In my experience, There are three kinds of restaurants: 1) the ones that are in negative cash flow and whose days are numbered: 2) the ones which are hovering just above the break-even point, surviving but not flourishing: 3) the ones that are actually making money, either because they are great operators, or are simply lucky. Irrespective of which category you as an owner or general manager fall under, there are wonderful advantages for you to have a consultant come in and run a business analysis to your current restaurant.
Independent restaurant Operators fail in an amazingly significant speed, typically because they have several things wrong from the beginning cbap training. One of the most common mistakes is their restaurant concept was not a proven restaurant idea. To put it differently, they have had an idea, possibly a variant of a theme, but did not have the tools to create the concept fly. You will find business consulting companies that specialize in business investigations, but they generally run away from restaurants. Why – because restaurants are among the toughest and most complicated businesses on the market and, unless you have been in the business and truly understand it, you cannot compile a constructive business analysis.
Restaurateurs are Notorious for being proud and personal, and are typically hard-pressed to open their books and their companies up to a restaurant consultant. However, this pride can be a costly mistake since the advisor will often see opportunities to improve profitability the restaurateur never even considered. It is the old woods for the trees analogy; if you are so buried in your company on a day to day basis, you can miss the obvious.
When I conduct a Company analysis for an existing restaurant, I start with a meeting with the owner to talk about what they expect to gain by utilizing my services. This interview is often showing because many owners know what their issues are, they simply do not understand how to solve them. I then do a comprehensive review of the financial statements, followed by interviews with their management staff and some of their team members. I observe their kitchen and bar operations, review their menus and pricing, and look for holes in their security systems. There have been times when I have identified questionable practices going on the owner, because they trust their supervisors so much, never even contemplated. The analysis usually takes three days and once it is finished, I provide a professional overview write-up with recommendations and observations.
