In the kitchen space, a restaurateur is akin to a director on a movie set. But we are not talking about the kitchen where the food is prepared, but about the market for quality services in the “sphere of bread and circuses. Today’s restaurateurs make business plans and come up with new recipes for their establishments with equal passion and success. These pros know exactly how to get people into a restaurant by anticipating their desires.
Learning how to be a good restaurateur is possible. But you have to consider that there is no such thing as a profession when you have one. Professionalism will have to gather up bit by bit – from training at college or university, practical work in restaurants and clubs, the gradual ascent of the career ladder (from dishwasher to waiter, from bartender to maitre d’, from manager to owner).
Requirements for the quality of services offered by the hospitality industry are constantly growing exponentially. Consumer market is developing and the competition does not stop for a second. Is it any wonder that many restaurants begin to accept guests 24 hours a day, which is not the case in the same “gray-haired Europe”, and the working day of the restaurateur smoothly turns into a working night.
If you decide to become a restaurateur, you will not have any free time. The restaurant business is capricious and dependent on force majeure. You will have to be morally and financially responsible for everything that happens in the establishment. That is why it is so important for the success of the business who is in charge of it. Is it a person who has achieved everything himself, with persistence applying the talent, practical wit and accumulated knowledge? Or is it a businessman who made a fortune on something else and wanted to open a catering establishment? The first is well versed in his field and ready to adapt to changing market conditions, achieving results. And the second has experience in creating successful companies, but may abandon the project if he does not feel the returns.
IMPORTANT: The restaurant business is an art. To earn money in this field can only someone who understands that it is not food and drinks that are traded here, but the atmosphere of rest and new impressions
The main activities of a restaurateur:
Concept Creation. The type of establishment, the exterior and interior, the culinary direction, specialties – a restaurateur must paint a picture, as an artist does. And then bring it into reality, as magicians do.
Finding a location. The restaurant founder must clearly understand who his clientele will be. Age, gender, and social status of the representatives of the target audience directly affect the choice of premises for a catering establishment. In addition, you need to consider traffic, neighborhood, etc.
Work with the staff. If the staff does not know how to sell the product, there is no difference, good or bad. The quality of service delivery plays a huge role in the restaurant business. Employees need to be found, trained, constantly monitored and encouraged.
Attracting visitors, building a circle of loyal customers. You are wrong if you think that a good restaurant does not need marketing activities. Brand advertising, promotion and winning the honorary title of “innovator in everything” make it stand out against the gray background of competitors, turning ordinary customers into loyal guests.
It takes a restaurateur in all seriousness to navigate every aspect of the restaurant industry, whether it’s the art of cooking or marketing. And that requires tenacity, curiosity, creativity, stress tolerance, endurance, savvy, determination, organizational skills, self-improvement and communication skills.
Obviously, becoming a restaurateur is a very real possibility for many. You just need to be superhuman, keep thousands of notes in your head and handle hundreds of tasks every day. All that remains is to figure out where to get the appropriate education.
There are specialized universities that train professional restaurateurs with a strong theoretical and practical base. In the state educational standards of our country’s specialty “restaurant business” is not yet available. But there are related areas – tourism, hotel management, bartending, culinary arts, and all kinds of additional programmes and courses, training courses and master classes which enable you to acquire the missing knowledge.
