Since the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020, food service operations with already established delivery and takeout infrastructure were better able to weather the storm, albeit with cuts to labor and refocused operations. The question is: How can normally less nimble bar and food service operations and independent restaurants adapt to this new reality? What do these businesses need to do now to get set for 2023 and beyond?
To help answer these questions we have come up with A Checklist of Considerations for 2023: Eight key maxims bar and restaurant operators will need to focus on to manage in the current reality.
Over the next three weeks, we’ll dive into each of these maxims and why they are so important to your business:
- Leadership and Core Values
- Embrace your current reality
- Health and Wellness
- Innovation and Invention
- Price/Value Elasticity
- Define then Redefine the Experience
- Outside Partnerships and Community Involvement
- Technology and Automation
This week, we’ll focus on the first three maxims.
1. Leadership and Core Values
Colin Powell once said, “Leadership is the art of accomplishing more than the science of management says is possible.” Every business is fighting for the same dollar, and the customer is squeezed by high inflation, rent, and gas prices. Now is the time where all your leadership skills are needed and, most importantly, the balance that comes with focused determination and cool heads.
Don’t let anyone tell you it’s impossible. The world has changed, and adaptation and athleticism are more important than ever. Consequently, you need to employ your intuition and every skill in your arsenal. Your most important tool in that arsenal is your team. Engage your team to create a goal then create a plan together, and if the plan does not work out, change the plan but never the goal. Keep your team included in everything. By asking for their help, you are investing them in the success of your business. That is simply the best form of leadership.
If you never had a mission statement and core values before, create them now and do it with heart and empathy, science, and intelligence. Take that mission statement and further define the core values that will guide your path to accomplishing your mission. Teach those core values to your team; managing through core values is the surest way to overcome all obstacles, while clearly differentiating you from the competition and helping to attract quality people.
Communicate, teach, communicate, and teach some more. The more you are engaging the head and the heart through clear intelligent and honest communication, the more fully engaged your team will be. Never underestimate the power of learning, and never forsake your core values!
2. Embrace the Current Reality
In our new reality, things are simply different, and while we don’t know the endgame, we know it’s never going back to the way it was. Face these new realities head on. For example, hybrid work is here to stay, which means so is delivery and takeout. The services you provide, items you deliver, and packaging you place them in will help you stand out. Change has always been, and always will be, inevitable, but the last few years only forced changes to happen faster than expected.
First and foremost, metrics. Evaluate and analyze every facet of your operation, every cost within every facet, every staff member handling every facet. Play to their strengths by engaging their grey matter in your learning moments. No detail is too small to think through, and no investment in effort is too large to make. Analyze operating hours versus revenue. Can you shave an hour here and there or potentially increase hours to create demand at shoulder periods or for increased late delivery business? Or do you really need to be open seven days and seven nights-- would five or six days be more efficient?
Create order out of disorder. The work from home movement has created great disorder to bars and restaurants. Reach out to office managers and those overseeing corporate cafeterias, etc. Blatantly ask them how to get a share of their business. You have a limited window where guilt may get you in the door, and while people are still working virtually, many businesses are subsidizing at-home meals. And yet businesses still need connectivity and in-person engagement. What better way to engage than an after work libation at local establishment? Ask for their business and offer incentives to get it!
Guerrilla marketing has never been more important. While the focus on technology is ever present, don’t ever forsake the power of a handwritten note or a small gift. Meet the office manager of every office near you and the managers of every retail store in your area. While I am not overly enthusiastic about discounting, offering these on-the-ground influencers an inducement to patronize your establishment will create raving fans speaking the gospel of your business.
3. Health and Wellness
This might be the primary category to watch and innovate within as all businesses approach the new reality. Both health of the mind and body, as well as health of the local community, will become primary focuses and key drivers of revenue and profits. Those handling Post-COVID awareness diligently will gain market share, those who do not risk facing stagnating operations. This focus is never going away.
First and foremost, take care of yourself and your employees. If you and your team are over scheduled and not rested, no one wins. Be creative with scheduling to build in time to manage your mental and physical health and that of your teams.
Staff will continue to be the greatest commodity we face in the next few years, and labor pressure is the number one stress point for most businesses now. To attract and retain staff, you need to engage both the heart and the mind. Just offering signing bonuses and increased pay rates will not cut it. Current and new employees are looking for a great work environment, scheduling flexibility, inclusion as part of a true team, and growth opportunities as well as increased pay rates and benefits. Employee training in health, mindfulness, and sanitary operations will become even more acute.
In most food service operations, consumer demand for healthier options had increased prior to the pandemic. Post-pandemic in 2023, this demand will increase exponentially, even for indulgent items. Plant-based foods, vegetarian, and vegan-focused meals will only expand in all categories and all dayparts. If you didn’t include these before, you need to add them to your menus now. The benefits of these additions are manifold, providing a minimum of increased sales and new consumer outreach. For example, why not push a kombucha with probiotics versus an iced tea? Better still, make your own kombucha and have a new product to promote.
Check in next Tuesday for the second installment in our series on considerations for next year!
Nick Mautone has 40 years of hospitality industry experience. Mautone believes in the power of mentorship, leadership, collaboration, and possibility. A highly regarded consultant, investor, and restaurateur, Mautone is the architect of an inventive process called "Hospitality Sabermetrics"--think Moneyball for hospitality. He has a sixth sense when it comes to foreseeing trends, and he is known for nurturing sustained success, streamlining operations, and aligning core values in every sort of hospitality business.
Plan to Attend or Participate in Bar & Restaurant Expo, March 27-29, 2023
To learn about the latest trends, issues and hot topics, and to experience and taste the best products within the bar, restaurant and hospitality industry, plan to attend Bar & Restaurant Expo, March 27-29, 2023 in Las Vegas. Visit BarandRestaurantExpo.com.
To book your sponsorship or exhibit space at Bar & Restaurant Expo, contact:
Veronica Gonnello (for companies A to G) e: [email protected] p: 212-895-8244
Tim Schultz (for companies H to Q) e: [email protected] p: 917-258-8589
Fadi Alsayegh (for companies R to Z) e: [email protected] p: 917-258-5174
Also, be sure to follow Bar & Restaurant on Facebook and Instagram for all the latest industry news and trends.