Be Your Own Detective:
Three Productive Ways to Revisit Your Hospitality Business Strategy
As we endeavor to pivot and shift our businesses amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, here are three productive ways to revisit your business strategy and reconnect to your mission and vision. We invite you to be your own detective and ask these important questions to reestablish the hospitality experience you are delivering. This proven process will inspire you to see your business through a fresh set of eyes; it will reveal areas for immediate improvement, provide informed direction, and help your brewing and/or taproom operation to emerge from these challenging times even stronger.
|RE- CLARIFY YOUR CONCEPT
● HOW IS YOUR BUSINESS VIEWED BY YOUR COMMUNITY?
○ To get a sense of this: Call five people you trust and ask them how they would describe your brewery experience, or share a short survey on social media to hear from customers.
● DO THESE VIEWS REFLECT WHAT YOU THINK YOUR CURRENT BUSINESS CONCEPT IS?
● WHAT SURPRISED YOU? ANYTHING YOU WANT TO CHANGE ABOUT HOW YOU’RE VIEWED?
● WHAT IS THE ONE THING (EX. FLAVOR, DISH, SAUCE, TEXTURE, STORY) YOUR GUESTS RECEIVE FROM YOUR BUSINESS THAT THEY CANNOT GET ANYWHERE ELSE?
○ Hint: The answer is not customer service.
|FIND WHAT DATA IS MOST IMPORTANT
● WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU SPOKE WITH YOUR VENDORS?
○ Hint: They can help find the best available products for your business. No matter who you buy from, there is no harm in asking for better products or pricing.
● WHAT IS THE PLATE COST OF YOUR 5 MOST POPULAR ITEMS?
○ How to find this out: List your top five selling food menu items right now and recalculate the actual cost of ingredients used in the standard recipe for one serving, based on this week’s pricing. Be sure to include the cost of to-go containers.
● HAVE YOU REVIEWED YOUR BEER / BEVERAGE COSTS?
○ Try this: Compare inventory to sales on a daily basis. Consider a third party vendor like BevSpot to partner with to make this process even more streamlined and automatic.
|REDEFINE YOUR STRATEGY
● WHAT IS YOUR JOB DESCRIPTION, AS AN OWNER AND/OR GENERAL MANAGER?
○ Try this: Write it out as if you were about to hire someone to lead your business OR have someone you trust write it for you and see if you agree.
● WHAT ROLES ARE NEEDED WITH THE TEAM YOU HAVE? HOW WILL THESE NEED TO CHANGE AS YOU SHIFT YOUR OPERATIONS TO ADAPT TO THE COVID-19 ENVIRONMENT?
○ Try this:
1. Write down the name of each role you currently have, each on a separate sheet of paper
2. Add a few bullet points about what that position does within your business
3. See if there are any tasks that multiple people do or any critical tasks that only you seem to remember or that you always have to remind people to do
4. Compare roles to determine if you will need to retrain on any duties or if you could cross-train certain employees to take on the duties of two positions
About RealFood
A premier hospitality strategy and design firm, RealFood helps restaurant owners and operators to achieve industry-leading operations, focusing on developing strategies for the future that support the overall business vision and desired guest experience.
RFhsd.com | 617.876.2100
