When i was a student in #University there was a topic in one of our courses that explained about the fact that there is no business that offers all required resources that are needed to ensure #operation success , in most of the cases we can find some of the resources but not all !
In some cases this lack of resources might lead to #Demotivating staff and can lead to turnover and these staff member think that it is greener on the other side but they get surprised in their new jobs with new facts that what was taken for granted in previous company is now missing with the new company even if the reason(s) for leaving from previous company are enjoyed in the new one ! . This applies to almost all companies that i have worked for in my career , as i discovered that what that business course from my #University was in fact 100% true and now i am experiencing it in real life situations !
Therefore , i am explaining here below the different resources that are OR not available in business operations and if available it will be important for the success of any business / restaurant / operation :
1- People :
We might not always enjoy having Efficient #Staffing in F&B / Restaurant operations , also it can be that we don't have the right structure of people in our organization with support departments or may be not the qualified people !...
2- Budget :
If we don't have enough budget for a project , how we expect it to kick off at the first place ? budget can be needed before a start of a project or at a later stage such as for renovation projects , Capex or other budgeted expenses that all would need funds!
3- Time :
Unrealistic deadlines are the most stressful factor for any operations ! either prior to new project launching or when asked to complete and deliver a particular task or even to submit a report ! time is key for success of operations and needs to be well planned for !
4- Equipment :
i have personally work experience with some operations where the lack of operating equipment such as plates, cups, cutleries had a big impact on speed of service especially during busy meal periods where turnover is high , given the example of breakfast rush hours in a busy hotel breakfast restaurant Or another example such as in the banqueting department of a hotel , where some hotels didn't have trolleys for transporting chairs , so staff were suffering to carry a stack of chairs hand by hand and move them for long distances with what that can cause for them pain in the back and so on , these are just two example of what can missing equipment cause to staff and operations .
Materials :
How many of you did work in a restaurant where you share in your daily briefings a list of what we call " 86 items" which refers to non available menu items and this is due to non availability of one or more ingredients from a menu item recipe and many operations have a long list of non available items which have direct impact on revenues ! adding another example , where in the past few years and due to the pressure of cash flow , many companies started having issues with their product suppliers, as a result supply chain became a real challenge , therefore , many restaurants had challenges in sourcing menu items' ingredients that are required to generate sales for their operations .
Space :
How many restaurant operations suffer from having small kitchen space or small storage or back of house space areas... , small kitchen space can have negative impact on menu items preparation and on food pick up as well as staff might bump into each other during rush hours and incidents can happen .Lack of storage can have an impact on increased breakages and loss of equipment also lack of stewarding area can lead to high breakages...
Services :
Some might wonder how can service be a resource ? well let me ask this , how many operations suffered or stopped operating simply because one equipment was out of order and no contracted service in place to fix it? imagine a coffee shop's main coffee machine is out of order ? or blast chiller for a pastry shop ? or the only blender or squeezer for a bar preparation area ? so if we don't have service contracts in place to ensure we get these equipment's fixed immediately this become a big operational challenge .Taking another example , if we have water flood or sewage flood in the restaurant and no service available to fix what happens ?if we don't have many third party services available from cleaning to maintenance to grease trap cleaning , hood cleaning etc... Than operation will definitely suffer and this will lead to loss of revenues and staff demotivation .
I would also add Technology & Software under the services category where also if we don't have proper software in back and front of house operations of a restaurant , this will impact on efficiency and productivity of these operations .I have seen many operations still operating manually and using excel sheets in preparing reports, inventories etc... , Imagine how did technology improve time and efficiency for those investing in Technology ?
As we can see , there is always a challenge in missing one or more of the listed resources , therefore planning proactively to balance these resources is very critical for any operations' success !