Restaurants are complex businesses, often taking years to become profitable.
Even if you’ve got a solid menu that customers love and business is booming, you may encounter many issues. These resources and support can keep your restaurant running while you navigate the challenging landscape.
Here in the Midwest, we love the food industry. Wisconsin and Indiana are famous for their delicious foods (and beverages, of course). Nothing stirs the hearts of Midwesterners quite like a Friday fish fry, old fashioneds, cheese curds, frozen custard, beer, or a delicious pork tenderloin sandwich.
The love of food means the restaurant industry needs community support to keep the doors open. But keeping the doors open isn’t enough. We want restaurants to thrive. If you’re seeking help, look at these resources, from legal and insurance to customer service and financial support.
Legal Resources
Legal counsel is expensive but almost always worth the price when navigating liability concerns. If you’re worried about changing employee policies, opening to customers, and protecting assets like your liquor license, legal counsel will help you navigate smoothly. You may have used legal advice when you opened your restaurant, so having it readily available as you operate makes sense.
- Legal Food Hub: A project of the Conversation Law Foundation, this resource answers questions about starting a business, land access and use, entering into contracts, permits, licenses, etc.
- Restaurant Law Center: This resource offers a collection of webinars, regulatory comments, and guidance documents for restaurant industry professionals. It guides owners through issues such as employee issues, alcohol sales, cannabis, state employment laws, and more.
- Wisconsin Bar Association: Use this site to get a lawyer referral, find your Wisconsin-based lawyer, or find answers to your most common legal questions.
- Indiana Bar Association: Use the search function to find an Indiana-based lawyer to consult you on possible legal issues.
- LegalShield: For a monthly fee, you can access legal services from a network of provider firms and receive discounted fees if you must appear in court.
Insurance Resources
Insurance carriers want to help you mitigate risk and protect your staff and customers from danger. They want to help their clients stay in business and thrive. Your insurance agent is a great guide to help you determine the right way to minimize risk and operate safely.
- The Hartford: Not only can The Hartford help you get the coverage you need to protect your business, but it also offers a library of resources to help you keep food fresh, prevent fires, and reduce the risk of foodborne illness.
- Farmers Insurance: Learn about all the risks you face as a restaurant owner and the types of coverage you should consider, from worker’s compensation to equipment breakdown coverage and even food contamination shutdown insurance.
Health and Safety
Health and safety are critical in the restaurant industry as the foundation of trust and operational integrity. Following the appropriate protocols reduces the risk of foodborne illnesses, contamination, and spoilage, protecting patrons’ well-being. This upholds your restaurant’s reputation and fosters customer loyalty. Also, keeping your staff safe boosts morale and productivity, leading to higher retention rates.
- Wisconsin Department of Health Services: Learn about Wisconsin’s food safety rules and regulations to follow to keep everyone safe.
- Indiana Department of Health: Learn about Indiana’s food safety rules and regulations. You’ll also get access to forms you need to start your retail food business.
- Your City, County, and State Government: The local health department, Governor, Mayor, City Council, and other offices may provide newsletters and guidance about ordinances in place. Signing up for email and notifications will help you stay on top of the latest information you need to guide your approach. Local news sources can also provide helpful information and guidance, so follow trusted outlets regularly.
- ServSafe®: Get training and certifications to help improve your kitchen’s inspection grade and resources to keep everyone safe. Options include Food Manager, Food Handler, Alcohol, Allergens, and Workplace. One or more certifications may be beneficial, depending on the nature of your establishment.
Business Operations
Keeping your restaurant running smoothly is key to keeping happy customers. A coordinated approach to operations includes streamlining workflows, good scheduling, and staff training, and leveraging technology for orders, reservations, and inventory.
- National Restaurant Association: Find opportunities for education and training, resources on sustainable business practices, guidance for business operation, food trends, and menu development, and connect to state restaurant associations.
- Chamber of Commerce: Your city’s chamber of commerce offers resources and support for restaurants in the area, which is especially important for smaller independent establishments. They can help you find funding, employees, locations, etc.
