​The food industry is a rather highly demanding one. You’ve got a huge amount of competition and a lot of things to take care of. Most of businesses fail within the first year and when we speak about Hotel restaurants, it can take 3-4 years to find the perfect restaurant supervisor or the the right team. Being a Restaurant manager is not easy at all.
How can you ensure your own restaurant’s success?
You can help raising the possibilities of success by understanding some factors that will surely affect your customer’s experience in your dining area. Get some advice that will help you developing strategies to combat those negative issues.

Watch your menu
A good menu is affected by many factors. What’s the size of your card? Are your dishes priced appropriately? Do you support a certain concept?
Keep your menu size optimal. Instead of offering a huge menu, consider offering a smaller number of dishes and present them wisely. People need to that they will eat fresh food. With a big menu, you buy more things, you waste more things, people spend more time to order, they lose the concept of your restaurant. 

Watch your customer’s service
Your food is outstanding, your ambiance delightful, but if your service is bad, customers will be disappointed.
The key to success is delightful customers who want to return to your Hotel. Yes, the food and the service experience is vital in the memory of the guest. To ensure your department’s success, your entire team – from management to busboys – must be all willing to reach high levels of customers’ satisfaction. Every contact your staff makes with customers must be memorable.

The way you treat your precious customers during their dining experience has an impact on whether you’ll keep this customer. If they didn’t have a warm welcoming when they walked in and didn’t feel like this until the exit gate, they might mention it in an online review. As the online reputation battlefield continues to grow, online reviews are very important to your success. It’s much more easier to get a negative review than a positive one, so try hard and put all your efforts to fulfil their requirements.

Watch your identity
Even if you are a Standard Hotel restaurant or a fine dining a la carte you need to have a concept? You need to have a certain identity. Your customers need to know why they should choose your restaurant to eat at.
While a miraculous menu and and a super customer service are vital to your well-being your restaurant must have a clear personality.
You need an original idea so that you can create a theme around it.
A unique theme, offers your customers a feeling that helps them to remember you long after they are gone. Let your food, your customer service, and your unique identity create an emotional connection with their minds.

Watch your stuff
Most successful Hotel restaurant managers know the importance of hiring and training good employees. Many Hotel restaurants hire sometimes, the wrong people. They have to know that an incompetent staff can damage your current and future customers as well. Once the right ones hired, train them and offer training manuals, duty checklists, and if you can, give them some goals.
Make sure they are pleasant personalities and motivated to pursue your goals and adhere to your restaurant’s guidelines and theme.
Establish and maintain a solid management structure so everyone knows and understands their own responsibilities. Your management team should be running the restaurant exactly in the same way in your absence.

Watch your goals
Don’t overlook one of the most important pieces of the puzzle is oyur management. You need to know how to analyze your business to make sure it runs smoothly. 
How many customers are you feeding each day? Are they enough?
Keep track of ordered menu items. No one ordering something? Maybe it’s time check why. What are your most profitable menu items? Do you have a budget for the daily operation? Are you sticking to it? Do you have sales goals? Are you meeting them? These questions must be in your mind because they will affect your results as a manager.
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1. Get to learn your local Market
What's the market like where you work? For example, who are you competing against in the area? Why might someone go to the next corner Bar instead of yours? Are there things you can improve, or is the bar you manage just another place to go? If we speak about a Hotel Bar someone might tell that there is no competition. Wrong ! There is competition as well. There is a digital world that happy customers write reviews about the Hotel. Imagine how important is when the Hotel review rates, get higher because of happy Bar customers.

2. Do it because you like it
Being a bar manager isn't as easy as you firstly think. If you want to manage a bar because you love it, you are on the right path, so be passionate with it. With this attitude, your customers will remember their experience and would possibly come again because you left nice memories in them.

3. Don’t be afraid to “jump in”
If you're jumping in and help with bartending duties, you'll have a better understanding of the feelings of both your customers and your team. No insights or marketing research can replace the experience of working with your staff,from time to time and it will only enrich the respect of your staff and the satisfaction of your customers, seeing the manager involved.

4. Make cleaning, your team’s second nature
Don’t underestimate the bad impression of a sloppy and dirty establishment. 19% of consumers have reported lack of cleanliness and 92% consider cleanliness first when choosing a resort. In your bar, broken glasses, sticky surfaces, and dusty tables would give a bad picture to the customers. You work there ... but they enjoy, so they have more time than you, to look around and find all the small details that make the difference. 

