer experience isn't made an enjoyable one by the staff then there is little chance they will return. On the flip-side, customers will occasionally forgive mediocre food if the service more than makes up for it.

Perfecting both the food and the service is the sweet spot for any restaurant, and this means applying the same rigour to front of house activities as to the kitchen operation. It’s no surprise, then, that those that do this are often the success stories in the industry.

The magic is, perfecting both the food and the service

First impressions are vital One company that takes service very seriously is Caprice Holdings, which operates restaurants in London, Dubai and Abu Dhabi, including The Ivy and Scott’s. Caprice Holdings has built a formidable reputation for its service standards and has long held the belief that good service should start the instant a customer interacts with a restaurant. How a customer is treated on the phone, for example, is an important part of the full service package, with them able to form an impression of a restaurant well before they walk through the door.

Good practice should see staff answering the telephone within five rings and reception apologising if the caller waits longer. Staff should also repeat booking details back to the customer to ensure they are correct. In Caprice Holdings’ case, if there is no room at a particular restaurant then staff recommend sister sites in the group and get that site to call the customer to make the booking as effortless as possible.

Attention to detail is also a key part of creating an ideal environment. In fine dining restaurants, tables are often of equal distance away from each other and from the wall and the placing of cutlery on the table is also done with exacting precision – knives and forks are placed a thumb’s width from the edge of the table.

Achieving balance Balancing the room is equally important. Staff should be trained to never sit a customer next to the only other person in the room and to consider their guests’ needs when allocating a table. Elderly and pregnant guests should be given tables which have an easy access to the toilets, for example.

Such balance is particularly important during busy periods, so it is vital that those on reception have a clear understanding of how the dining room must operate at any one time. With most diners wanting to eat at 8-9pm, the kitchen is in danger of reaching breaking point during those times unless staff at the front desk can stagger table times and fill the room accordingly.

If guests are early, receptionists should suggest a drink at the bar, providing the restaurant has one. However, if a sudden rush is imminent they should be directed straight to the table. Those customers sat at the bar need to be seated at the correct time, but this must be done in a way that doesn't feel rushed, with guests invited to finish their drinks at the table rather than having to knock them back in situ.

Sequence of service Once in the restaurant the customer is a captive audience but, while operators understand the importance of providing them with good service, many underestimate the attention to detail required to ensure service is exceptional and, more importantly, consistently so.

Burgeoning UK restaurant group Polpo takes its approach to service very seriously. So much so, in fact, that owner Russell Norman has created a 32-point ‘Sequence of Service’ document that all staff must follow. The document details every action front of house staff must do – and in which order – from the moment a customer enters to after they have left, and has been designed with consistency as well as service in mind.

Points include drinks served within no longer than two minutes from the time of ordering and ensuring a waiter makes eye contact with customers when bringing food to the table. Staff are also told never to follow industry practice of asking customers if everything is OK as it suggests that OK is good enough. Instead they ask whether everything is good.

Regular meetings, Never underestimate the importance of regular front of house meetings. Such

meetings offer the perfect opportunity to drill into front of house staff exactly what you expect of them, and should include anything from meeting and greeting guests and drinks service to product knowledge. If it’s on the menu, all staff should know what it is without having to ask the kitchen.

Know your customers Understanding how your customer interacts with your restaurant should also dictate service style. Diners in for a romantic meal will likely want more attentive service than those out for a business meeting. Likewise, some customers will want to eat and go while others will prefer to linger – families with young children tend to wish to leave at their leisure so giving them the option to pay early is often very welcome.

Never underestimate the importance of regular front of house meetings

Finally, it’s key to understand that customers are different the world over and that they have different ideas of service in each country. While in London guests will typically wait 20-25 minutes for a main, according to restaurateurs, New Yorkers tend to be more impatient and will only be prepared to wait on average half this time. This is similar in places like Hong Kong, where diners prefer to dine quickly, while in Singapore and central Europe they tend to be more laid back.

SERVICE

Dos & Don’ts

Do...

Remember, service starts from the initial contact Interaction with a customer starts at the initial phone call, website view or the greeting at the reception desk. First impressions count
Create rules of service Having a set framework for all staff to follow creates a clear sense of what is expected from them. And ensure all staff stick to it
Hold regular front of house meetings However experienced your team is, regular meetings can be very useful
Stagger service If you have a bar area, use it during busy periods to relieve the pressure on the kitchen
Have rigorous staff training The better your staff are, the better your business is
Tailor the style of service to the venue The best service is that which is in harmony with a restaurant’s food, design and atmosphere and which reinforces the brand image
Ensure all staff know the menu Waiting staff should be able to answer questions on food without having to return to the kitchen
Be attentive Struggling to attract waiting staff is a real customer bugbear

Don’t ...

