Key Success Factors for the Restaurant Industry

The restaurant industry is a highly competitive industry. Knowing and understanding your business and implementing key success factors could help give you that competitive advantage. Here is a list of critical success factors by rank. Is it any surprise that happy employees are the most important factor to success? If the employees are happy, the guest will be happy too. Of course it helps if you also have a good product. Check out the rest of the list:

Critical Success Factor:

1. Employee attitude 
2. Guest satisfaction (Service)
3. Superior product
4. Great location
5. Maximize revenue/Cost control
6. Increase market share
7. Increase customer price-value perception
8. Achieve market segmentation

Key to success

Here is a more detailed list of the key success factors for the restaurant industry. 

How many of them are you doing?

• Hire reliable employees. A business is only as good as its employees!

• Gain a competitive advantage through cost or differentiation

• Measure and incorporate tactics into scripts to increase check averages. For example, "would you like to start off with a soup or salad?"

• Measure and control waste in the kitchen

• Know your busy and slow time and schedule the staff accordingly

• Portion control: not too much or too little

• Know your price points

• Benchmarking: know what your industry norm is and where you sit in relation to it

• Calculate your labor costs as % of Sales

• Have an extensive team training / induction program to ensure skills are shared

• Mystery shop your restaurant, measuring service is so important

• Invite guests to come back, offer free meals on birthday or bring a friend promotions

• Solicit guest referrals

• 80/20 Rule - find out what actually sells based on $ and promote items that are selling and delete the ones that are not.

• Measure # transactions/repeat custom, loyalty cards work well for this

• Kitchen system: Set-up for efficiency. Ensure everything has its place and is put away when finished with.

• Ordering system: have a standard checklist of items for purchase with minimum restocking levels that is checked prior to ordering

• Set up sections for efficiency, standardize the way tables are set, table arrangement, seating order and who is to cover what area

• Sanitation: Keep the restaurant clean.

• View things from the customers eye including: Parking availability, street appeal and signage, and guest perception when seated

• Build a database so you can communicate with your customers, offer a membership card in exchange for their details and keep in-touch with them a minimum of every 90 days

• Implement social media marketing through Facebook and Twitter. Allow your guests to talk about their experience and interact with them on a personal level. Use social media to create excitement on new menu rollouts and special promotions.

• Loyalty program: create Membership with a card and entice guest to come back often!

There you have it!! The key success factors for the restaurant industry. Doing these key success factors will help bring in guest and keep them coming back for more.