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The Restaurant U-Turn: Reverse a restaurant’s bad reputation with a plan of action that works.

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• June 11, 2023June 11, 2023
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Have you ever used a GPS and passed your destination? Does the voice tell you to make a “legal U-turn ASAP?” Or does he direct you to go around the next block? I know this has happened to me. Sometimes you just go the wrong way. It doesn’t mean you can’t turn around and get back on track. It’s the same in the restaurant industry. Maybe you made some wrong turns or missed some opportunities, but that doesn’t mean you have to give up. You can get back on track. It takes a lot of work and determination, but you can handle it.

A restaurant that has a bad reputation has a unique opportunity to redeem itself in its community. Just because your restaurant has a negative standing in the community doesn’t mean you can’t make things better.

How do I know if my restaurant is doing badly?

• Do you lose sales daily?
• Is your bottom line in the RED?
• Do you get a lot of customer complaints?
• Is your dining room half full during peak hours?
• Do you get negative feedback cards?
• Do you find it difficult to retain staff?
• Do you get negative ratings from the health department?

If you answered yes to these questions, you may be at serious risk. Most people can tell you to close your doors and start over at the beginning. Realistically, you are already losing money and closing your doors could result in a total loss. It is best to stay open and sit down with your management staff and supervisors and create a working action plan on how to fix your problems. Make a plan for each problem and set a time frame for how much time you have to fix that problem. Remember, every day you wait, you are losing more money.

This is what you should do:

1. Bring owners, managers, supervisors and key staff members together to discuss the issues holding your restaurant back from success.

   • Use your feedback to prepare a list of what needs to be fixed in your restaurant.

   • Prioritize the most important problems to the least important ones to fix.

   • Have these people take some time to brainstorm ways to fix the problems.

2. Establish an action plan.

   • Start with the biggest problem and have the owners, directors, managers and supervisors brainstorm how to fix that problem.

   • Make sure your action plan is realistic, has clear actions that complement each other; Actions must be measurable and have a time frame for completion.

   • Assign and divide action items among owners, directors, managers, supervisors, and key employees.

   • Giving yourself and your managers a deadline is important to progress.

3. Implement the action plan.

   • Assign specific responsibilities to each person for solving this problem.

   • If the first action plan doesn’t progress, don’t give up. Just modify the current approach, try a different approach, or move on to another issue that might make it difficult to fix this problem.

   • If someone isn’t doing their part, discuss why it isn’t working and determine what will help that person participate fully. This may also be the opportunity to see if one or more of the managers or employees are actually causing some of the problems.

4. If you find that a manager or employee is causing one or more of the problems, you have several options.

   • Verbally discuss your concerns with that person and ask how they would like to improve. Offer suggestions if they are not ready to come up with their own ideas. Discuss the time frame for correcting the problems and holding them accountable.

     • Ideas could be: additional training, a different job title, adjusting your schedule to a less busy time to work on changes, attitude adjustments, or whatever fits that situation.

     • Getting their input should help them move forward to change their behavior.

   • If the behavior does not change within the specified time period, you may need an employee report with a written action plan to correct the problem. Have the person sign the action plan and agree to comply with it within the specified time.

   • If the behavior continues with the written plan, you can make a second report or even consider firing the employee. Be sure to keep a written paper record to protect yourself and hold them accountable. If you do nothing, you’re condoning their behavior and causing a negative ripple effect that could lead to even bigger problems and more employees not following the policies you’ve set.

As a piece of a section of cake, please indicate what you would like to arrange first. Arrange one slice of the cake before moving on to the second slice of the cake. If you take too many slices at once, you will become overwhelmed and frustrated. This will result in failure. It took some time to get to this level, so take as long as you need to fix it.

If you’re going the wrong way, it might be time to make a U-turn! Brainstorm to discover their problems. Create an action plan. Implement your action plan. Put your restaurant on the right track!