Hire the Best and Right Employees for your Restaurant

By Shareen Aguilar

As a restaurant owner, you surely only want what is best and efficient for your establishment. Though there are certain limitations in welcoming all the good things to a certain restaurant regardless if its the new year or not; you still have control over a better production, marketing and higher sales count for your business.

This is why you should already think about hiring the best of the best employees for your restaurant establishment. Why the best? Because, all the time that you are not around; the status and condition of your lifetime investment lies on the hands of these people that you call your people - your employees. Just because you already know someone from your neighborhood who needs to have a job, doesn't exactly mean that he or she is THE right person to fill in the space.
Next, we proceed to making it crystal clear that before hiring an employee to handle your business and profit; he or she will have to prove that his or her interests, dedication and qualification meets your standard and the work tasks at hand. This is also to say that the person doesn't only have to be the best in your opinion but also the right choice for you to work with.

Which is also why, hiring requires one-on-one interviews. Interview questions that begin with "why", "what", "how much" and "do you" are all essential in filling in the things that you need to know from that person upfront. It is also the answers that they give which makes your questions sensible. Before conducting an interview, think about the approach that you want and the message that you would like to send across to your applicant. This will give them the idea of the type of working environment and boss that they will be dealing with soon.

As for qualifications, you know what to look for. Of course, you will need somebody with a degree but do not forget as well that a person who has a college degree may not have enough experiences and skills that you need for your restaurant. This just means that, don't just look at the credentials of an applicant. If possible, explore more about what they have been doing in the past with previous companies and bosses they have worked with. Learn why they quit from the job and try to assess each of your applicant's passion to work for you and for the job that waits for them.

Shareen Aguilar is a writer for Restaurant Business which has information about restaurant management and restaurant operation techniques.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Shareen_Aguilar

Proper Furniture Placement In Your New Restaurant

By Sarika Kabra

Setting up a restaurant and planning its layout is a totally different ballgame than that of setting up your home dining room. While the latter has just one table and a limited number of diners, the former has numerous dining tables to cater for as well as it has to cater to the tastes and sensibilities of a much larger group of people. It is a challenge you can well take on, however, if you have done your homework well.

This is the place where all your clients are going to spend their time. The immediate impact on entering has to be fabulous, as the saying goes "The first impression is the last impression". So start working on it right away.

Start with the setting of the dining tables. They should be adequately spaced apart to allow movement to flow unrestrained. Waiters and guests alike should have plenty of room to move around without crashing into each other. While you would like to utilize your space to the utmost, do not neglect this important aspect. If necessary, go around and do a mock exercise to check out the problem areas.

Select a dining set to go with your overall settings. Have you chosen a theme for your bistro? Modern or classical, smart and exclusive or relaxed and luxurious, the choice has to be made as per the clientele you targeting in your business plan.

Who are you catering to? Are you targeting students interested in a quick snack and coffee, or are you planning something for the family man who wants a good time with his family in a cozy environment? You also must have a fair idea of the paying capabilities of your clientele, for that will decide your budget for setting up as well as for later actions like menu prices. You could well be catering to a purely working class clientele, in which case your settings will need to be very different from that of a family restaurant.

Other aspects that need attention are the selection of the dining chairs, placing of the cash counter and decorative facets. Make sure the dining room chairs are matching with the tables.
The counter in most restaurants is mostly placed closed to the kitchen door (as opposed to the exit in the case of most stores), enabling the counter manager to easily keep a tag of the orders.
If you are opening an outdoor joint, the view will be the predominant attraction, and you need not spend too much on the interiors except for the basic neatness aspects. Decoration of an indoor eatery is a different ball game, however.

Use Amish furniture to give a class to your restaurant that is unparalleled. Elegant enough to attract attention, yet sturdy and strong to withstand long and rough use. The beauty of Amish handcrafted furniture lies in its unique style and the special ambience that it brings to your room.

Having selected the basic furniture and its settings, it is now time to work towards the selection of the crockery and setting up your kitchen. More on those aspects in my next article.

Buy dining room furniture from wholesale Amish furniture dealers for the best prices. An Amish dining room table will last you for generations.

Where Can a Restaurant Find Free Advertising?

By Jeffrey Hauser

I've been in advertising for over 35 years. I began with an advertising agency and then started by own. Later, I became a sales consultant for the Yellow Pages. Most of my accounts were the smaller, family run businesses. Many were restaurants. Yet they all had one thing in common. They wanted either very low-cost advertising or free advertising. So I had to explain about the, "there's no free lunch," concept. They would be in denial and explain how they were going to use the referral idea, or WOM, which I call free advertising idea number one.