Underestimate the importance of service This is the hospitality sector, after all. People might return to a restaurant if the food is only OK, but poor service will put them off for life
Stifle staff creativity as a result of having rules A person’s ability to use their initiative in a tricky situation could be crucial, so encourage them to use their initiative where appropriate
Ask if everything is OK This should be the minimum standard you are aiming for, not the benchmark. If you want feedback, ask if everything was good instead
Treat all customers the same Every person has a different requirement from your place – being able to read a person is pivotal to offering good service
Believe food is more important than service Chefs might tell you otherwise, but this is simply not true
Let your sommelier run wild While some customers like to know about the wine they are drinking, most don’t want a 10-minute talk on its terroir
Be over attentive The only thing worse than being ignored is being continually interrupted when you’re trying to have a private conversation

Menu writing

Your menu is the window into the soul of the restaurant, so make sure people like what they see!

Like tapestry weaving or open heart surgery, menu writing is a fine art that requires a keen eye and attention to detail that unfortunately not all are blessed with. Yet unlike the other two which are left in the hands of an expert, putting together the bill of fare is something many chefs undertake themselves – with varying degrees of success.

Chefs tend to think that because it’s their food, they are in the best position to describe it on paper – and many are under the misapprehension that writing a menu is nothing more testing than listing dishes. Some believe that agonising over a menu is a waste of time because the food will do the talking, while others reason that once you've enticed people through the door you've secured their cash already.

Simply adding tempting descriptions to dishes can increase sales by up to 27%

If this sounds even vaguely familiar, then the chances are your menu is not working as hard as it could be. A good menu needs to entice people, reinforce the ethos of your establishment and encourage people to spend money. And it must do all this without the diner realising.

Perfect the format How your menu manifests itself is entirely up to you, but whether you opt for a one-pager, a fully laid out sheet of A3 that doubles as a place-mat, an old school page turner or even a list of dishes on a chalkboard, it’s essential that it’s not only the most practical, but the one that best represents what you’re trying to achieve.

If your menu is short and changes regularly it doesn't make sense to carefully lay it out

every day. A simple list of dishes printed or even handwritten makes sense logistically and also reinforces the idea the menu is made with seasonal ingredients.

Learn the tricks Menus as an extension of a restaurant’s overall design are vital in proliferating a brand image, an important tool in repeat custom. But a truly effective menu design is one that makes you money the minute it is put into a customer’s hand.

Depending on the style of venue the menu may need to subtly push diners to certain items. Most larger restaurant businesses with a standardised menu available across multiple locations will use a number of clever tricks to encourage diners into choosing more lucrative items.

Most would assume that the average diner reads a menu from left to right, but studies show the eye gravitates toward the upper right-hand corner first. Because of this, restaurateurs will often place the most profitable items here.

Other tricks include the removal of currency signs to make customers dissociate the figure from actual money; drawing attention to certain items with a different size text or putting it in a box; or tactically partnering pricey items with mid-priced margin drivers to make the latter appear better value.

Restaurants can recruit the services of a ‘menu engineer’, who looks under the bonnet of menus and fine tunes them to increase spend. While menus will differ depending on the restaurant, there are rules places can follow to make their menus work harder, according to these engineers. Dishes that carry a low GP should be subtly exiled, for example, with the use of a back colour of something like deep green and a black type. This makes it harder to read, so restaurants won’t sell as much, with people instead being directed to more profitable items.

The menu at international restaurant chain Jamie’s Italian is a master-class in carte design. Some higher margin dishes are highlighted in a blue picture frame while other profitable dishes, such as pasta and risotto, are placed on the top right. It also features menu supplements – truffle butter, for example – to drive up spend.

Make it user friendly The type of font you use for your menu might seem a minor point but it is in fact an important part of a successful design. In general, people can read nine more words per minute with a serif font – one that has the small features at the end of letter strokes – than a sans serif font, which is why it is used by many newspapers. While speed is less of an issue for menus, serif fonts are typically easier to read and therefore should be the de facto choice for a menu. Try to avoid a script style font and the use of italics as well, as they are hard on the eye.

