If you’ve been running a restaurant only to suddenly find business and sales in decline, it may be time to embark on a total rebranding process. While it’s not a cheap undertaking, rebranding can be a saving grace and help you turn your sales and customer engagement around. It’s not something to be taken lightly and you have to fully commit to a complete redesign of your whole brand image, but sometimes it’s the only thing that can help you find new life in your restaurant. This post from Restaurant News explains some of the benefits of going through a restaurant rebranding, and provides a case study of a restaurant that found success with the results of their rebranding.

Rather than closing up shop and completely starting over with a new concept, rebranding gives you the opportunity for a fresh new look and feel while still using the systems you already have set in place (ie. your functioning kitchen, current lease, existing infrastructure) so you don’t have to go through complicated zoning processes and paperwork for a new lease all over again. Continue reading for more on how rebranding is the perfect opportunity to engage your customers’ interest again.

Read the full article here: Restaurant Rebranding with Efficient Function & Wow-Factor – A Case Study

Workplace injuries put a large financial strain on business owners, and restaurants see some of the highest rates of employee injuries. With so many sharp objects being used, open flames everywhere you turn and heavy boxes of food and other items, keeping your restaurant and its employees safe is imperative. Luckily, this post from Restaurant Hospitality has some tips for how you can keep your workplace conditions as safe as possible, while also keeping your insurance rates low.

Safety should be your number one concern as an owner or manager, and you should focus a good amount of effort on making sure you train all other managers and employees on the proper safety techniques. It’s also important to assess your kitchen and restaurant for any areas that may pose a risk to safety; clean up spills, have employees wear slip-resistant footwear, and keep your heaviest boxes on low shelves to minimize the risk of injuries while lifting them. Additionally, you should be sure you have a good workers compensation policy in the event that any employees do get injured on the job. While it may seem like a financial burden, it will protect you if any incidents occur. For more on keeping your restaurant safe, continue reading.

Read the full article here: A Smarter Way to Manage Workplace Injury Liability

For those working in the restaurant industry, the concept of “seasonality” can be both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, the seasons play a larger role in restaurant traffic than they do in many other industries; the summer months may be busy for coastal towns while the rest of the year is dead, and pubs in college towns may see the exact opposite to be true. However, as this post from Buzztime notes, it’s possible to combat the fluctuations in seasonal traffic with another aspect of seasonality: in season produce.

For example, if your autumn months are some of your restaurant’s slowest, you may consider offering limited-time menu options and dishes that highlight fall flavors like apple, pumpkin, butternut squash and spices like cinnamon and nutmeg. Not only will your customers be pleased with the freshness of the menu items and ingredients, but you’ll create intrigue among people to keep coming back to see what’s new on your menu with each coming season. There are plenty of great fruits and vegetables that peak in each season that you’ll be able to keep freshening up your menu to keep customers interested. For more tips on combating seasonality, continue reading.

Read the full article here: Creating Demand: How to Combat Seasonality with Seasonality

There’s no doubt about it: running a restaurant is hard work. But if you’ve been successfully doing it with one concept, you’ve likely had thoughts about opening a second concept to expand your restaurant repertoire and experiment with new flavors and styles. But before you start drawing up the blueprints and finalizing your menu offerings, you might want to take a few steps back and think about the work that it will take to open a new concept. This post from Restaurant Hospitality has a few points to consider before taking on the work of two restaurants.

Before you begin, it’s important to make sure that you have a solid system in place at your existing concept. Make sure that your training methods, management techniques, team culture and values are all buttoned up and able to hold up in the new concept as well. It’s also helpful to keep an eye on the market in the community you’re hoping to open in and see what kinds of trends are cropping up. Being in tune with your audience is a key factor in your success. For more tips on how to prepare for opening a second concept, continue reading.

Read the full article here: 4 Things to Know Before Adding a Second (or Third) Concept