Ask Questions 
Share Tips 
List Your Business 
Coffee Talk with Experts 
Biz Planning | Sample Plans 
Idea 
Name 
$ 
Do It! 
Promotional Merchandise
Managing | Operations
Work @ Home 
Yoga @ Your Desk 
|
|
Expert Answers to Biz Questions
Listen in! Pick up some expert advice to a reader's question that we selected from CyberSchmooz.
Building the Restaurant Owner’s Rolodex
Once upon a time, business owners had something called a Rolodex on their desk. For those who don’t recall, a Rolodex was a “rolling index,” and one could flip through it to see all the phone numbers deemed important enough to keep on file. Today, a business owner is more likely to use the contacts app on her cell phone, but the concept remains. Let’s take a look at some of the service providers a successful restaurant owner might keep handy.
Handyman Services
A general purpose handyman who answers the phone--or returns phone calls quickly--and can stop by at short notice almost any hour of the day, including weekends, might be one of the most valuable resources a restaurant owner will ever have. Ideally, this person will have some experience in basic-to-intermediate heating and air conditioning troubleshooting and maintenance, and the same goes for refrigeration equipment, plumbing, and gas ovens and stoves. Now we must be reasonable; a handyman with this array of knowledge and availability will be hard to come by. Once your restaurant empire has grown to several restaurants, you may be able to hire one full-time.
It’s nice to lay the foundation for your wish list anyway. General handymen are also helpful with the myriad upkeep tasks that need to be done to maintain the restaurant. The paint often needs to be retouched, bathroom mirrors can need to be replaced, doors need to be fixed, and so on. There are always projects for the handyman.
Cleaning Services
Also in the general service field, a good cleaning crew is helpful. Restaurant owners generally ask their front of house staff, composed of servers and bartenders, to maintain the restaurant’s cleanliness. The thought process behind this is that the servers and bartenders make the most money, so they should be asked to “chip in.” Or perhaps this is a carryover from times of yore when servers were essentially servants and were required to polish and clean all day while they weren’t waiting on their employers hand and foot. While there is some sense to this, there is no shame in realizing that someone whose gifts lie towards making customers happy, hustling for long periods of time under stress, and maintaining a cheerful demeanour under almost any circumstance is not going to be great (or enthusiastic) at cleaning. It’s not laziness; it’s just a different skillset.
So, while servers and bartenders can have their daily cleaning duties, a thorough once-over by a skilled cleaning crew can do wonders for how your restaurant looks. And you, as the owner, can stop riding your front of house team for dusty light fixtures and instead let them focus on making sure your customers are having a good time.
Specialized Services
Aside from general services, a slew of trusted specialists should live on that Rolodex, too. One thing restaurant owners focus on is climate control; everyone in a restaurant usually works really, really hard, and the heating and air conditioning units are no exception. As a result, the equipment occasionally fails--usually at the most inopportune times. Let’s be honest: A restaurant is just one giant living proof of Murphy’s Law.
A refrigeration specialist is also important. If you can’t keep your food storage at 41 degrees, you not only risk issues with your health inspector, but you risk harming your customer base. Also, drinks kept in cold storage are enjoyed best while they’re actually cold, not warming up--especially beer.
For additional service providers, it might behoove the restaurant owner to make a few internet searches for items such as electricians in my area, and so on. Never underestimate the value of these specialists. Many owners will keep a list of multiple providers in each category, setting up an order of priority of who to call first, then second, and then third in the case of catastrophe. Good luck out there, restaurant owners.
|
|
Small Business Tax Center • Idea Cafe Home • Sign Up • Biz Grant Center • CyberSchmooz •Coffee Talk with Experts • People in Biz Profiles • Starting Your Biz • Biz Planning • Running Your Biz • FREE Trade Publications • Marketing • Financing Your Biz • Human Resources • Legal & Biz Forms • Managing Your Biz • eCommerce • You and Your Biz • Gen X • Work@Home • The Fridge • De-Stress • Send an Award • Send an eGreeting • Yoga @ Your Desk • Web Guide • Idea Cafe in the News • About Idea Cafe • Advertise on Idea Cafe • Contact Us • Privacy Policy • Site Map • Small Biz News
Copyright 1995-2024, Idea Cafe Inc. Downloads are for personal use only, not for resale to others, and may not be reprinted in any form without written permission from Idea Cafe Inc.
DISCLAIMER: We hope whatever you find on this site is helpful, but be cautioned that it may not apply to your own situation, or be totally current at any given time. Idea Cafe Inc. and all of its current and past experts, sponsors, advertisers, agents, contractors and advisors disclaim all warranties with regard to anything found anywhere on this family of websites, quoted from, or sent from Idea Cafe. and its related sites, publications and companies. We also take no responsibility for comments published by others on these pages. TRADEMARKS: The following are Registered Trademarks or Servicemarks of DevStart, Inc.: Idea Cafe®, Online Coffee Break®, The Small Business Gathering Place®, Take out Info®, Biz Bar & Grill®, Complaint-O-Meter®, A Fun Approach to Serious Business™, CyberSchmooz™, and BizCafe™.
|
|
|
|