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How to start a restaurant

Featured Article

How to start a restaurant

Starting a restaurant is as exciting as it is demanding. From the first idea to the first drink poured, every decision you make will either build your success or quietly undermine it. What you do in the early design stages has long-term consequences. In my experience, the difference between thriving and barely surviving often lies […]

Paul SarlasManaging Partner

7 min read

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LinkedIn Articles

7 Tips for Managing a Seasonal Business

One well-known challenge that any entrepreneur might face is navigating seasonal fluctuations in the businesses or industry. The key to doing so successfully involves developing skills and intelligent practices that will allow the company to remain profitable during off-seasons and periodic slowdowns. A seasonal fluctuation can result from dips in customer demand or supply issues. […]

Apr 8, 2015
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3 min read


Restaurant team gathered for a pre-shift briefing in the kitchen

LinkedIn Articles

The Pre-Shift Meeting

I have worked for several companies that held pre-shift meetings with servers and chefs. They have been called a variety of things. Line up, fresh talk, jump start, family meal, and many other names have been used to refer to these meetings. I have also managed at several restaurants and run my pre-shift meetings. Having […]

Mar 23, 2015
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4 min read


LinkedIn Articles

5 Simple Ways Waiters Can Create Returning Customers

Servers are your brand ambassadors; they are your restaurant’s face and your business’s voice. But sometimes, it can also be a deterrent to repeat business. If you dine out regularly, you would know precisely the service you should receive in a restaurant representing an experience worth discussing. It’s about exceeding expectations and not just meeting […]

Mar 15, 2015
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9 min read


LinkedIn Articles

Kids Menus For Restaurants – Quick Tips

Restaurants are facing, whether at quick-serve restaurants or traditional sit-down family establishments, the challenge of updating their kids’ menus to reflect the growing demand among parents for healthier food for their children. Parents are becoming increasingly aware of their children’s health and are considering new factors when deciding where to take their kids out to […]

Mar 8, 2015
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6 min read


LinkedIn Articles

Basic Pointers in Restaurant Management and Operations.

Statistics show that many new restaurants are opening up for business with an offer of something new in their menu. However, while there is an apparent boom in the restaurant industry, a few establishments still need to last and fold down after a year or two of operation. One of the cited reasons for failure […]

Mar 3, 2015
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4 min read


LinkedIn Articles

7 Basic Bartending Techniques In Producing The Finest Cocktails

Some think bartending is limited to serving and pouring alcoholic beverages and liquors inside the bar. Unfortunately, this is the common perception for those individuals who need to be made aware of the actual job description of a bartender. So, what is bartending really about? Primarily, bartending is a profession among people who are knowledgeable […]

Feb 28, 2015
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4 min read


LinkedIn Articles

4 Tips To Increase Revenues From Your Menus

By tweaking how you describe your menu, you can raise the perception of the food and command a higher price that customers are willing to pay. The cost of running a restaurant, cafe or bar is rapidly increasing. Landlords are pushing up the rents every quarter, and the shrinking labour pool makes it expensive to […]

Feb 26, 2015
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4 min read


LinkedIn Articles

Which Type of Restaurant Concept?

There are many different restaurant types out there. New restaurants are always open, and concepts vary from pizza chains to fine sushi restaurants to breakfast cafes and even restaurants that specialise in peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Despite the broad range of restaurant concepts, most are classified by one of three major restaurant types: full-service, […]

Feb 20, 2015
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12 min read


LinkedIn Articles

Buying a Restaurant

“It is hard work and is not as easy as I thought it would be” is often the answer I receive to “why are you selling your restaurant?”. Many purchasers of restaurants buy for investment purposes without adequately doing their homework. Consequently, many new restaurants fail and sell within their first year, often losing money. […]

Feb 11, 2015
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8 min read


LinkedIn Articles

Your Restaurant’s Competition

Gauging Your Restaurant’s Competition Benchmarking is the process of measuring the competition compared to your service and product to gain a competitive edge. It is an essential aspect of any business’s marketing strategy. You cannot survive in a competitive market if you do not know your competition. Fortunately, learning about your competition in food service […]

Feb 9, 2015
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8 min read


LinkedIn Articles

Franchise or Independent?

Opening a Franchise vs Starting an Independent Restaurant There are two major categories of restaurants: independent restaurants and franchises, also called chain restaurants. Independent restaurant owners usually only have one or two restaurants in a small radius, and they manage those restaurants themselves. Franchises are corporate restaurant chains with a board of owners and are […]

Feb 4, 2015
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4 min read


LinkedIn Articles

Restaurant Profitability

If the food service concept is sound and the location is conducive to that concept, the rest is purely mathematical and somewhat scientific. You’ll need to be able to create an honest business model before you decide to move forward with your food service establishment. Most restaurants fail before the day they first open their […]

Jan 27, 2015
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6 min read

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