This approach is taken to another level at Sticks ‘n’ Sushi – a now international chain that started life in Denmark. Rather than taking the traditional written route,

the group instead uses high quality food photography on its menus to make its potentially unfamiliar Japanese offering easier for people to understand.

Sticks ‘n’ Sushi

While this approach won’t work for all – and then only for those whose menu doesn't change much in order to avoid reprints – it shows there is space for creativity on a menu, providing it isn't done at the expense of function. At Sticks ’n’ Sushi the diner understands what they are getting and how it should look, which puts them at ease.

The personal touch The personal touch is equally important. Simply adding tempting descriptions to dishes can increases sales and subtle touches can encourage purchase.

That doesn't mean your menu should sound gushing, or be over the top when it comes to naming locally-sourced ingredients. Customers want assurance that food is locally grown, but they don’t need chapter and verse on every supplier.

And remember, with many customers looking at menus online, it’s essential it is formatted so it can be read on a mobile phone as well as a computer. An online version should clearly display dishes and prices and be as easy to read as a paper one.

The write stuff: menu design at a glance

Dos & Don’ts

Do...

Keep the layout simple It shouldn’t be a struggle for your customers to navigate a menu. It should feature clean lines, good spacing and a sensible colour palette
Consider eye movement to decide where to place key dishes The top right hand corner is your friend so place high margin dishes there
Ensure it reflects the restaurant’s identity If you’re a fun, lively place then don’t make the menu feel stuffy
Use page furniture to make dishes stand out Boxes, coloured tints and bold type can all help push certain dishes
Consider carefully the font you use Your menu should be easy to read. Comic Sans is a no-no
Make it online friendly Can it be read easily online? If not then you should change it
Work on food descriptions The best way to increase sales of dishes is to make them sound irresistible
Provide ingredient information where suitable If you use top quality ingredients, don’t be afraid to shout about them on your menu

Don’t ...

Be overenthusiastic with your language It’s a menu not a novel. Adjectives such a ‘sumptuous’ and ‘moist’ should be avoided at all costs
Have grammar/spelling mistakes Nothing looks more amateurish than offering ptarmigan cheese or having a desert section. The spell check is your friend
Make it too cluttered A good menu needs to breathe so give the dishes the space they deserve
Omit prices on online menus It’s a common error that drives customers crazy and could prevent them from actually paying you a visit
Underestimate how important menu design is for your business It’s a window into your restaurant’s soul, after all, so don’t make it an afterthought
Make the print too small Remember, everybody has to be able to read your menu, from people with 20:20 vision to spectacle wearers. A magnifying glass should not be needed
Give supplier chapter and verse Customers might want to know where you source your meat from, but they don’t need to know the name, exact location of the farmer and his shoe size

Finance

Money in the bank: finding finance can be tough!

Raising finance to fund your business, whether it be to launch a début restaurant or to back expansion, can be a difficult and daunting process. The bad news for aspiring or growing restaurateurs is that, since 2008 and the global financial crisis, it has become far harder for businesses to access bank credit. The good news is that, against this backdrop, a number of new ways of raising finance have come to the fore, many of which are well suited to the restaurant industry.

However, whether you choose the more traditional route of going cap in hand to the bank, courting business angels or private equity companies or looking elsewhere, such as crowdfunding, there are things that every business should consider when looking to raise funds.

A strong business plan Whether you’re looking for £15,000 for a new extraction system or £2m to open a new restaurant, putting together a strong business plan, and therefore demonstrating your ability to pay back any loan, is essential. While banks across the world have become less willing to lend to start ups as a result of the financial crash, those that have a convincing plan still have a good chance of securing funds.

In general, banks tend to consider a number of things before deciding whether to lend or not. These include whether the business has already managed to raise some of the money itself (a willingness to use private funds shows confidence in a concept) and whether cast-iron securities such as property and personal guarantees can be offered. Yet banks also tend to look beyond this more obvious form of security, with companies that successfully secure funds also being able to show realistic turnover predictions, how they intend to manage costs and how their business will generate bottom-line cash.

Restaurants are cash-rich businesses; they buy stock on short-term credit, while the customer pays cash on delivery, so when negotiating with the bank it’s important to play to that strength.

It might sound a cliché, but banks also increasingly like to invest in people rather than businesses. As well as putting forward a strong business case, it doesn't hurt to invite someone from the bank to meet your team and, if you’re looking to expand, see your existing venue in action.

