New year is a time for reflection, particularly on what’s working and what’s not in your restaurant. Follow our top 8 restaurant new year goals and improve in 2023.
Create the best restaurant new year wishes with this guide (via Flickr courtesy of Theo Crazzolara, Creative Commons 2.0)
1. Revisit Your Restaurant New Year Goals
First, to build a foundation, every restaurant owner has to enter the question stage.
Traditionally, January is a quiet month. Make plans to boost trade during the slow period (better known as the post-Christmas slump), but also try to spend time in reflection, looking back on your business goals, particularly past plans you’ve made.
Ask yourself if you’re ever previously set realistic restaurant new year goals. With the oncoming of the new year, the point is to embrace change and continual movement. You can never step into the same river twice. Like so, embrace a flexible attitude that accepts an ever-changing landscape.
Get into the habit now of setting out SMART goals. This is a well-known method that establishes concrete restaurant new year resolutions for the future, listed here:
- Specific. In other words, be clear. Vagueness contributes to lack of success. Articulate clearly your goals. For example, instead of saying, “Next year I want to make more money” , break the goal down to something much more specific — i.e., increase Wednesday’s turnover rate by twenty per cent.
- Measurable. Define the data to measure your goal, then work towards it. This will allow you to measure your progress — and therefore ensure motivation.
- Achievable. A good goal should always stand on the platform of reality. Step back from thoughts that promote idealism. Even if it’s a big goal, always break it down into do-able chunks. You can’t eat a whole cake, but you can divide it into six.
- Relevant. This is a simple lesson in starting from ground zero: i.e., yourself. Align your goals with the mission of your endeavours in the restaurant industry — not what others are doing. Practice defining what benefits your goals would bring to the table, your restaurant, and work on from there.
- Time. Create a timeline and set a final date. This will book-end your restaurant new year goals from start to finish. Most importantly, it will establish your measure of success. The time-bound goal is always a worthy one.
“Without concrete goals, you are essentially shooting in the dark trying to improve,” writes Forbes. So start early, and stay ahead of everyone else.
2. Revise Past Restaurant Reviews
Time to take on board what your customers have said about you in the past year, both positive and negative.
Customers share their reviews to large audiences online on websites such as TripAdvisor and Google reviews. Academic researchers have shown that online reviews have a very significant impact on sales, drawing on the long-held view that word-of-mouth shapes your customer’s attitudes.
So reel in the new year and use review platforms to your advantage. It pays to respond to online reviews.
3. Signal That You’re Improving Your Services
A new year means new stories for your restaurant.
People want to know what’s new with you. Every week new restaurants open in cities across the world. To compete, you’ll have to update customers on what makes you stand out from the rest.
Do so in a way that gets visitors excited. Methods such as social media posts or engaging online imagery are quick ways to represent yourself to your customers.
Share restaurant new year wishes with new stories (creative commons 2.0, courtesy of Ginny via Flickr)
4. Review Your Team
A productive workforce is the essential ingredient to any restaurant’s success.
A restaurant’s greatness, in both popularity and customer loyalty, comes under the ability of a good team. Good teams make good restaurants.
They also require good visions. At heart, a shared vision should inspire everyone — to bring a flourishing restaurant into the new year better than before.
So the challenge is to motivate your team. As a restaurant manager, this may sound difficult but there are multiple ways of doing this. The key is to find what works for both you and your staff
Generally speaking a well-strewn tactic is to delve straight into common sense. Simply listen to what your team has to say. Open a space to share feelings on both the good and bad aspects of the past year. Increase employee engagement; regularly ask how they are doing.
5. Look for Ways to Save Money
Every restaurant owner would like to reframe how they save, spend, and give — the question is how to do so efficiently?
The best route forward for 2023 is to explore new technology. Many options are available but very few come absolutely free.
This point among your restaurant new year goals could transform your venue for the better, kicking off 2023 with a top way to improve. Help modernise your restaurant’s operations without spending a penny. Carbonara offers free restaurant software, believing in the idea that venues shouldn’t have to pay more in an already money-tight field.
Cover all the benefits, and focus more on the things that matter, such as food quality and service.
6. Attend to All the Little Things
Contrary to an eye-level glance, attending to all the little things is actually a big matter.
This means putting aside extra time toward looking at all the restaurant matters on the yearly agenda that you usually put aside for last — all the bullet points and items that come third and fourth on your To Do list.
Granted, it’s very tempting to neglect such pressing issues. So now is the time to employ a can-do attitude.
One of the most common duties everyone neglects is their finances, simply because money represents stress for most hard-working people. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
Experts writing in Harvard Business Review offer a head-start guide on managing your finances, from creating emergency funds to using easy methods to help keep ahead of your funds.
Don’t forget: restaurant analytics also offer a helping hand, making sure your financial stress keeps at a minimum. Keep up to speed with Carbonara’s free analysis reports.
Discover your best restaurant new year goals with Carbonara app (via Flickr courtesy of Carlo Bonini, Creative Commons 2.0)
7. Do Your Best to Prepare for Emergencies
Today, it’s very important to regulate a fund you can fall back on to keep your restaurant’s operations moving. Many would call this a financial cushion.
Simply setting aside a small amount every month (e.g. £50—£150) can over time accumulate into a nice back-up account for unexpected circumstances. Doing so will allow you to get comfortable with the sense of financial security this brings, both psychological and physical.
Riding the wave of incoming COVID-19 regulations, the restaurant industry is constantly turning corners into unexpected territory. In March 2020, for instance, many were convinced that government-mandated restrictions would only last a few months.
Restaurants are currently fighting against staff shortages. Small teams are putting up with increased workloads that stretch their manpower. Having a back-up fund can help you manage unforeseen drops in staff numbers.
Not to mention all the things restaurants have always dealt with along the line — breakages in equipment, sudden damages in appliances, such as refrigerators.
With a little extra money in our back pocket for the coming year , these problems will no longer pose the same level of threat as before. It’s not only one of the top restaurant new year goals but advice for every walk of life.
8. Restructure your Restaurant
Last but not least, a thorough overhaul is always an option — but this isn’t as drastic as it sounds.
Restaurants don’t have to strip the tables to come up with a fresh public image. Restructuring your restaurant can be as simple as, say, rebranding who you are. A new colour scheme for instance or logo change can help sharpen your restaurant’s look for 2023.
Stay stylish, and observe how other restaurants stay looking fresh in today’s world. Doing so will ensure you stay up-to-date with the times.
Whatever your restaurant new year goals, bring in the best version of 2023 with a restaurant app. Contact us to discover our current work with restaurants across the world.
