These seven aspects of the restaurant business are and need to be evident in every restaurant operation. Yes as a small business owner during a start up requires wearing many hats. We have to wear all hats and make sure that all of the aspects of our business are in line and in control.

• Leadership
• Marketing
• Management
• Employees
• Accounting
• Service
• Fans

Leadership
Business owners have the ability to make great decisions or poor decision everyday. The ability to consistently make great decisions will determine your business success.
Business Owners / Leaders Provide Three basic components to their business
1. Vision / Mission
2. Capital
3. Spirit / culture
You the owner have the vision and the moxy to start and invest the time energy and effort into your business. You have the vision to build and move your business towards your long term view.
Capital investment into your business. Since e-commerce is favorable to bootstrapping a business this allow us to invest more time then capital to move our business forward. However Business owners still are assuming all risks involved
The culture energy and spirit of the business, your energy and passion will carry over to not only your business partners but also to your customers this energy and spirit carries over to creating raving fans
Management
These aspects can be broken down into 2 categories “Hard Elements” and “Soft Elements” as defined by McKinsey one of the largest corporate consulting companies in the country. These categories give us another angle to view our business to identify possible holes in our operations.
“Hard” elements are easier to define or identify and management can directly influence them: These are strategy statements; organization charts and reporting systems; technology etc.
“Soft” elements, on the other hand, can be more difficult to describe, and are less tangible and more influenced by culture. However, these soft elements are as important as the hard elements if the organization is going to be successful..

• Strategy: the plan devised to maintain and build competitive advantage in the market place.
• Structure: the way the organization is structured and who reports to whom.
• Systems: the daily activities and procedures that staff members engage in to get the job done, your relentless routines
• Shared Values: these are evidenced in the corporate culture and the general work ethic.
• Style: the style of leadership adopted. Position versus Personal
• Staff: the employees and their general capabilities.
• Skills: the actual skills and competencies of the employees working for the company. This includes training and systems.

So much of what we call management consists in making it difficult for people to work.
Peter Drucker

Power Base

The book “Powerbase” “How to build it How to Keep it” By Marilyn Moats Kennedy is a classic management book this is a great resource not only if you are starting your first management job to help identify and manage but also how are you going to structure your business as it grows.

The role you play as a manager is to remove obstacles and hurdles from the front line employees and their ability to do their job. Now Peter. Druckers quote may be a bit sarcastic but it seems that this is what we do to our staff. When it comes to your operation how do you view your position? Do you remove barriers? Or set up barriers?

Employees
When hiring employees we can really simplify the philosophy of staffing. Many business owners express frustration over the dealings with employees this one of the biggest reasons we start home based and web based businesses. I prefer to believe and follow Nordstrom in implementing their hiring strategy as stated below.
Hire Nice People
John Nordstrom
To follow up Nordstrom has a very simple management philosophy to match
Use Your Best Judgment
If we do not trust our employees to make the right decision then we hired wrong

Marketing
Definition of marketing; the total of activities involved in the transfer of goods from the producer or seller to the consumer or buyer, including advertising, shipping, storing, and selling.
To be successful restaurant marketers today we must understand statistics, return on investment, and be creative enough to work with advertisers, ad designers, and copywriters. We also have to create a step by step system, tools and strategy to help maximize the big three priorities our marketing plan
• Get More Customers
• Have Customers buy more per visit
• Have customers buy more frequently
One of the most important aspects of developing our marketing plan is to gather and interpret market and customer / client data. We must have the ability to track and measure the precise return on investment of all activities down to the ROI on an individual e-mail.

Cost Controls
Mind you own business
Jim Sullivan
Keep strict accounts, is the advice hammered into my head from a past mentor when dealing with small business. The ability to rob Peter to pay Paul has this ability to cause much pain down the road
This not only applies to cash and cash flow but to managing every aspect of our business. Keeping strict accounts is also one of the most important strategies in when it is time to deal with employees and training. Below are the top three neglected aspects of small business
1. Training
2. Accounting
3. Accountable Cost controls
Keeping strict accounts resonates through out the staff on what kind of owner / manager you are. This perception carries over to your clients as well. Your credibility will be judged based upon our behavior and attitude we communicate concerning business finance. Employees will gauge what they can get away with based upon the controls you have in place and how
Control Systems
What accounting system ado we use? Do we utilize the shoe box or a professional accounting program like Quick Books or Microsoft Accounting? Learning and getting trained on how to use the system is just as important as setting up and accurate chart of accounts and data entry system, daily, weekly, monthly reporting system. The next step is then to learn how to interpret the data that the reporting systems return. That is not all we then have act on the data.
A successful restaurant owner has to have strict accounts. Are our books only in place for sake of the accountant then we are completely missing a valuable tool to mange our business. Neglect our books lose control business. One of my mentors described successful business operation as a “daily series of relentless routines”
“Polished Shoes Saves Lives”
General Schwartzkopf
Thanks to Ben (Doc) from www.winningthearmyway.com for that quote

Service / Fans
Creating a raving fan is a multi-step process…
Creating raving fans requires three steps.
1. First you have to identify what you want to create for your business
2. Then model your vision for your business
3. Then implement your vision in 1% increments
To be successful we need to set goals for our restaurant, then and only then can we create the restaurant operations of our dreams.
Create a vision of perfection centered on the customer. Sounds like a no-brainer however finding out what each and every customer needs and wants is not so easy, once identified then begin to deliver that raving fan service.
The rule of 1%. That means you improve 1% at a time until you create raving fan service. Then go 1% beyond that service.
All successful restaurant businesses have three things in common
1.  Systems
2. Accountabilities
3.Training/continuous education
The systems are the guidelines for the basic required service standard that is acceptable to create raving fan service. The accountabilities are how you inspect what you expect, the training is just that, relevant focused, targeted. It is necessary to apply the other two requirements.
Ken Blanchard also identifies two very important barriers to creating Raving Fans. These barriers I have witnesses not only in a corporate environment but also surprisingly in small mom and pop restaurant owners. They are relevant to your restaurant operation, and act as a great reminder for managing the growth of your business.
The first barrier is described in this quote from Ken Blanchard
“most customer service hopes have been wrecked on the rigid shoes of immobile bureaucratic minds with in the corporate structure.”What is your Vision?

Raving Fans
A Revolutionary Approach to Customer Service
Ken Blanchard
Sheldon Bowles

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3. Sometimes a Restaurant Manager Sometimes a Father
4. It’s Beer Thirty
5. Real Leadership Part 3