After opening your first restaurant, your business has grown. You’re thinking of a second location, but how can you manage both of your restaurants?

In this blog post, we’re going to give you some tips on how to run multiple restaurants in multiple locations. Let’s get started!

How to Run Multiple Restaurants

When managing a restaurant in multiple locations, it’s important to stay organized and develop a system that works for you. Here are some tips to help manage your multiple restaurant business:

1. Create Detailed Restaurant Business Plans

Creating comprehensive business plans for each restaurant you plan to run in a different location is important. Not only will these plans help you stay organized, but they will also provide a roadmap for the future of your business.

When creating business plans, it’s important to consider factors such as target market, operations, budgeting, staffing requirements, and restaurant marketing strategies. You should also include detailed information about what makes your restaurants unique from competitors and how you plan to stand out in each local market. This is especially important when considering multiple locations because each area might have different customer needs and preferences that need to be addressed.

Once all the details are finalized, ensure the plan remains flexible enough so you can adjust it as needed. With thorough business plans in place, you will be well-positioned to manage multiple restaurants across different locations.

2. Hire an Experienced Team

To ensure that your restaurants run smoothly and efficiently, hire a talented staff who understands your vision and knows how to execute it properly. This includes a knowledgeable chef, an experienced front of house manager, and a well-trained wait staff.

3. Establish Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)

Developing standard operating procedures (SOPs) is paramount to running multiple restaurants in multiple locations. SOPs provide consistency and uniformity throughout the chain of establishments, ensuring that customers will have a consistent experience no matter which location they visit.

SOPs should include detailed instructions for all processes related to TCS food safety, customer service, handling complaints, inventory management, employee training, and more. They should be thoroughly documented and updated regularly as your restaurants and policies evolve.

Additionally, ensure that all staff members are trained on these processes, so everyone knows the expectations for running each restaurant location effectively. This will ensure that standards are being met at each restaurant consistently.

4. Keep Communication Open Across Locations

It is crucial to ensure that communication lines across all locations remain open. Technology like instant messaging, video conferencing, and other online tools can help you stay connected with your staff across all establishments. This will help streamline operations across multiple restaurants and allow quick decision-making under challenging situations.

Encourage team members to be open about their ideas and experiences so that everyone can benefit from the collective knowledge. You should also provide frequent updates on goals, progress, and policy or procedure changes. With clear communications, you’ll find it easier to maintain consistency between your businesses and coordinate more effectively when needed.

5. Establish Clear Responsibilities

When running multiple restaurants in multiple locations, it is important to clearly define the responsibilities of each individual involved. This includes both staff and restaurant management.

Each employee should have a clear understanding of their duties and expectations so they can properly carry out their job. The same applies to managers—each should be aware of their role in the business and be held accountable for any issues that arise.

Being organized and having strict protocols in place will help ensure everyone is on the same page and performing up to standards. It’s also essential that all employees are adequately trained so they can provide excellent restaurant customer service, regardless of which restaurant they work at. Having an established chain of command for decision-making processes will help streamline operations between all restaurants involved.

6. Establish A Central Command Center

This should be where all operations managers, chefs, and executives can get information and coordinate their efforts. The command center should include electronic and manual systems for tracking sales, inventory levels, customer satisfaction ratings, staff performance metrics, financial reports, and other data related to restaurant operations.

It should also provide access to up-to-date technology resources such as point-of-sale (POS system) and online restaurant reservations. Having a centralized system ensures that everyone involved in running the restaurants is on the same page when it comes to staying organized. Additionally, having a unified system can help reduce confusion between locations.

7. Standardizing Processes

By standardizing processes, businesses can easily track what needs to be completed and when it needs to be done, and ensure that expectations are met across all locations. This helps create a consistent experience for customers regardless of which site they visit.

Additionally, this approach eliminates the need to reinvent the wheel each time a process is used. Checklists such as restaurant closing checklists and templates reduce the time spent on training new employees and simplify troubleshooting in case something goes wrong.

Furthermore, standardized procedures make it easy to analyze performance metrics from different sites or check for discrepancies. Standardization also reduces the likelihood of errors since everyone follows the same steps in the same order.

