That Will Make It Better?

I've been watching a new show lately called Restaurant Stakeout.  There have been a couple of themes coming through and it is rather annoying.  This is something that can be applied to much more then the restaurant industry as well.


I was a little skeptical about the show when I saw the first advertisement, I'm not much for the tough-guy New York City accent.  Under most circumstances that equates to someone who is arrogant and really annoying.  But I thought I would give it a try anyway just because the concept was intriguing.  The premise of the show is that a restaurant is struggling and the owner doesn't know why.  He apparently has a couple of successful restaurants in New York City.  He sets up a bunch of cameras and watches things without anyone, other then the owner, knowing to get an idea on what is going on. I've seen less then 10 episodes but I keep seeing a couple common themes in each of the.

Theme number one is that these owners seem to think that since they own the restaurant they don't have to do anything and that they aren't responsible for anything.  Here's a hint folks, running a restaurant is hard work that takes a lot of effort to start.  And once you get it started in the right direction, it takes work to keep it going.  There is a reason that most restaurants fail, it's hard work!

Theme number two is lack of training.  No matter what position someone is doing they should be trained on the way in which it is done in your restaurant.  Proper training goes a long way in making things easier for your staff and it also helps to reduce turnover.  Think it fine just to hire a dishwasher and put them at the sink?  Think again!  Take a little time to talk to them about proper hand washing techniques and proper washing (wash, rinse, and sanitize as required by law).  You would be surprised how much of a difference this little training can do.  I've been picked on for being a manager at a Burger King franchise for a couple of years but something people haven't figured out is what the fast food industry has known for a long time.  Turnover costs a lot of money.  At this franchise of Burger King all new managers would spend the first 6 weeks of their time in a training restaurant.  They would do no actual managing for about 4 weeks.  But it didn't stop there, over the course of the year following that they would spend at least one day a month in training sessions outside of the restaurant.  The whole purpose was to not only make sure the customer was taken care of but to also give the manager the knowledge that they needed to be able to take care of the customer.  Was it perfect?  No, but it was much better then I've had in any other job in my life.  It makes a difference.

What I find annoying is that these things that he points out should be obvious.  Owning a restaurant isn't a piece of cake.  It takes a lot of hard work and effort.  You can't just open a restaurant, hire some people, and expect it to make a lot of money.  You have to put in the effort and follow through with things.  If you can't see how this might pertain to other industries, just think about it.  Do a little substitution, like change restaurant with store.  You will see what I'm talking about.