By Hayley McGhee
WASHINGTON – When Geoff Tracy told his mentor in the restaurant industry that he had the coolest job in the world, Tracy’s mentor thought that he was crazy.
“I told him, I might be,” Tracy said.
Restaurateurs, whether they know it or not, play a game of survival of the fittest. The key to having a successful, profitable eatery is to avoid the common mistakes that lead to lousy Yelp reviews and a rejected business.
In 2018, Washington and its surrounding area had a total of 2,457 eating and drinking place locations. In 2019 alone, more than 35 of those have closed. Some of the places that closed this year include La Tasca, located in Chinatown, which was shut down in November; Del Frisco’s Steakhouse which closed two of its locations; and a Bethesda live music bar called Villain and Saint.
Successful and not-so-successful restaurant operators can all agree that in order to have a booming business, there must be a vision or purpose. In order to make that vision a reality, there has to reliable team of leaders that sets the tone for the rest of the restaurant.
Tracy, the founder and owner of Chef Geoff’s, a restaurant located in Northwest Washington, said that there is so much competition these days. “In 2008, the restaurants that weren’t doing so well were cleared out,” he said. “In 2011-2013, there was massive growth, so the competition became much higher.”
Besides the oversaturation of restaurants, Tracy also blamed the “death of retail.” Online grocery shopping, grocery delivery, Postmates and other applications on smartphones make it so convenient for people to stay home. There’s no reason for people to go out to eat and drink because people can get anything, from wine to pre-cooked frozen meals, delivered right to their doors.
Tracy reflected to a “colossal” failure in his career. He opened a restaurant in Rockville, MD in 2012 that just did NOT work. The restaurant had a huge bar, yet Tracy couldn’t get people in the area to sit and have a drink. Most of the sales were food sales, and that wasn’t going to be enough because the rent was too high.
Tracy “ate humble pie” and closed the restaurant three years later.
Even though Tracy graduated from Georgetown University and spent two years at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y.; he feels as if he is just “a drop in the ocean” now.“
Restaurants are starting to cannibalize each other,” Andrew Michalick, a sous chef at 6 Bears & A Goat Brewing Company. Michalick said he has “bounced” from one restaurant to another because none of them can stay open because of the lack of profitability.
The lack of profitability stems from the lack of necessary resources to maintain a successful restaurant. Todd Merriman, an analytic portfolio specialist at the International Business Machines Corp. said: “Small businesses, especially restaurants, have a lack of resources to be able to properly understand their markets and their customers at the individual level.”
When restaurants aren’t fully equipped with the necessary resources they need to survive and thrive, “they fall behind some of the titans of the industry such as Sweetgreen, Cava and others,” Merriman said.
Sweetgreen is a fast-casual restaurant chain that serves salads. A part of the reason why Sweetgreen is successful is because of the unique perspective the owners had when they were coming up with their business plan. Tracy said that in order to have a successful restaurant these days, a unique perspective or a highly trained staff is crucial.
Ron Vogel, owner of Booeymonger, said that besides competition and lack of knowledge in the industry, there are so many other things that can go wrong in a restaurant. “It starts with the quality of the product, good service and cleanliness.”
Booeymonger is a delicatessen serving made-to-order sandwiches at four locations: Georgetown, Ballston, Bethesda and Friendship Heights.
Vogel doesn’t only consider himself the owner of his business; he is also the “motivator” of his business. “I am always around to motivate my employees; the three basic ways to motivate people is with more money, appreciation or inclusion in decision making,” he said.
Staffing is a great challenge. The employees, in the kitchen and in the dining room, play a key role in customer retention. Some of the most common Yelp reviews of restaurants are complaints about customer service. If the customer retention is poor, the funds are low.
Ashok Bajaj, founder of the Knightsbridge Restaurant Group and owner of 11 restaurants in Washington, said that aside from proper funding and strong restaurant leaders, “believing in your business concept” is a part of the foundation of a successful restaurant operation.
“Some people get bored and lose the passion,” he said. Customers witness the lack of passion in a restaurant because it affects the ambience, quality of food, cleanliness and customer service.
Bajaj has been in the restaurant industry for 30 years and counting. He realizes that there are more dining options than ever for consumers to try, and “Everyone wants to try what’s new and what’s hot.” For that reason, he periodically and happily changes the concept of each of his restaurants to keep up with restaurant evolution. Bajaj has never had a restaurant close during his restaurant career.
Bajaj spends his days visiting each of his restaurants. He doesn’t have a lot of time to spare during each spot since he owns so many restaurants. He said that since he has a reliable managing team, he is only needed about 2% of the time.
“The key is to always go beyond excellent service, Bajaj said. “Every single person that works at one of my restaurants knows that.”
Bajaj, Vogel and Tracy are all successful restaurateurs. Despite more restaurants opening each year, they are confident that they are properly equipped to survive.
However, if Tracy were to give advice to anyone wanting to open a restaurant today, he would respond, without hesitation, “don’t.”
Geoff Tracy is the owner and founder of Chef Geoff’s, a restaurant located in Northwest Washington. Chef Geoff’s opened nearly 20 years ago. Photo by Hayley McGhee
Source: www.restaurant.org