Running a restaurant means keeping “everyone” satisfied at all times.
That means keeping customers, the Norwegian Food Safety Authority, the municipality, the tax authorities, the Labour Inspection Authority and, not least, employees very happy, if you want to avoid falling behind restaurants with little desire or willingness to accomplish anything.
By accomplishing something I mean having a passion for the profession, balancing the goal of expanding and becoming the next McDonald’s or a reasonably large franchise chain. ;)
Or simply running a good restaurant with excellent food and very happy customers. Perhaps you aim for a Michelin star or a top review in Aftenposten or DN.
What happens if you do not satisfy all these parties?
The Food Safety Authority may give you an unhappy smiley face, meaning few or no customers come, or close you down, perhaps because cleaning, health and safety or food storage are not under control and customers are at risk. Everything should be clean and orderly, with no shortcuts involving food or ingredients.
The tax authorities will not be happy if you fail to pay VAT, employer contributions or withholding tax. You will receive a demand and be in trouble if you miss the deadlines. Keep staff lists up to date or risk fines. If the authorities find cash kept outside the register, an investigation and a substantial fine based on undeclared cash may follow.
The Labour Inspection Authority may visit and be dissatisfied if employee records are in disorder, pay is too low, people are working without permission, or wages are paid under the table. The matter could reach the courts, making it hard to satisfy the authority again.
Your customers:
Poor food creates unhappy people, who create a negative image of your business, leading to poor reviews and lower revenue. Treat every person who comes to your restaurant as your biggest and most important customer. Do that for everyone and you will learn about service: excellent service can increase revenue.
Your employees: satisfaction goes both ways.
You should make employees happy while they make you and your customers happy.
An unhappy face greeting customers is no use. A happy face making poor food may be better than a grumpy face that cannot deal with people. Perhaps change the organisation: put the smiling, positive person in front of customers and the grumpy but brilliant chef in the kitchen. Everything must also work internally. You want a good team, like the Rolling Stones staying together all these years, with employees preparing food as consistently as the band has played good music.
Owners: if you do not own the restaurant yourself or hold a share, you must satisfy the owners too. That is a job in itself and includes satisfying authorities and customers.
Then there is the municipality. The premises must meet regulations and guidelines. Municipal representatives may inspect them and decide whether the premises comply: necessary equipment and facilities such as toilets, fire safety, plumbing and sewage must be in place and suitable for employees. Required documents and applications must be submitted. The paperwork, or digital paperwork now that much is online, is a major part of satisfying the municipality. Then you, the municipality and customers can be satisfied. The municipality is doubly pleased because your business provides employment and pays tax locally. Yay…
Is running a restaurant for you? Ask yourself whether your goal is to provide the best service and meal, or whether you want to start only because everyone else does and it looks easy.
You need dedication, oversight and passion for the profession. You do not have to have all of it at the start, but expect it to develop. If it does not and everything goes badly, perhaps start a new chapter in another industry.
Finally, you must satisfy the state and your family.
The state includes the authorities mentioned and does not want dishonest practices; otherwise you could end up in deep debt or face a penalty that might have been avoided by meeting your obligations.
Your family depends on the income you bring home for housing, electricity, food and so on.
Who should satisfy you?
If there is one group that should make you satisfied, it is all your suppliers: from meat, vegetables and every possible ingredient, to providers of different digital platforms such as marketing, and suppliers of various equipment, tools and machinery. You depend on all these providers of services and products delivering first-rate quality so that you yourself are satisfied. All of these links make up the whole of
YOUR product, which you sell to everyone YOU must satisfy. If you are satisfied with suppliers, perhaps it is easier to satisfy everyone else.
As you can see, running a restaurant means satisfying everyone. If one or more parties are unhappy, it may signal that something is wrong. Find and correct it so everyone is satisfied again. 😅 After correcting one issue after another, you are on the way to making your business desirable: people see satisfied customers, authorities and staff and want to join the community.
And it continues like this until you retire or sell with a million in profit, because you managed to stay consistent.
https://snl.no/konsistent
Fundamentally, this applies to everyone and every industry.
Is it stressful, or can it give something back through rewards, value, joy, happiness and meaning?
A meaning you yourself want to pursue and achieve.
Is that the answer to the meaning of life: finding a meaning and making everyone around you happy? Ultimately, you yourself should be the most satisfied. 😁