Private equity companies have a stake in the business they invest their own time and expertise in it

Beyond the banks If the banks won’t play ball, another form of finance to explore is that of private equity. Private funding is becoming an increasingly popular choice for growing restaurant groups, especially those looking to make the jump from small operator (8-10 sites) to a bigger player.

There are numerous advantages of taking the private equity route, not least because working with an investor can bring benefits that finance on its own doesn't offer. Because private equity companies have a stake in the business they invest their own. time and expertise in it, which can often be invaluable. Having an experienced hand on board can also open doors that would otherwise be closed, such as access to sites.

Private equity is not without its challenges. Whereas banks will only charge interest on what they lend, equity companies typically expect to recoup two-and-a-half times what they invest. Such companies will generally want their money out in three to five years, which can leave you working frantically to pay them out, potentially diluting the nature and quality of your offer in the process.

One of the main considerations you will have to make if taking the private equity route is what share of your company you are prepared to give up and how this might impact on your business. Even investors with a minority stake can wield a lot of power so you will need to enter any deal with your eyes wide open.

Crowdfunding Another source of funds growing in popularity is that of crowdfunding, particularly among first-time restaurateurs. There are numerous sites that offer such a service, including Crowdcube and Seedrs, which enable people to publish a business plan, legal documents and video presentations to attract investors. Some sites, such as Kickstarter, meanwhile, offer rewards in exchange for funds.

The nature of the restaurant industry has made it well suited to crowdfunding, with restaurants able to offer meals and hospitality in exchange for funds. Chesterbased restaurant Sticky Walnut, for example, recently raised £100,000 to fund a second site with investors being enticed with meals once the new restaurant is open.

The Clove Club, a restaurant based in Shoreditch, east London, also successfully used crowdfunding. Founders Daniel Willis, Johnny Smith and chef Isaac McHale raised £250,000 in six weeks using online platform Crowdcube. The trio attracted 50 investors who contributed between £1,000 and £50,000 each and who now own 25% of their company St Vibes. Rewards included free tables during the launch period.

In the US, Kickstarter remains the go-to site for restaurant funding campaigns. In October 2013 chef Mike Brown raised $255,669 towards a new restaurant in Minnesota from a bid that had initially sought just $75,000 of funding. Pittsburgh chef Kevin Sousa, meanwhile, is set to open his new restaurant Superior Motors after raising more than $300,000 on Kickstarter.

What’s right for you Whichever funding route you choose it should be right for you. Banks remain the most straightforward way of getting finance and should be the first port of call for most businesses. And, while crowdfunding has an obvious appeal for start ups, it shouldn't be regarded as easy money. Having to honour meals offered as part of a funding package can be a headache and will impact on a restaurant’s cashflow and bottom line in the early days, so this needs to be taken into consideration. And remember: be realistic and don’t be greedy. Or else you might pay as well as your investor.

Crowdfunding

Finance

Dos & Don’ts

Do...

Have someone in the business who understands money talk The covenants that banks now impose (agreed ratios of, say, capital expenditure-to-loan or profitability-to-loan that a business must maintain) are increasingly complex. Having someone in the business who understands that language can really help
Approach a bank armed with all the facts about your business Banks want to see realistic turnover predictions and how your business will generate bottom-line cash
Research specialist lending schemes Different countries offer different schemes aimed at small businesses, so check with the relevant government department to see if there’s one suitable for you
Look beyond traditional lending Crowdfunding can be a hugely successful way of raising funds without being saddled with huge debt
Shout about your people Investors support people as well as a concept, so demonstrating you have a strong team can be very effective
Consider what security you have to offer If not a property, think about what other assets – kitchen equipment, wine cellar – that you could put up as security against a loan.

Don’t ...

Believe investors give funds just to help you There is a business reason behind every transaction, so ensure you understand what’s at stake
Be greedy Having enough extra funds for a rainy day is one thing, but needlessly paying interest on borrowed money that you don’t need is quite another thing
Seek private equity money lightly You’ll need to be prepared to give up part of your business and maybe even the power to steer its future course as a result of any PE money you take
Seek investment from someone you don’t like Any personality clashes could have serious repercussions later on in the deal. You should be on friendly terms with your investor
Give up With so many different avenues now available, if you’re turned down by one potential lender there are often plenty more prospects out there
Promise investors too much Be realistic about what you think you can achieve with the funds. There is always a danger of over selling your business in order to gain investment, or with promising early rewards to crowdfunding investors, and this can come back to haunt you