- Rotary Club: Your local group can be a valuable resource for connecting with other business owners for cross-promotional opportunities. For example, a local retailer may offer to carry your restaurant gift cards. It’s all about building your network and working together to play off the group’s strengths.
- Independent Restaurant Coalition: Connect with other independent restaurant owners, get help with various issues restaurant owners face, educational opportunities, marketing and public relations, and more.
- Wisconsin Restaurant Association: As a member, you’ll get access to ServSafe discounts, health plan discounts, industry news, networking events, and more.
- Indiana Restaurant and Lodging Associations: Members get access to leadership workshops, discounted telemedicine, advocacy for the hospitality industry, and more.
Financial and Market Information
Every modern successful business runs on data analysis. Fortunately, your Point of Sale software (POS) most likely provides a wealth of data you can tap for market insight. Your first and most important source of information is your data. Use it to determine more than what sells and what items are more profitable; look at what sells when. You may find that you can sell more of a high-profit item like soup at certain times of day or days of the week, and you may be able to minimize waste by stocking fresh salads, for example, only when they are most likely to be ordered. You might be surprised by what you find in the POS you use.
You’ll also need to check regional and national financial and market trends. Here are organizations that track such data:
- The National Restaurant Association: Annually publishes Restaurant Technology Landscape Report, State of the Restaurant Industry, What’s Hot Culinary Forecast, and more.
- Bank of America: BOA publishes annual reports on the restaurant industry and offers valuable insight and strategies for restaurant operations.
- Nestle’s Trend Reports and White Papers: Find well-researched free reports, including Top 2024 Food & Beverage Industry Trends and The Future of Grab-and-Go.
- IBISWorld: Annual research report covering Market Size, Industry Analysis, Trends, and Forecasts.
Social Media
Staying active on social media is time-consuming, and you might be missing some critical steps, like asking your customers for reviews, no matter your social media platforms. Word-of-mouth is still your best selling point. Here are a few beneficial resources you might be overlooking:
- Google Business: The most important thing you can do to boost your business is to take charge of your Google Business profile. Update your address, contact info, website address, hours, menu, and more. Add attractive photos and descriptions, and ask loyal customers to leave reviews. When a customer searches for “restaurants near me,” the more information they find, the more likely they will choose your restaurant.
- Facebook and Instagram: The kids may be doing the latest dance challenge on TikTok, but the grownups are joining local groups for advice on where to find the best food. Join local groups and participate without trying to sell yourself. People don’t want to be invited in groups, but they’ll be curious, especially if you weigh in on food or entertainment topics. And, of course, post luscious food and fun photos on Instagram.
- Nextdoor: You can’t get more local than Nextdoor, so establish your business and advertise events, new menu items, and specials to invite people in the door.
- Canva: Canva isn’t a social media platform, but it is a free design resource for creating branded images, signage, and other visual content for social media posts.
Customer Service
Excellent customer service depends entirely on your staff. To ensure that the people representing your business understand their responsibilities and your brand, they’ll need training, tools, and support.
- Create a Free Training Manual: Toast offers this free training manual template you can download and customize, along with solid advice.
- Online Ordering and Delivery: Partner with a service to bring your food directly to your customer’s doorstep. The big three are Grubhub, Uber Eats, and Doordash, and you may also have local services in your area.
- OpenTable: OpenTable simplifies your reservations and collects guest information you can use to stay in touch.
- Create gorgeous menus: Adobe and Canva each offer free templates that you can use to create beautiful menus without special skills.
Leverage These Resources to Boost Your Restaurant’s Success
Access to the right resources can significantly improve your restaurant’s efficiency and success. These resources provide invaluable support in navigating food service industry complexities, from management tools and marketing strategies to supplier connections and staff training programs. By leveraging them, you can streamline operations, boost customer satisfaction, and drive sustained growth. The key to a thriving restaurant lies in continuous improvement and staying informed about industry best practices and innovations.
Today’s business landscape includes the need for improved sanitation and health regulations, a strong online presence, and building community trust. One way to meet these demands is having a hot water source you can trust. As always, you can count on us at RWS to provide 24/7 water heater services so your business always has the hot water it needs to operate. Should you need service, contact us 24/7 at 1-800-356-1444.
