Hi,
If we don’t keep changing, improving and renewing the way we do business, we are going to have no choice to shut our restaurant business down, sooner than later. Agree? If yes, keep reading.
Today our business is no longer about just keeping up with adapting our menu and service procedures to the new trends in food and dining, but we also have to adapt to the latest trends and innovations in technology. If we don’t, our businesses won’t last too long.
But technology is just one of the new areas that have been innovating itself in this last decade.
2017-2019: The current trend is, ‘eat more local.’
2010-2016: New start-ups in the food delivery business and increased social media interaction
2005-2010: Food trucks, Vegan foods, Kale, Social media
2000-2005: Low carb and a transition from fine-dining to casual fun-dining, molecular gastronomy and craft cocktails
1990’s: Introduction of fat-free food and beverages
1980’s: The introduction of international cuisines and ingredients
1970’s: Brunch…
There’s always something happening that we need to do to ride the wave.
And if we don’t keep up with the new trends, our restaurants are deemed as dull, old and not fun by our adult and young customers. Ultimately our customers won’t be happy coming back.
And to top it off, today, our customers have access to so many sources of information from food shows, travel shows, cooking competitions, social media, food critics, bloggers, and from what they’ve eaten at other restaurants in your city and when they travel.
So, of course, they are going to want you to change faster.
So how do you keep up with the change and remain on top? How do you create change in your well-oiled restaurant business that’s been programmed to run in a particular way?
I’m going to show you a simple way you can make changes easy and fast in your restaurant and without resistance from your employees. So you can adapt and do what’s necessary for your business to remain attractive to your customer and keep enticing the adult and children customers to come back.
So this is the method we currently use to when changing, introducing or doing something different in our business:
Current Method:
After you take on the sole burden to decide what’s best for your business, you teach your employees what they need to do. Then you monitor their actions, follow up with more training. Then. Then you review their efforts and follow up with more training. This cycle goes on and on till you, and your customer is happy with the way things have changed.
Now, what if the speed of new innovations and trends increased? Would this method work?
What if your customers aren’t as patient with your progress anymore? I mean look around you, are people getting more patient or do they want things to move as fast as a speed train.
What if they decide that you don’t have what it takes anymore and they’re going to go somewhere else?
What if?
Well, the what if is here!
In 2019, you are going to see new technological advances in ordering online, new companies coming in to disrupt the food business, new challenges with finding employees in an already declining talent pool, new cuisines that eat into your market share, new ways of interacting with our customers and more.
All that’s going to add to the overwhelm you’re already feeling, I’m sure.
How are you going to go about introducing the ‘new’ and bring change within your business fast? With less friction and less resistance?
Simple. Use the MOP Method that Involves your employees in creating positive change quickly, with no resistance and most support.
MOP = Mindset, Openness and Process
The first ingredient is ‘mindset.’ You change the mindset of your employees from resisting change to creating change. Don’t worry, I’ll show you how.
The second ingredient is ‘openness.’ You remain open enough to change often.
And the third ingredient is ‘process.’ You have a specific process that you often do that when it comes time to change, it happens easily and fast.
This is how you create positive change quickly with the least resistance and most support.
The M: Mindset
So, we start by not doing everything alone, and involving our employees in discussing:
– The trends, the new happenings in the industry.
– The unique ingredients and the new dishes you’d like to see on your menu.
– The new service procedures you’d want to experiment with.
– The new technology our customers are going to use to book online etc.
You communicate your thoughts and involve your employees in the R&D of your business. Because they are part of the discussion, they feel involved and valued. Now they’ll stop resisting the change and become the catalyst for change.
The O: Openness
The second thing you do is remain open and listen to them. You need to stay open to their suggestions, their insights, and ideas as wacky and unpractical it may seem. (Truth: most of the time they had better insights than me).
You just remain open to listening to them and considering what they have to say about bettering your business. If you do that, you are keeping the lines of communication open and encouraging your employees to change their mindset from an employee who comes to work to earn a living to an entrepreneur who continually thinks of innovating and improving YOUR business so you can earn more.
Be patient, be kind and be encouraging.
The P: Process
The third and most important thing you have to do is to create a process of change in your daily work. That means you have to create a space where your employees can freely communicate and listen to what you have to say.
In my case, Every Monday, we held a 30-minute meeting with everyone and discussed:
– What’s happening with our competition. what were other restaurant concepts doing (menu, promotions, events, all the new stuff)
– Anything exciting or noteworthy my employees might have stumbled upon that we could use. This part was especially important because my employees spoke with employees of other restaurants :).
– What were our customers saying last week?
– And were there any positive or negative developments in our relationships with our vendors and landlords.
Everyone got a few minutes to speak, and then they heard me.
Now, because my employees had been involved in the whole process from start to finish, they owned the change, it was like it was their idea, so of course, we all got together to make it happen, and we did. Fast! With no resistance or friction.
My employees became change makers and training became the catalyst.
Because of M.O.P, we were one of the most innovative, lucrative and exciting food concepts in our market.
I also stressed less, stopped feeling like ‘change’ was a burden and enjoyed having many entrepreneurs on board.
Now, why don’t you create a culture of change using M.O.P. in your restaurant business and see how staying on top of trends and incorporating the new things becomes more natural and more fun.
Cheers!
Nandu Awatramani
P.S. My intention at F and B Business School is to help as many food business owners like you. I want you to have a better life with your partner/spouse, more time to spend with your kids, more disposable income so you can do things like hire a babysitter anytime you want and create a safety net for your family. I want you to earn more so you can enjoy the good things in life. And work with employees you love who will go on to make your customers happier. And your happy customers will then go on to make a positive difference in your community, because of you.
You can create that change. Share this article with any food business owner who can benefit from changing the way they see and do things and adopting the industry’s best practices in their business, so they too can earn more, upgrade their business and enjoy their life.
