Four Biggest Factors of Post Pandemic Restaurant Success

When Winston Churchill advocated the formation of the United Nations and the alliance between himself, Stalin, and Roosevelt, he coined “Never let a good crisis go to waste.”

A year ago I told you the other side of the restaurant crisis portion of the pandemic would be a huge opportunity for restaurateurs who prepared.  

Recently I hosted some of my best clients, members of my elite-level Restaurant Owners Success Club, and other owners from the restaurant community in a virtual workshop: “Dominate Your Segment in the Post-Pandemic World.”

In the workshop we dove into actual planning and activation as a result of these lessons, to make sure we didn’t waste what we had learned.

Here are key takeaways: 

The Four Biggest Facets of Post Pandemic Restaurant Success

1. Confidence. In the survival phase, top restaurateurs performed at an extremely high level – deftly handling challenges and nightmare scenarios they never could have imagined pre-pandemic. Going forward, top operators continue to channel and tap into that level of confidence. Not leveraging your confidence? Keep it rolling and take on initiatives and projects that stretch you in a good way.  
2. Cash. At the beginning of the pandemic, the only clarity I understood related to cash in the bank – the #1 indicator of survival. As we emerge from the pandemic, top operators re-envision the level of their cash reserve. Often they build to that level with the help of government money they have received. 
3. Culture. Culture used to be an extra – like the luxury equipment package or the sport package on the car you just bought. Now culture has become the chassis – a foundation of the whole car. Today you must be able to define your activated culture in a few words, in a way guests and employees can repeat back to you. 
4. Technology. You’ll never catch up with the chains you compete with, but you must move as close to them as you can on technology to satisfy changing expectations of diners and employees. Your technology plan must be created and one person must be in charge of implementation.

As one of the workshop participants said: “I am not alone; all restaurateurs go through the same challenges and struggles. We went through hell and kept on going, so we survived. Now we must regroup and move forward in a new and stronger way.”

That spirit and consciousness indicates out-of-proportion post-pandemic success.

Over to you. How will you use what you’ve learned about your confidence, cash, culture, and technology to dominate your segment in the post-pandemic world?