8. Same Supplier Source

Having a single supplier source for all your restaurants is a great way to maximize efficiency, cost savings, and consistency. For example, you can set up contracts with the same vendor for uniform items such as food, paper products, and cleaning supplies. This will ensure that all your restaurants get the same product and price quality. Also, having one point of contact with a single vendor will streamline communication and simplify negotiating prices and managing orders. In addition, working with one supplier will reduce the time spent searching for new vendors since they are already familiar with what you need.

9. Hire Experienced Managers

The key to running multiple successful restaurants in different locations is to ensure you have the right people in place. Investing in experienced and proven managers for each site can help you manage the day-to-day operations while maintaining consistency between your restaurants.

Experienced managers should have knowledge of the restaurant industry, an understanding of the local market, and be able to adapt quickly to any changes that come up. They should also be willing to take responsibility for their own decisions without constantly relying on guidance from above. This allows you to focus on setting strategy and vision instead of micromanaging every detail.

10. Train Your staff

One of the most important steps when running multiple restaurants in different locations is training your staff. Invest time to ensure all employees are knowledgeable, competent, and up-to-date with their responsibilities.

Ensure they have a good understanding of customer service, food safety, health regulations, and any other policies and procedures you might have in place. Develop a training program or use an existing one to provide structure for your team’s education. Additionally, providing onsite meetings or workshops ensures everyone is on the same page about expectations and procedures throughout the organization.

11. Analyze Trends

It’s important to stay on top of industry trends and continuously analyze the performance of your restaurants. You can use customer surveys, data-driven analysis, or market research insights to identify new growth opportunities. Consider factors such as local demographics and tastes, pricing strategies, competition in the area, technology advancements, and changes in consumer preferences. By understanding these trends and adjusting your business model accordingly, you’ll be able to stay ahead of the curve.

12. Develop a Unified Brand Identity

Establishing a consistent look and feel to your restaurant branding will help customers recognize, remember and connect with your business no matter where they find it. This includes logo design, font choices, color palettes, website design, and overall marketing material.

You can also demonstrate unity by implementing the same menu items or recipes in each restaurant to give customers a familiar experience when dining at any of your locations. It’s important to develop an identity that resonates with customers from all different areas to maintain customer loyalty throughout your entire chain.

13. Utilize Technology

Investing in the right restaurant technology is essential when running multiple restaurants in multiple locations. This will help you efficiently manage and streamline your restaurant’s operations, from back-of-house management to front-of-house customer service.

Technology can also help automate administrative and restaurant accounting tasks and provide real-time insights into sales and performance metrics across your venues. Additionally, restaurant technology can enable greater scalability and growth by increasing production efficiency and allowing for easy remote monitoring of multiple sites.

By following these tips, you’ll be better equipped to run multiple restaurants in multiple locations successfully. Good luck!

Frequently Asked Questions About How to Run Multiple Restaurants

Here are some common questions and answers on how to run multiple restaurants.

What Do You Call Someone Who Owns Multiple Restaurants?

Someone who owns multiple restaurants is typically referred to as a restaurateur. The term has French and Latin roots and describes someone who owns eateries and actively manages them. This means they are involved in every aspect of the business, from staffing to menu curation and even marketing activities.

Do Restaurants Have Multiple Managers?

Yes, some restaurants have multiple managers. Depending on the size of the restaurant and its complexity, a restaurant may have several different types of managers that work together to ensure the smooth operation of the business.

A typical management team includes:

• A general manager (GM) who oversees all aspects of the restaurant’s operations.
• Executive chefs who manage food production.
• Front-of-house managers who manage customer service.
• Back-of-house managers who oversee kitchen operations.

What Is a Restaurant With Multiple Locations Called?

A restaurant with multiple locations is often referred to as a chain restaurant or franchised restaurant. Chains are usually owned by a single business, while franchises are independently owned but follow the same rules and standards set by the parent company.

Can I Open a Restaurant With the Same Name As Another?

In general, it is not recommended to open a restaurant with the same name as another. You could be liable for trademark infringement or other legal issues if you do so. It’s also important to consider that it could create confusion among customers since they will assume your establishment is related to the other one.

What Makes a Restaurant Successful?

The key to success for any restaurant is a combination of factors that create an enjoyable environment and customer experience. These factors include quality food and beverage offerings, excellent customer service, ambiance, location, and pricing.