Canada is full of wonderful restaurants, but there’s no other establishment quite like yours. It’s your pride and joy, which is why you want to do everything that you can in order to make it as successful as possible. Take heed of the tips below, and you’ll be better equipped to make the most of your restaurant.
Rely on a local supplier
If you’re running a Canadian restaurant, then you need Canadian restaurant supply experts.
When you work with local and regional suppliers, you’ll get better customer service and more reliable custom solutions. You’ll be dealing with experts who understand the market that you’re in, which means you’ll get people who understand — and even anticipate — your needs. Your supply partners are the folks who will ensure that you always have the things that you need in order to open your doors to customers. Supply chain decisions are among the most important that you’ll make as a restaurant owner, so be sure to give this partnership decision the thought and care that it deserves.
Develop strategies for staying consistent
Canada is full of great restaurants. Yours will have to be great to stand out, but it will also have to be consistent.
There’s a reason that so many people become “regulars” at their favorite restaurants. And there’s a reason that so many customers flock to chain restaurants, those behemoths that can sometimes be the enemies of small restaurant owners (though, of course, sometimes being a small restaurant owner means owning a franchise). Customers want to know that they’re going to get the delicious meal they expect. If your restaurant offers customers the chance — but not the guarantee — of a superior meal and experience, then you’re going to lose business to lesser operations that customers know they can count on.
This doesn’t mean that you can’t make changes. But it does mean that you need to make sure your employees understand the procedures that keep things looking, feeling, and tasting the same way when no intentional changes are being made. It means you need to have such procedures in the first place, and that you have to have systems in place for checking to see how you’re doing on the consistency front.
Get help with the behind-the-scenes business stuff
Most restaurant owners get into the restaurant business because of the “restaurant” part, not the “business” part. But both things matter, and the latter can easily derail your dreams of the former.
You need to make sure that you’re taking care of all of the little details that make your restaurant a real and successful business. Make sure that you’re set up properly on the legal front, that you’re paying everyone on time, that your books are balanced, and that your taxes are taken care of (and that all of your deductions are made). To be sure that it’s all going well, hire experts. Smart outsourcing is the small business owner’s best friend, and there are lots of superb outsourced services that can help you make sure you’ve got payroll covered, are paying Canadian taxes, and are following all Canadian laws and codes.
Build an emergency fund
No matter how careful you are about following these tips and other best practices for running a restaurant, you are going to see rough patches from time to time. Every small business needs an emergency fund, and businesses in areas as volatile as the food service industry need to have bigger emergency funds than others. Make sure that you’ve stashed away some cash for the hard times, so that your business can last until its next big run of success.
