Opening times and other questions.

[Boerenkool]

My restaurant is open four days a week, but it is going so well I think I should open every night.

Opening hours now are
Thursday 12.00- midnight

Friday 12.00- 1.00

Saturday 12.00-1.00
and
Sunday only for lunch. 12.00-16.00

Well, if guests want to stay longer I usually let them.

I have one assistant chef, one girly waiter(she is so freaking hot!) and one dude(also winedude and host, besides me). I cook, and do the buying, administration, organise stuff and so much freaking things more. Oh, and not to forget the cleaning/dishwasher/onioncutter/garlic pealer moron.

Any experience with a growing business anyone? My theme nights seem to work very well, and I always do those on thursdays.

Maybe there should be a forum on the businesswise side of running your shop on this forum where we can share information.

BTW, I have a kickass recipe (Moroccan/Dutch combo, Halal also ), but I am not sure if I should post this on the net, are you all pro's besides the lurkers?

Ok, very disorganized post and questions.

[chefjohn]

this is a very tricky decision to make. you sound like you are pretty strapped for help the way it is, can you really justify killing the staff and yourself for another night of the week??? Is it a money situation do you need the extra revenue? Working at a place that is open 365 days a year and 18 hrs a day I envy your dilema do I go from a couple days off to just one or two !!! How big is your customer base??? I have seen some places that work great only open a limited time or prime time since it wasnt worth it to be open earlier in the week when there wasnt much traffic anyway I am sure this didn t help much but whatever happens good luck!!!!!!!

[VHo]

Maybe there should be a forum on the businesswise side of running your shop on this forum where we can share information.

are you all pro's besides the lurkers?


the "food service forum" is a place for you pro's to discuss bitness.

me = rookie home cook. good question percentage of pro's to non pro's here. also a good question how many lurk w/o posting, maybe fred has some idea.

[Rockyroad]

Try one day at a time. Increase to 5 days but make it a short day... reservation only. See how it goes from there.

I have a friend in a small town... 12,000 people. She opened an Italian Restaraunt, very posh, very uptown and ritzy and only opened for lunch and reservation only on Fri & Sat nights from 5:30 PM till 11PM. As the popularity grew she has added a night (reservation only) for all weekdays. She still has Sundays completely closed. But she only added one night a week and made certain she had the clientel and the demand. She's raking in money hand over fist but she eased into it, and the reservation idea for evenings only, seems to have made her even more in demand.

[blwchef]

To me it sounds like you have the perfect set up. I would love to have 4 day a week restaurant that was tiny and profitable. I would maybe consider opening one other day, maybe. You would need more staff and then that's a whole nother head ache. You must weigh the the amount of staffing you need to add plus the extra time involved for yourself versus possible business and your quality of life. I found out that my time is more valuable to me now than when I started off in my career. 65 hours a week is the most I'm willing to work for someone and money, perks, people and creative freedom better all be right.

[Rockyroad]

And just try short time periods like my friend did with the 5:30PM till 11PM That way she didn't burn out her staff.

[Sid Post]

I would think you are better off doing fewer hours with higher profits. You seem to have hit a "sweet spot" where the amount of business and revenue are high. Would adding more hours add enough revenue to justify the extra staff, stress, and workload?

RockyRoad's suggestion about growing slowly with reservations sound like a very good plan too!

[Boerenkool]

Thanks for the replies sofar. For the opening hours, I am always open late because of the city my restaurant is in is quite a rich city, my 'tiny' restaurant is based in the middle of the centre and people here want to take their time going out (and spend their money). It is bringing in enough money for me to have a decent income and I can afford to pay my parttimers a salary that's well over the mediate salary around these parts.

But hey, I would like to drive that new beamer also...

Next to my restaurant in the same building is a clothingshop that doesn't do too well, I was offered by the firm who rents the shop out a nice deal and could expand my bizz that way. My restaurant would grow almost three times as it is now and I would need a lot of cash. The firm who owns the building is willing to lend me the cash and the banks would also.

So this is what I am looking at, I am pretty sure my current staff wouldn't mind working extra hours or even hiring maybe one or two people extra for an extra opening day or maybe two. I am sure I can fill my seats. (BTW, I only work on reservation, except for lunch and maybe some wander offs who walk in.)

Does this all makes sense? I hope so.

I would like to post pictures of my place to make clear how the situation is, but this forum is open to everyone on the net, and I like to keep my anonimity for mr Joe Surfer. Maybe a hidden forum for the more contributing members would be an idea. Just an idea, slap me if I am backseat moderating or meddling too much with the forum policy.

Anyway, to expand and take this opportunity and work like a dog the next coming months or go slowly and wait untill the next chance comes along.

Btw, I just LOVE my free time and I have a really relaxed thing here now, but some more cash would always be welcome. I am in dubio.

[blwchef]

If you choose to expand you will need one excellent sous chef to run the show when you are off and help train the new staff. If you can find the right person and the money is good then you can gain back your free time down the road after you feel comfortable that things will run smoothly. If feel you can pull this off than I say go for it. Or if you want just a bit more money raise your price point and start tricking out you menu a bit more. A little more finesse and luxory products always help guests to open their wallets a bit more. Offer chef's tasting menus for a premium price, maybe a chef's table.
Just some random ideas.

[Grouch]

How about 1-2 days a month (on your typical off nights), offering a special prix fix multi-course wine pairing dinner?

[Boerenkool]

Thx Grouch, that is a very good idea I will put in motion as soon as I walk out this room downstairs to the restaurant.