Invest Some Effort in SOPs for a Successful Restaurant!
What are SOPs? Why is it that every successful restaurant worldwide pays attention to SOPs? And why is it difficult for restaurants without SOPs to achieve growth? Is it true that the more they expand, the more they likely they are to fail? We would like to invite all restaurateurs, particularly SMEs, to use SOPs. They are important for dealing with the following:
When a cook resigns, the restaurant will run into trouble due to inconsistent flavor, which can chase customers away.
The business owner can never stop working, must never get sick and must always stay with the restaurant.
As the restaurant attracts more and more customers, more and more stressful problems will also occur.
Family time is disrupted after opening a restaurant.
These are just some example scenarios of what restaurants without SOPs will face.
SOPs or standard operation procedures are detailed work procedures covering the entire work process from start to finish. Basically, they are work manuals. When most people talk about SOPs, they think about food recipes. In reality, however, every restaurant needs to have SOPs for every work process in every department and work section.
Advantages of SOPs
▶ They ensure that every restaurant department operates according to a uniform standard and that the standard can be applied to every branch. Even if experienced employees resign, work won’t be disrupted as new replacements are hired, since they can begin right away.
▶ They ensure work effectiveness, cut costs, simplify work processes, provide consistency, minimize mistakes and reduce losses.
▶ Customers receive products and services that meet their expectations every time, and services are provided based on the same standards that apply to every branch.
▶ They minimize conflict, promote a good work atmosphere and facilitate standardized work.
▶ They make it easier to teach work. Instructors can hold a teaching manual to help them teach work more appropriately, which helps employees learn faster.
▶ The business owner can let go and not have to constantly stay with the restaurant, as everyone at the restaurant is working systematically, and the restaurant will expand sustainably, making it possible to rapidly open new branches without running into problems associated with inconsistent standards.
Sets of Essential SOPs for SME Restaurants
- 1. Basic Restaurant SOPs
Employee manual and regulations – Refer to labor laws to ensure mutual understanding and minimize employee problems and conflict.
Basic work manual – This covers how to handle and store products and food hygiene and safety such as how to store and use each ingredient.
- Customer Service and Complaint SOPs
Service procedures – These ensure that employees operate uniformly and will minimize mistakes and ensure that customers receive services quickly with customer satisfaction. These procedures have four important components as follows:
1. Greetings – How should customers be greeted? How many seconds should be spent on greeting each customer?
2. Taking orders – While handing the menu to customers, what should the employee recommend? Within how many minutes should employees begin taking orders? How many minutes should be spent in taking each order?
3. Serving and services while customers are eating – What should be served first? How should each kind of food be served? What should employees say to customers? How should employees refill water, collect dishes and recommend services?
4. Billing and sending off customers – What do employees have to say and review? What do employees have to check? How many minutes should be spent in doing so? What sentences should be used to send off customers?
- Food and Beverage Preparation SOPs
These ensure that foods taste and appear the same every time they are prepared, that the restaurant will not be affected when cooks change and that customers will still receive the same food experience. The details for these procedures are as follows:
3.1 What kinds of equipment do you need, and how should equipment be prepared? For example, what do you do with a 4-liter pot?
3.2 What ingredients and ingredient ratios do you need and how much?
3.3 What are the procedures for preparing each ingredient? For example, do you need to dice beef into sizes of 1-cm by 1-cm?
3.4 What are the detailed procedures for preparing each menu item? (Give extra focus to temperature and preparation time.)
3.5 How should different kinds of cups, plates and spoons and so on be arranged? What needs to be placed first? What needs to be placed last? What kinds of decorations do you need?
When accompanied by illustrations or video clips, all of these five procedures will enhance employee understanding and help employees follow them successfully more quickly.
By this point, if you still can’t comprehend the significance of SOPs, then try to think about the omelet. It’s a simple menu item that many people consider easy to make. But what happens if your restaurant does not have an SOP for your omelet? Well, every time an omelet is made, it will taste and appear differently, which could affect customer satisfaction. However, if you have a recipe or an SOP for the omelet, and state each step of preparation in a detailed manner covering preparation, flavoring, cooking and serving, not only will your restaurant’s omelets taste and appear identically in every plate, but your food cost will also be controlled. This is because the quantity of ingredients to be used each time has already been specified. This is why it is difficult for restaurants without SOPs to expand these days!