That’s right; they were talking about that good old “word-of-mouth.” But that’s not exactly traditional marketing. It relies entirely on someone telling someone else. The problem is that no one has control over what is said be it good or bad. So WOM can be as much damaging as it can be helpful. Even after that is explained, they feel it’s better than no advertising at all, which is typically a high-cost item. After all, they had already bought expensive equipment, furnishings, paid a store rental, hired employees, and retained insurance. Now, nothing was left. Wouldn’t that great large sign above the door be enough? It was their version of free advertising. Of course, if someone weren’t walking or driving by, they would never see it. So much for free advertising number two.

Then they might also tell me about their ten year old that could bike around the neighborhood and place flyers on local car windshields or in house doors. They could print a homemade colored sheet right off their computer printer for virtually nothing and little Jimmy was paid a few bucks here and there. And then I would try to clarify that those same flyers might make people mad because of the intrusion or annoyance factor. I know I hate to get something on my windshield. Sometimes they didn’t get my point, but then I was trying to sell them something.

Finally, they might suggest that another friend or relative walk up and down the street with a placard, offering a free dessert or something to entice the patrons in. I rolled my eyes and they finally got the message. Nowadays, I write on-line articles and read others about where you can get the best free advertising on the Internet. It seems that no one wants to actually pay for anything of value anymore. So, for those restaurants that now turn to the web for freebies, I will write this as a public service. If they have neglected to design and post their own website, here’s a free alternative.

Menuelephant.com is a completely free site for restaurants to post a menu and all their other information. Then a Google map is attached to show their location. In effect, it creates a web page for the individual restaurant even if it has multiple locations, and all for free. It’s also entirely free to the user and makes its money from Google ads instead. It’s a good place to consider for a restaurant that desires free advertising that works. And isn’t that what every business wants?

Jeffrey Hauser was a sales consultant for the Bell System Yellow Pages for nearly 25 years. He graduated from Pratt Institute with a BFA in Advertising and has a Master's Degree in teaching.
He had his own advertising agency in Scottsdale, Arizona and ran a consulting and design firm, ABC Advertising. He authored a book about his directory years, "Inside the Yellow Pages" which can be seen at his website, http://www.poweradbook.com and he is currently the Marketing Director for http://www.thenurseschoice.com a Health Information site and http://www.menuelephant.com which posts restaurant menus on the "site you'll never forget."

Attention Restaurant Owners - How to Create a Menu for Success

By Jeffrey Hauser

This is addressed to the one million plus restaurant owners in the US. You are in business to make a profit. Sure, you also want to pass on your great recipes, watch happy people eating and create a legacy for your children. But, when all is said and done, you are in business to make money. Doing so is another issue.

It begins with a plan, including the type of food, location, and marketplace. Who will eat there and how much will they pay? How will you attract them? What are your long-term goals? How about a short-term goal of creating the restaurant and surviving the first year?

There are so many elements in the process, yet it’s fairly easy to list them, not necessarily in order:

• The basic business plan
• Arranging the financing
• Securing the property
• Seeking out a contractor
• Creating the cuisine
• Looking for employees
• Obtaining insurance, accounting and legal resources
• Planning the marketing approach
• Setting a timetable
• Designing a menu

The last one is not the least, in order of importance. It might even be the first. Without a menu, you have no restaurant. Why? Because it sets the tone for the whole operation.

It lists all the items you have for sale. It shows the public your pricing structure. It gives other information such as payment types, catering, banquet facilities, delivery or takeout, and other details about your business. If it doesn’t, it should. It’s a mini-advertisement or billboard, that eventually ends up in the hands of every single customer, therefore it’s terribly important. So, how much time did you spend on it’s content and design? Probably not nearly enough, but now you have some food for thought (pardoning the pun).

Now, a few words about my background. I worked as a sales consultant for the Yellow Pages for 25 years and encouraged all my restaurant accounts to place their menus in the directory. The problem was the need for a full page to accommodate the menu. That proved to be rather expensive and therefore, not an option, for many family-run restaurants.

Today, there are several online versions of the directory that allow this feature. Luckily , there are some more specialized sites only list restaurant menus, but they also retype them for some reason. I prefer an online copy of the actual menu, which helps display the flavor of the restaurant. I think most people prefer to see the real menu for that reason. One such site even asks for restaurants to post them on their site for free. Menuelephant.com is my choice for placing your free menu. It will gain you maximum exposure with a zero cost investment. You have no excuse not to go there and try it. Where else can you get free advertising and a purple pachyderm as a business partner?

Jeffrey Hauser was a sales consultant for the Bell System Yellow Pages for nearly 25 years. He graduated from Pratt Institute with a BFA in Advertising and has a Master's Degree in teaching.
He had his own advertising agency in Scottsdale, Arizona and ran a consulting and design firm, ABC Advertising. He authored a book about his directory years, "Inside the Yellow Pages" which can be seen at his website, http://www.poweradbook.com and he is currently the Marketing Director for http://www.thenurseschoice.com a Health Information site and http://www.menuelephant.com which posts restaurant menus on the "site you'll never forget."