Top 5 Mistakes Restaurant Owners Make

ColemanReportLogo04051253

November 5, 2013

By Bob Coleman
Editor, Coleman Report

RestaurantimageSays Bar Rescue host, Jon Taffer who has attempted to turn around 53 failing businesses in the past two years.

The Chase sponsored article highlights:

1. Getting into the business for the wrong reasons

“If the motivation is to drink and hang out, you’re going to fail,” he says. “You’d save a lot of money if you just built a bar in in your basement and invited your friends over.”

2. Not taking responsibility for failures.

Taffer says the common denominator in every failing business on “Bar Rescue” is an excuse. Business owners will blame the recession, the government, a new competitor, and even construction on their street before they will own up to their mistakes

3. Not understanding the three essentials of marketing.

Business owners think too generically about marketing, Taffer says, when they should be implementing three specific marketing initiatives: new customer, frequency, and spending programs.

4. Not staying on top of the numbers.

In the restaurant business, he says managing expenses is a science and must be done minute-by-minute. Labor typically eats up between 25% and 32% of all revenue, food costs should never exceed 30% of food sales, and beverage costs should be at or below 21% of beverage sales.

5. Not having the necessary experience or help.

Restaurants have an extremely high failure rate for first-time owners. Only one out of 12 rookies succeed, says Taffer, compared to a success rate of one-in-three for second timers.

Read the entire Business Insider article by Jenna goudreau here