Restaurant Masterminds

I ran across a great article this on a subject that is probably very often forgotten. Addressing problems that arise inside your restaurant is often the focus of restaurant management. We have deliveries, customer’s issues, food quality and building maintenance just to name a few. But one of the big things that could be overlooked is your parking lot and surrounding areas.

Parking lots can be an ideal place for crime and restaurant owners need to know that they an be held liable for what goes on in their parking lot that can cause tremendous financial and legal problems for them if not maintained in a safe and secure manner.

Restaurant’s Obligations as quoted by Alisa Pittman Cleek, Esq. say that “premises liability law is the body of law that makes the person who possesses land or premises responsible for certain injuries suffered by persons on their premises. In the context of premises liability for restaurant parking lots, a restaurant owner “possesses” the parking lot when the owner is in occupation of the land with intent to control it. If you own and use a parking lot adjacent to your restaurant, you most likely fall into this category.”

Some of the things to do and be aware of are:

Continuously Assess the Situation
Develop a Plan
Insure Measures of Security
Determine whether the parking lot is adequately lighted
Add security guards to the parking lot if necessary
Put an additional pair of eyes on your parking lot through the use of video surveillance
Provide valet and/or an escort to customer and employee cars
Schedule routine parking lot checks
Have a pair of employees check the parking lot on a regular basis for any suspicious or dangerous conditions
Keep parking lots and sidewalks free of clutter
Clean up all oil spills
Keep parking lots free of potholes, large cracks or uneven areas
Keep bumper blocks in their proper position and make sure that tie-down rods are secure, not sticking up
Sidewalks should be kept in good repair
Edges of sidewalks and handicap approach areas should be pained yellow, while curbs should e painted red for fire rescue.

Implementing these security measure with the unfortunate number of criminal acts occurring in restaurant parking lots could dramatically cut down the number of incidents. Take time to develop a well thought out plan, and putting in place solutions, a restaurant can help to avoid an unappetizing predicament.

ReNae Morse

I’m sure the headline says it all…it’s that time of year again when college basketball junkies go crazy and the NCAA college basketball tournament begins. There’s a reason why they call it “March Madness”, it’s because so many meaningful games are being played in a short period of time that it really is MADNESS. How would you like to have MADNESS in your restaurant….so many customers in such a short amount of time?

Many independent restaurateurs struggle when it comes to promoting or marketing their restaurants. They say they can’t think of any great ideas that would get guests coming through their doors, to that I say “MADNESS”, there are lots of ideas that are happening everyday around your city, community, country and even around the world that you can tie your marketing to and ride what I call the, “coattails of the media”. The media creates the story and you create the marketing. It’s real simple, if it’s “HEADLINE NEWS” then it’s an opportunity for you to ride the coattails of the story.

A great example of this is the NCAA college basketball tournament, According to a Chicago-based outplacement agency, employers will take a $1.8 billion hit in unproductive wages this year because of the distractions caused by the tournament. This means people are talking about it, so it’s up to you get in on the action. You can get in the game and market your restaurant or you can make up excuses of why you CAN’T do it. Those that choose to get in the game are those that are succeeding the most.

In my restaurant we have been running “March Madness” promotions every March for the last six years. It’s been a tremendous success, in fact tons of my guests start asking questions in February if we’re doing “March Madness” again, we do lots of different things to drive traffic through our doors, but most importantly we ride the coattails of the media…The good news is that you don’t need to be a sports bar or even a sports fan to capture the attention of your guests. You just need to be top of mind and create the marketing to capture your guests attention.

It’s “Madness” when I speak to other independent restaurateurs across the country and they are blaming the economy, their employees and even their customers of why business is so lousy. Me….I say “MADNESS”, because we’re doing better than ever before, and with the right coaching and motivation, you to can succeed during “March Madness”.

Ben Martinez
Restaurant Masterminds

The economy is having a tremendous impact on the Restaurant Industry, the amount of restaurants that have closed their doors in the last year is staggering. If you drive through any small town or visit a mall, you’ll see the empty restaurants with the doors barred and the foreclosure notices in the window. It’s a lot like having a close friend or relative have a heart attack, it just hits awfully close to home. Unfortunately when these issues strike this close, it can be paralyzing, even worse leave us in a complete state of upheaval.

Not only has the economy struck down a portion of our industry, it has left many of the remaining players in a “wait and see” mode. Everyone is afraid to make a move, no-one wants to hire a single employee, or even worse, spend a dime on their infrastructure. What’s happening is our industry is in a negative spin and we’re the ones spinning the top.

It’s time to take back our industry, stop whining, stop blaming the economy and start being pro-active. If your company is in sales and you lay off your salesmen to save money, it’s a given your sales will go down. Cutting back on servers, or kitchen help will slow down your sales, or anger your customers. Either way your sales are going to drop.

Why in a down economy would you cut your marketing budget? If you lose market share, it’s very difficult to get it back. Your customers get used to dining elsewhere, this is one scenario you want to avoid at all costs. Ramp up your marketing, spend money to entice your best customers to dine with you more frequently. Utilize your man-power to grow your business. Instead of having your hostess come in at noon, have her come in at eleven and give her a stack of offers for that day’s lunch, that you have printed on your computer and send her to the nearest mall or grocery store. I have to believe she could affect your sales more than the nine dollars you paid her for the extra hour. Approach each day with out of the box thinking on ideas to grow your business each day, or even each meal period. Break the year’s budget forecast into small segments and attack them one at a time. Over time, you will make small gains, which in turn will grow momentum and turn into larger gains.

Finally, let’s not look a gift horse in the mouth. I mentioned all the restaurant closings, sometimes in life, someone else’s loss can turn into your gain. Maybe, now is the time to replace your dining room chairs, you can attend a restaurant auction and probably purchase them at thirty cents on the dollar. How about that broiler you’ve been wanting to add to your line to expedite your lunch business, the availability of furniture, fixtures and equipment available now is unprecedented. We are adding Al Fresco dining to our Italian Restaurant this summer, our Chef and General Manager approached me with a proposal to launch the outside dining for the summer and early fall. Their entire proposal was based on purchasing the equipment needed for the venture at auctions or private sales. I gave them the green light to proceed, based on their ability to locate and purchase the equipment at thirty cents on the dollar. Purchasing our equipment at this price allows us to make money on this venture year one. The best part is that we have already put together phase two of our Al Fresco dining plan, to include an awning and an out door grill.

Sometimes their are opportunities available and some people jump on them and others are so consumed in their world, they let them pass by them. Get on board, start forward thinking and get in the game. If you want to be a player, you have to suit up.

Dick Varano

Restaurant Masterminds