Embracing Change

 Change can be a hard aspect of life to deal with, and for the foodservice industry, the result is no different. Unless you’re a nationally-recognized chain restaurant, embracing change may be the key to success. There are many pitfalls that prevent restaurant owners from taking the leap to change. Here are a few that may ring a note for you via Restaurant Hospitality! 

• ‘It’s our best seller, so we can’t take it off the menu’. Delving deeper into what makes your ‘best seller’ in fact your best selling item may be what’s holding you back. Are you underpricing this item and actually losing money on each plate? Are you REALLY selling more of this item than others? Check your POS system records to confirm.

• ‘Our kitchen can’t handle it’. If your kitchen can’t handle a new dish, then you may be stuck in an equipment or employee rut. Your equipment should be versatile enough to satisfy simple changes, and your employees should be flexible enough to be willing to learn some new cuisines.

• ‘It won’t sell here’. Knowing your ideal customer is one thing, but flat out refusing to change up your menu because you don’t think it will sell is another. Is your local competition selling items like these? If so, you may be wrong about what your customers actually want.

• ‘We’ll lose our customer base’. But do you really want a customer base that is causing your restaurant to underperform? If your loyal patrons are not supporting your restaurant enough to allow it to blossom, then it may be time for a reevaluation of who you really want as your ‘loyal customer base’.

• ‘We can’t afford a remodel’. This is where we step in at CKitchen. Have you even priced a remodel? It may be more affordable than you think. And at the end of the day, can you afford NOT to remodel?

• ‘We can’t get those ingredients’. Have you even taken the time to ask your suppliers? Suppliers nowadays tend to have a more diverse range of products than you’d expect, so it’s worth a quick call to your supplier.

• ‘It will be more work than I can handle’. Maybe it’s time to reevaluate your system. If it’s inefficient to begin with, then you’ll certainly have problems down the road. Evaluating the system and tweaking it to work with you is the key to being successful during change.
  
  

At the end of the day, you need to constantly reevaluate your customers, your menu, and your restaurant as a whole. Some things may need modification, and others may need to be completely scrapped. But don’t be scared to throw in a little change!