1st step for a successful restaurant / pub – Purpose
The first thing we can agree on is that there is no “silver bullet” for a successful restaurant, pub or any other types of business. If somebody told you a magic trick to get a ton of clients, they probably lied to you. Building a successful business is not easy and there is no proven formula for it.
If this is true, you can rightfully ask the question: then how could I build a working restaurant or pub, or how could I bloom an existing one? The answer is simple, you have to learn, then apply the acquired knowledge in practice and you have to repeat this process until you reach your goals. Sounds fairly easy, right? Actually it’s not! That’s why numerous restaurants and pubs performs extremely poorly or even fail.
We are here to help you, imagine us as an ally in your mission. Our goals are identical, you need a successful business, we need successful clients.
Great, let’s start with the first step.
- 1st Step -
Purpose
Restaurants and pubs are businesses, this means that their goals are to make profit. That’s true, but you will never be able to build an outstanding business while your main focus is on money (don’t get me wrong, every business has to be profitable). We strongly believe that every business owner mainly have to focus on the customers. If you will make your decisions based on your clients, you will win them, the effect of which is that your business will be profitable and you will make money day by day. That’s why it’s essential to choose the right purposes.
But what is a purpose? Basically it’s the WHY. Ask the following two questions from yourself, and try to answer both of them:
- Why are you doing what you are doing, besides the money? There is no predefined answer for this question. Every single business owner has their own reasons why they are investing effort in their businesses. It is very important to be able to abstract yourself from money. Money is not a valid reason why you are leading a restaurant or pub, you could make money with several other methods as well, hence the question is valid, why did you choose this path?
- What kind of positive experience can you provide for your customers? For example, “we are providing several fish specialties for our customers which they never tasted”, “our customers never have to wait more than two minutes for their drinks”, etc. You have to stand out.
A good purpose can build an emotional connection with your customers, hence you don’t have to hide your purposes from your customers. If you feel that your purposes are good enough to share them with others, don’t hesitate, do it. You may ask, how? There are several ways to do it, a welcome message on the tables, a short local ad in your restaurant’s TV, etc.
Another very important characteristic of a good purpose is that it differentiate you from your competitors.
Let us provide you some examples:
McDonald’s
“To provide a fun and safe environment where our customers can enjoy good food made with quality ingredients at affordable prices.”
Freshii
“To help citizens of the world live better by making healthy food convenient & affordable.”
Hearth Restaurant
“Serve REAL food that tastes, looks, and smells delicious.”
Il Fornaio
“To provide our guests with the most authentic Italian experience outside of Italy.”
After you successfully defined your own purposes, you will have to validate them as well. Because these are the base of your business, you have to know if the people around your business will like them or not. For instance you should not open an Italian restaurant somewhere where nobody would like to eat Italian food. Even if your purposes sounds good and honest, you will fail if your audience will not relate with them. Never forget, your business is not for you, it’s for your customers. Your purpose have to be in harmony with you and with your customers at the same time! How can you validate your purpose? It’s fairly simple, do some research, you can recruit a business to do it for you, or you can simply go out to the street and ask several people. There are many ways to do that, but you should not skip this step.
Don’t forget, learn then apply. Take a notebook and write every single thought about the described topic, try to write down your own purposes, and when you feel they are good enough, try to validate them with as many people as you can (don’t forget your friends and family, but don’t stop there, try to involve others as well).
