How To Own a Thriving Restaurant and Bar in Essendon

New Restaurants open and close all the time where competition is aggressive, and profit margins are very thin. So what makes one restaurant unfailingly busy while the others struggle to survive?

Owning a thriving restaurant and bar in Essendon doesn’t just happen by accident. It takes plenty of hard work and good planning to pull it off. The challenges you face in this industry are unlike any other. Constant competition, high rental and the rising cost of labour, inflation of food costs, lowering margins, etc., are some of the challenges you might encounter in this field.

To succeed in this business, you will have to be at the top of your game. Let's look at 5 simple steps to owning a thriving Restaurant in Essendon.

Make Your Restaurant and Bar in Essendon a Thriving Success with These 5 Strategies Essendon is home to many well-known restaurants, bars, and venues. With this in mind, we've put together a few tips to help you create a lasting impression.

1. Focus on your Restaurant Staff

If you want to run a successful restaurant, your staff will be the number one aspect in retaining customers. You can have an amazing menu, but your business won’t survive for long if the service is not tip-top.

While kitchen staff is the backbone of a restaurant, your front-of-house crew is the public face and persona. Ensure that your front-of-house staff reflects your restaurant's brand identity with clean uniforms and a professional demeanour.

Here are some tips to keep your staff motivated, happy, and devoted:

● Establishing the right expectations and goals for each staff member.

● Training new hires and established employees to understand their roles within the business.

● Provide them with a flexible schedule, so they aren't exhausted and overworked.

● Appreciate and value them through pay raises, bonuses, and acknowledgements.

2. Know your Target Audience

When you open a restaurant, think about who your audience will be. Who will be coming through those doors? Are they tourists at a busy intersection? Regular diners? Wine lovers looking for the perfect pairing? Identify your target audience and build your business around them. Once you know who they are, you can tailor your menu and decor to their tastes. You’ll also want to determine when they’re most likely to visit so that you can adjust staffing and order accordingly.

3. Make your Restaurant Instagram Ready

In this digital age, social media, especially Instagram, has become an incredibly powerful tool for any business. Prospective guests are most likely looking you up on social media before they choose to dine in at your restaurant. Think about ways to make every corner of your Essendon restaurant and bar Instagrammable; whether it’s a piece of decor or food presentation, everything must be worth tagging for your customers.

4. No Compromise with Food Taste and Consistency

There’s a famous Irish Proverb - “Laughter is brightest in the places where the food is best”. We cannot agree more. The most crucial factor that drives success in any restaurant or bar business is the quality of your food. Your customer might forget the decor or the type of chair they sat in, but they’ll never forget how delicious their meal was. To maintain guest loyalty and frequent visits, you must maintain a consistent food taste, vibe and service.

5. Host Happy Hours and Events

As the owner of a restaurant and bar, you may be interested in finding ways to increase your customer base and profits. Hosting happy hours is a great way to do this! Choose a time, either during the week or on weekends, that you want to devote to happy hour. Next, you'll need to create a menu that features discounts on food and drink items. It helps customers feel like they are getting more value from their dollar.

A good rule of thumb is to avoid serving hard liquor during happy hour. That way, you don't risk serving someone enough free alcohol that they are intoxicated before they get their check.

On a Final Note

Regardless of whether you own a Restaurant or Essendon Bar, or a neighbourhood pub, stay focused on a simple concept, and keep your customers happy, so they return again and again. If you can do that, your restaurant will survive and thrive. Your final success will depend on how far you are willing to improve your business and how deep you want to dive into these restaurant management tactics.