RESTAURANTS – BALANCING THE ART AND THE BUSINESS

Balance – what an interesting word. According to vocabulary.com, balance means:

“Having the right amount — not too much or too little — of any quality, which leads to harmony or evenness.”

We achieve balance when the right side of our body and the left side are equal, allowing us to stand without falling. Balance occurs in weather when there are a proportionate number of sunny days to cloudy/rainy ones. Balance happens when checks and deposits are properly recorded in our checkbooks, and when, in a restaurant, there is equilibrium between debits and credits. We know what balance is but tend to resist the notion in favor of one side of the equation or the other.

Chefs and restaurateurs are always echoing the need for work/life balance, but rarely invest the effort to make it so. Our political interplay gives lip service to listening and compromising, yet it seems as if we remain more polarized every day. Balance sounds good on paper, but it is difficult to bring to fruition.

So, what does it mean for a restaurateur or chef to seek balance between the art of cooking and the need to effectively run a business and why do they need to be in conflict? As a chef, I probably took the altruistic approach towards my job often, even though I have always been fully aware of the need to be business savvy. The fact is the art and business do not need to be mutually exclusive – they can and must co-exist.

I believe that most people want to engage in work that is meaningful, to make a positive dent in the universe, to help people feel good, and bring folks together as a result. Cooking and serving certainly fall into this category – food is the source of physical nourishment, a vehicle for improving our mental and emotional state, a tool that helps to reward people and make them aware of those around them and adds real pleasure to a person’s day. All food can do this, but great food and the service that accompanies it, will also solidify positive memories that will forever inspire those who provide it and those who consume it. To be part of this is to feel a sense of accomplishment, a way to feel as though what you are part of is important and worth the extraordinary effort that is behind it. Doing this is one of the primary reasons why people are engaged in the business of hospitality and as such is necessary. This is the altruistic part of what we do.

On the other hand, this “mission” that many chefs and restaurateurs share, can only exist if the restaurant is financially viable. To attract, hire, train, and retain the employees who are part of this altruistic mission the restaurant must be profitable. To reward the farmer, fish monger, rancher, cheesemaker, winemaker, brewer, distiller, and baker with your business and to afford the quality ingredients they provide, restaurants must maintain positive cash flow and constantly work at reaching profit goals. It’s that simple – you can’t have a long-term financially viable restaurant without an altruistic approach towards serving and making people happy with great food. You will never be able to feed those altruistic stakes in the ground unless revenue exceeds expenses and constantly grows over time. Balance is what every restauranteur must seek.

We want to be in the “long game”, a restaurant that remains important for years and decades to come. For this to occur, healthy discussions, transparent communication, and loads of on-going training must be part of your business model.  Here are a few simple, yet very effective ways to approach the means to an end:

EXPRESS YOUR ALTRUISTIC STAKES IN THE GROUND

Be upfront with what you (owners, managers, chefs) believe is the restaurant’s core altruistic mission. Talk about this mission constantly, live the mission, frame it, and hang it on the wall, put it on your website, and social media platform, and start every meeting by reciting it. This is the restaurant’s guiding light – embrace it.

HIRE PEOPLE WHO SHARE IN THOSE STAKES

Of course, you want to hire great technicians with stellar performance backgrounds, but if they don’t believe in what is close to your heart, then the new employee marriage will deteriorate quickly, and everyone will suffer through the transition. Make alignment with your stakes in the ground an essential part of the hiring process.

WHEN MAKING DECISIONS – REFLECT BACK ON THOSE STAKES IN THE GROUND – WALK THE TALK

Oftentimes, a business mission falls into the trap of elaborate strategic plans – lots of good work, great ideas, realistic goals, and a vision for the future that sits on the shelf collecting dust. USE your mission statement – it is, after all, what you believe in. When decisions need to be made, especially significant ones, stop for a minute and ask: “Is this in line with our stakes in the ground?” If the answer is no, then you need to re-evaluate the decision. Nothing destroys the balance quicker than a business that fails to walk the talk.

ENGAGE EVERYONE AS SAVVY BUSINESS LEADERS

Again, if you believe that people want to perform well and make a difference, then give them the power to do so. When you teach them how, and shadow them until they become proficient, you must then let them swim on their own and trust their decision making. Show them how a decision impacts the financial viability of the restaurant or its image. Make it real – they will remember the stories and the outcomes much more vividly than simply saying there is a problem.

LET EVERYONE KNOW HOW YOU (THEY) ARE DOING

Talk about the results of an initiative to bolster those stakes in the ground and the financial performance of the restaurant. Share what didn’t work with them as well. Let them know how to improve and show them through your own actions how lemons can be made into lemonade.

MEASURE, MEASURE, MEASURE

Measure it all and share the results: the amount of food waste and the cost of dump fees and how much recycling or composting the operation has engaged in.  Show the results of portion control efforts and the value in standardizing recipes and cooking procedures. Collect comments from guests and share them with all employees. When a customer is unhappy, talk about ways to avoid that in the future and what can be done to win that guest back. Share labor cost and food cost percentages to budget and discuss how to impact both in a positive way. What gets measured, gets done!

RECOGNIZE THOSE WHO CONTRIBUTE TO THE RESTAURANTS STAKES IN THE GROUND

Celebrate success at any level. A shout out in a meeting, mission hero recognition in a newsletter or on a community board, or even a financial incentive at some level is a way to keep the positive energy moving forward.

RECOGNIZE THOSE WHO CONTRIBUTE TO FINANCIAL SUCCESS

Show all employees that a financially viable restaurant can increase rates of pay or offer bonuses. Make them part of the initiative to get to a position where that is possible.

ASK FOR FEEDBACK AND EMBRACE NEW IDEAS

Feedback IS THE BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS, but only if you create an environment where people feel comfortable sharing, and then only if you implement their solid ideas.

TEACH AND TRAIN, TEACH AND TRAIN

One of the most important parts of your business budget and one of the most significant parts of your job as a leader is to build your employees base of knowledge, awareness of those stakes in the ground, enhance their physical skills, and engage them in being part of a focused team. Don’t ever push aside how important this is to performance and employee retention. Invest in them and they will invest in you.

BE WHO YOU SAY YOU ARE

You are holding the leadership baton – others will look to you for consistency and for examples. Be who you want them to be and earn their trust and loyalty.

If you believe, as I do, that everyone wants to make a difference, and finds a great deal of satisfaction in being part of an operation that works in balance, then make it essential to your business model. Everyone needs to buy in if balance is to be achieved. The results will be easy to see and feel.

PLAN BETTER – TRAIN HARDER