The Factors of Success in a Restaurant

• Customer service, which ensures repeat business, is crucial to a restaurant's success. Gary Yeowell/Digital Vision/Getty Images

  Opening a restaurant is a lot of hard work that requires a high level of commitment to achieve sustained success. A restaurant requires an immense amount of attention and management to thrive. Several factors contribute to the success of a restaurant, and the quality and type of food is only one of them.

Sufficient Capital

• You need a lot more capital to open a restaurant than the initial costs of setting up shop. It takes a good amount of time for a restaurant to build a steady customer base and become popular. Your start-up capital should include the costs of opening and advertising the restaurant and operating costs for the first few months. Since you are your own boss, it should also include money that you can use for your personal living expenses until your restaurant gains traction and starts generating a profit. If you do not have the needed start-up capital, your restaurant is set up for failure.

Money Management

• The lifeblood of any business is the ability of management to control costs and keep a close eye on expenses. A good restaurant owner knows the exact amount of cash flow that is coming in and going out of his business, right down to the last penny. Managing money properly can make all the difference when it comes to running a successful restaurant. If you don't have bookkeeping experience, hire an accountant to do the job right or take an accounting course and learn to do it yourself.

Organizational Skills

• A restaurant that is run like a finely tuned machine is set to succeed. Once the employees are hired and properly trained, you can allocate duties to each one to ensure that everything is in working order to avoid problems and guarantee customer satisfaction.

Delicious Food

• When it comes down to it, the primary reason your customers walked in the door is to eat. Your menu should be filled with recipes that can tempt any palate, and the actual food should be second to none. Prices should be competitive with comparable eateries in the area. By consistently preparing all of the recipes on your menu the same way, you can create signature dishes exclusive to your restaurant that will keep your customers coming back for more.

Customer Service

• Customer service can make or break a restaurant. Your customers are in your restaurant to relax and enjoy the ambiance. Anything less than stellar customer service will negatively impact your restaurant through word of mouth. Instill in all of your employees how important customer service is and that anything less than meeting or exceeding expectations could cost their jobs.