Restaurant management is not easy, and it is tough to find the formula for how to run a successful restaurant.
Managing a restaurant, bar, or cafe is tough – and it involves a broad array of skills, from managing inventory and suppliers, to managing finances and running marketing, as well as hiring, motivating and firing employees.
Hospitality consultants The Perry Group published a bleak analysis on the lifespan of restaurants (and food-service businesses): a majority failed in their first year, and 70% of the survivors would fail within the next 3-5 years. A published study suggests 80% go under in 5 years.
We’re here to help with guides, content and advice for every aspect of restaurant management, from some of the best resources online, pages with expertise, and some of our own Candybar pages.
How To Run A Successful Restaurant (Or Bar, or Cafe, or F&B Business)
- Hiring and Motivating Employees
- Business Planning
- Customer Service & Experience
- Restaurant Marketing
- Learning Resources
- Visual Inspiration
- Case Studies (Global & Singapore)
(click to jump to each section)
Hiring and Motivating Employees
For the business to succeed, you’ll need employees to help out and work together as a team.
- The Guide to Interviewing Performers for your Restaurant Business
- How To Get A Flawless ‘Front-of-House’ (in perfect sync with your back-of-house)
- How to Motivate your Restaurant Employees
- Managing A Restaurant – Tips for Hiring the Right Staff
- Seasonal Hiring: How to Hire a Crew and Keep Them Happy
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Business Planning
Whether it’s a 100-seater restaurant or a 10-seater bar, it’s important to manage costs and carefully watch the margins – and grow the business and customer base over time.
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- Organic Expansion vs Franchising: Weighing the Pros and Cons for Growing Your Restaurant
- How to Open And Run A Restaurant and Opening A Coffee Shop: Your Ultimate Checklist
- What to Name Your Restaurant: 115 of the best Restaurant, Bar & Cafes Names to Inspire you
- How 3 Japanese Restaurants Make Profit Margins over 30%
- 5 Ways your Restaurant Point-of-Sales can create Happy Customers and Repeat Sales
- Budgeting For Your Restaurant’s Operating Costs
- How to Write a Restaurant Business Plan
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Customer Service & Experience
Good customer service is no longer enough – the key here is to find opportunities to surprise and delight your customers so they feel happy, spread word-of-mouth about you, and keep coming back as regular customers.
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- 6 Tips on Navigating Customer Recovery (when something goes wrong)
- How to turn Customers into Loyal Patrons and Fans
- What A Starbucks Barista Can Teach You About Good Customer Service Skills
- 11 of the Best Restaurant Menu Examples and 5 Menu Ideas for Excellence in your Restaurant
- How to Keep Your Restaurant Full, Even in Off-Peak Hours
- Customer Advocacy: 3 Ways to Get Customers Talking About You
- 3 Ways to deliver a Fine Dining Experience at your Cafe or Restaurant
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Restaurant Marketing
On a separate page, we have listed every restaurant idea you need to survive in today’s economy. Here are some of the top posts:
- 15 Examples of Social Media Marketing For Restaurants Done Right
- The Most Common Social Media Mistakes Restaurant Owners Make (& How to Fix Them!)
- 33 of the Best Restaurant Blogs to read for Anyone in F&B
- 28 Restaurant Review Sites to track what your Customers are Saying
- Anatomy of a Review: What F&B Customers Focus On
- 6 Ways to use Online Engagement to deliver a great Customer Experience
- 15 Marketing Ideas for your Restaurant to Increase Bookings!
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Learning Resources
Journey before destination. Our guide is comprehensive and well-researched, but not exhaustive. Here are a few more resources from blogs to books:
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Visual Inspiration
Sometimes a striking picture or a memorable logo speaks a thousand words and stays in the memory. We’ve captured some examples of great visual design if you’re looking for inspiration.
- 15 Inspirational Restaurant Decor Ideas for 2018
- 11 of the Best Restaurant Menu Examples
- 100 of the Most Gorgeous Restaurant Signs to Inspire You
- 11 Beautiful Chalkboard Menu Examples from Cafes, Restaurants and More
- 150 Amazing Restaurant Website Design Examples
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Case Studies
Journey before destination. Our guide is comprehensive and well-researched, but not exhaustive. Here are a few more resources from blogs to books, including entrepreneur stories from small business owners:
Singapore
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- Merchant Stories: Venturing out to find Fulfillment – Joel from Mission Juice
- Stay True to Yourself: How Park Bench Deli Made Their Mark
- How Selfie Coffee Went Viral with Less Than $50 On Marketing
- The Secret to Success for Family Businesses, According to The Milky Way
- How d’Good Cafe Creates Good, Nay, Great Products
- How NATIVE Bar Delivers A Cocktail Experience Like No Other By Embracing Its Roots
- How Shukuu Izakaya Uses ‘Educational Selling’ To Grow Its Business
- The ‘Menu Test’: How Beriwell Creates New Dishes That Customers Love
- Hyde & Co: How To Reinvent Your Restaurant To Capture New Audiences and Grow Your Business
- Galaxy Cakes and Twilight Drinks: The Secret Behind How Boufe Boutique Cafe Gets Its Customers Talking About Them
- How Wicked Garlic Grew To 3 Stores in 4 Years By Focusing On Only One Thing
- How Relentless Customer Obsession Helped A Poke Theory Grow Its Business
- Timothy Ong: The Palmary‘s Founder Shares The Story Behind ‘The Most Humbling Phase’ In His Life
- How ‘Katto‘ Grew Their Business By Listening To Their Customers
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Global
- How Subway Stays Fresh by Boosting Its Marketing Efforts
- How Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf Used Millennial Marketing to Build a $500M Franchise
- How Doc Ford’s Rum Bar and Grille Transformed From A Novel to A Successful Restaurant Chain
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And with that, we’ve come to the end of our comprehensive restaurant management guide. As the Candybar blog grows, we’ll continue to keep building up