Restaurant management can be just like any other kind of management: tricky yet rewarding. Managing other people and a whole building can cause crazy amounts of stress, so it’s essential to know what you’re doing and become an authority on all things having to do with your business.

Managing a restaurant is more than just overseeing waitstaff and cooks. It involves analyzing your restaurant at its core and making the right decisions for yourself, your business, and the people who work there. With so many factors in play, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. While you can never feel fully prepared before you start, you can take a few measures to ensure that your management accomplishes what you need it to.

5 Crucial Parts of Managing a Restaurant

When managing a restaurant, you have to juggle multiple responsibilities and communicate with around a dozen people at once. If you’re new to the management life, you should learn a few key aspects that fit seamlessly into any managerial style that you should emulate.

1. Set Goals and Monitor Progress

When you set goals for your business, make sure they’re SMART goals. These goals are attainable and realistic, so you can feel a sense of accomplishment once you achieve them, no matter how small they may be. Make sure your goals are realistic for the time you’ve allotted to complete them, else you may find your restaurant falling a bit short.

Next, you’ll need to find ways to measure if you’re stepping closer toward your goals. For example, analyzing what your break-even point is can be essential to know when an item on your menu will ultimately become profitable, helping you plan future specials.

2. Establish a Consistent Foundation

You should always be consistent in your rules and your treatment of others. Favoring any one person can reflect negatively on you and damage others’ self-confidence and respect toward you. You set an example for your entire restaurant. How can you expect your employees to outperform you?

One way to set an excellent example for everyone you work with is to ensure you always present your best self. Ironing a shirt can make a big difference in your presentation and change your style from lax to professional in just a couple of minutes. Minor changes to your appearance can set you apart as an authority figure who takes your business seriously. 

3. Guide Your Employees

You are responsible for how well your employees perform. With the proper guidance, they’ll better understand their jobs and work harder if they respect and love the workplace they’re a part of. Reward your employees for jobs well done and remind them often how much you appreciate them.

Also, you should encourage your employees to be open with you about how they feel. Your employees are a way for you to see what’s happening on every rung of the ladder that you may not be able to see from your position. You should demonstrate leadership and initiative to set an excellent example for everyone who works there.

4. Listen to Your Customers

Your Customers offer you a window into your service. No one on the inside of the restaurant can provide you with that insight. Also, don’t underestimate the power of reviews and word of mouth. Potential customers use reviews to gauge whether a restaurant is worth their time and money. Having poor reviews could negatively impact your business, so you should consider making your customers’ experience as positive as possible.

Similarly, good reviews will have a positive impact on your business. Suppose potential customers see that other patrons have enjoyed the food, service and atmosphere. In that case, they may be more likely to purchase from you or visit your restaurant.

5. Strive for Excellence

Don’t settle for a procedure or routine just because it works. Look for something that can improve over time, and always aim to do your best. Set new goals continuously. Once you’ve found a flow that works for you, you can challenge yourself and your employees to do better and accomplish more.

Use Experience to Become a Better Manager

It’s tough to determine the most essential part of being a manager because so much of it changes by the day. You have to mold yourself to fit multiple roles and ensure that you’re supporting and encouraging your team to the best of your ability. Once you’ve done all you can and have come up with procedures that ensure your restaurant is operating at peak performance, you can take a step back and admire all you’ve accomplished alongside your employees.