I don't know if I'm going to post in this category beyond this post because I don't know if anyone cares (or reads this blog). I went to school and majored in Business Administration so it would be a waste to not put my degree to good use. So here's a short post that details about what makes a restaurant successful.
When opening a restaurant (franchises are a little easier because of the established brand loyalty), one needs to look and analyze at all of the aspects of the restaurant and the mechanisms behind everything. Let's start with the name - it has to be catchy. Next, the design of the name and the logo are very important because you're stuck with it so you want to be memorable in people's minds. We can also discuss the colors associated with the name and logo and the symbolism behind the color choices. Moving onto location, the first store has to be at a prime location to get foot traffic or it can be at an obscure spot that's hard to find so people can talk about it - it adds to the mystique of the new establishment.
Moving onto the menu. There's a lot of studies and findings on how to structure and build your menu; make it long and extensive like The Cheesecake Factory or to keep it simple like Raising Cane's. It's also very important to pick the right price for profit purposes and the purpose of making the customer want to purchase your product at the right value.
The design and atmosphere of the restaurant is next on the list. I care a lot about the environment of the restaurant (inc. cleanliness!) that I choose to eat at; if not, I'm taking it to go. The design and atmosphere has to align with your logo and overall theme of the restaurant for everything to make sense. From the choice of the chairs/benches to the look of the soda dispensers and utensil holders, every detail matters in the big picture.
Next up, the food. I can't forget about the food since it's one half of your product. Your food has to be good to most individuals as there will always be people who won't like your food and that's inevitable. There's a lot of fried chicken establishments but what differentiates each restaurant comes from the ingredients to the complementary items that go with the main product.
The other half of the equation is about the people. From top to bottom, everyone has to buy into the greater goal of customer satisfaction. Without customers, a restaurant won't be in business so if you're in the restaurant business, you're also in the hospitality/service business. Quality staff members who work well together and are efficient, honest, and trustworthy is a huge part of running a restaurant. The other part comes from management and other higher members.
Lastly, I will touch on a small but distinct aspect that sets restaurants apart from the rest - marketing. A lot of companies spend $$ on marketing and with good reason. Nowadays, everything is digital and digital marketing is where it's at. Social media is now a staple of our everyday lives and restaurants that frequently interact with their fans and produce exclusive and buzz-worthy content are sure to gain traction and continued success.
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