Years ago, I worked at a Jamaican restaurant that went viral. The place had raw creativity in abundance. Food prep and service, however, were a shambolic mess.
The staff didn't know what they were doing, and the guests didn't know what to expect. They were trying to introduce systems when they were already too busy to get them established properly. Staff churn compounded the problem. It's difficult to establish a consistent way of working when the team itself keeps changing.
The boring bits had been left for later. Later turned out to be rather busy.
Find out what your business actually is
When starting a hospitality business, you need to discover what it is, and what it isn't, before shouting about it to the world.
You open with an idea. Your customers become part of finding out how that idea works in practice. What do they enjoy? What brings them back? What do they keep asking for? Give yourself time to listen and learn.
Every venue is different. The space, the team and the people coming through the door all shape it. Stability and confidence in what you're doing, and how you do it, take time. They're difficult to rush into existence because you've booked an advertising campaign.
Made to order. Nobody guessing.
At Fork, our café on Newcastle's Quayside, we arrive early so the bread, biscuits, buns and Danish pastries are prepared fresh.
Our sandwiches are made to order, but the staff make them the same way and take pride in them. Nobody is guessing. You should be able to come back for something you enjoyed and get the sandwich you remember.
The coffee gets the same attention. We check the grinder and the espresso pull, watch the consistency and temperature, and keep taste testing. An expensive machine still needs somebody paying attention to what comes out of it.
Our space is small, so we organise it for efficiency. We follow the customer's journey through the café. Every customer is greeted and thanked.
Staff will always need training, and you need a consistent way to train them. Agree how a task should be done, show them, let them practise and check they've understood. The standard shouldn't depend on who happens to be explaining it that morning.
Let the regulars tell you
Give the business time to grow organically. Establish the routines, learn from your customers and work out what you can deliver consistently.
Before making a bigger marketing push, I'd want to see consistently good reviews and, most importantly, a strong core of regulars. Coming back tells you they found something worth returning for. It also helps you understand what your business means to them.
Promoting a brand before you understand it is a big mistake. You can end up making promises while the team is still trying to work out how to keep them.
It helps if the business in the advert is the one customers actually walk into.