How A Restaurant Consultant Helps Maximize Results

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An independent restaurant consultant has various roles to play- be it providing expert advice on concept, design, finance, location, menu, and various other factors. Let’s take a look at each of these aspects in some detail:

a. Brand and concept: a restaurant consultant will help you develop the concept of your restaurant and accordingly assist you in deciding the location, design, menu, and pricing. They are also aware of which location works best for a specific restaurant format, and wit their help, you can understand your potential customer base and their eating preferences. Besides, the consultant will guide you in analyzing what amenities you should offer for the convenience of your guests, such as parking space, regular water, and so on.

b. Hiring and training: the staff can make or mar any restaurant business, and thus, it goes without saying that their recruitment and training makes a huge difference to the daily operations. Be it managers, cooks, dishwashers, bartenders, and so on, they can be aptly hired with the help of a restaurant consulting firm. They not only help in finding the right people, ...
... but also conduct interviews/screening sessions to choose the best for your restaurant.

c. Menu design: a well-designed menu acts as a tool of persuasion and compels your guests to order more. A restaurant consultant implements features so as to make your menu a crucial marketing strategy to bring profits and repeat patrons. They can also suggest how your menu can be redesigned by incorporating basic menu engineering techniques, and at the same time, also stay true to the restaurant’s concept and brand.

d. Finances: Restaurant consulting services will be of huge help when it comes to analyzing the performance of your restaurant in terms of profit and loss, cash flow statement, cost of sales, cost of labour, etc. They will work with you to set financial goals for the restaurant, determine the viable investment options, and use critical thinking to manage finances. If you want a 5 years or 10 years projection, a restaurant consultant will come to your rescue.

e. Design: the restaurant consulting team you hire will work in close coordination with the architectural team to decide where and how to build a wall, how to structure and collaborate certain elements, how to generate a functional floor plan, and so on. The interior design is also a key element, which complements the dining experience of your customers. It should be in sync with the format and concept of your restaurant.

f. Marketing: most restaurant consulting firms also extend support and assistance in the marketing and branding of restaurants. Since they have a fair understanding of the target customer base, they can offer the most effective strategies for building your brand and reaching out to the target audience as far and wide as possible.

To put it in a nutshell, a restaurant consultant will help you improve the overall performance of your business including customer service and dining experience. Since this is a people-centric industry, the perception of your customers can have tremendous impact, and a restaurant consultant will help you understand the demand of your target audience.