5. Don’t be afraid to be social
Some might say that business isn't personal. When bar managers form relationships with customers, they establish a connection with someone who could become a promoter for the bar and maybe the entire Hotel. Interact with limits, and learn your staff to do the same. Explain them that this job is something more than make a drink and bring the bill.

6. What about an extra touch of marketing
Learn about bar marketing. Bar blogs and websites are a highly effective source of information. You will see articles about new trends, new sale techniques, new gadgets, new tools, and of course new products. What you have to do is to use what you learn, trying to show that you are not still, but your head spins around to give cutting edge guest experience. Add to this a good use of social media and they can skyrocket your value.

7. Develop your leadership skills.
When you're in charge of a team, the right leadership can make the people work better and become more effective. If you are new to the job, these things can sound Chinese to you, but there are many young bar managers in charge of a team without a lot of experience. Ask other leaders in the Hotel how they operate, how they treat their staff and learn from the older. The Restaurant managers most of the times have passed from the Bar job and they could teach you many things about leadership. 

8. Make senior management to love you
Most of the employers or general managers prefer hiring people with nice attitude. A French Manager back in the past told me once... 
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​So if you succeed to be a fair & good leader, having nice people around you, you will push these people, asking to learn from you, and get higher being around you, so they will bring good results. These good results will cause, better income for your bar, better tips for them, better results for your employer. With this combination everyone will be happy.

9. Economy is gold
When you are in charge of a Bar, practically you are responsible for the financial balance. Sometimes when it’s not possible to raise the sales, it is very possible to reduce the costs. Payroll is something you should think of, all the time. It can make a big difference within a month, for the operational cost of your bar. In addition to that, using your resources with care, can reduce damages to equipment, unnecessary waste of products etc. All of these can change totally the monthly balance even if you didn’t raise your sales at all.

Conclusion
Ideally if you want to be a Bar Manager you must be a pleasant personality, with communication skills, self-confident and innovative. You’ll also need to be energetic and have your mind on business to stay in business. Being in touch with bar trends will also help you understand what your customers want. Understanding your customers makes you able to satisfy them and if the customers are satisfied, consume more,tip you more and keep you in the job.

Do not pop a champagne cork. Remove it slowly by twisting it slightly from side to side quietly, gracefully. For better results keep the cork steady and roll the bottle

• Never let a wine bottle touch the glass into which you are pouring. When done pouring, twist the wine bottle tipping it upward to ensure no dripping
• Never remove a plate full of food without asking what went wrong. Obviously, something is wrong
• Never touch a guest. No excuses. Do not brush them, move them, wipe them, or dust them. If you need to get around a guest blocking the way, ask politely to be allowed to pass such as “may I please come through?”.
• Do not have a personal conversation with another server within earshot of guests. If it is a must, keep it as brief as possible.
• Never wear perfume or cologne to work, or reek from cigarettes. People want to smell food and beverage as part of their enjoyment. Some people are highly allergic and scent sensitive.
• Do not drink alcohol on the job, even if invited by the guests. “Not when I’m on duty” will suffice. Do not say “Thanks but I do not drink”, like telling them that you find it unhealthy
• Never say “I only do this job on the side”, nobody wants to know you’re unhappy for this job and you do this jus temporarily
• Never use the phrase “No problem” Instead use “My pleasure” or “You’re welcome” 
• Do not discuss your own eating habits, whether vegan, lactose intolerant, or any other dietary or food preferences. No personal talk, keep it professional.
• Never acknowledge one guest over another. All guests should be treated as if they are important and their enjoyment your primary interest.
• Do not gossip about co-workers, or guests. Try not to discuss about three categories. Politics Religion and Sexuality because you never know who you have in front of you
• If a guest tips you at the end of the meal, or a stay in the household, thank them for their thoughtfulness and generosity. You’re already being paid for your professional services

Your potential boss needs to see the benefit, working for them. They need to see you have what they need. Ask yourself: “What would I like to see to know this person could do the job well?”
Think about the impact you have in your current job. Did you increase income? Save money? Create an innovative procedure? Build a team? Increase reputation? Provide exceptional mentoring to others? What do you do really well?
Then prepare some powerful bullet points that demonstrate your impact in a company. don’t forget to explain what it was like before, so your potential boss can understand the changes you affected. For example: I managed to increase the Hotel online reputation 20% in one year.

​Add links to the websites of your past employers.Hiring managers can see what kind of work you have done, even if they are not familiar with the companies you have worked for.They can visit the websites. Additionally, you can include a link to your LinkedIn profile in your resume’s contact information section. Social media is becoming an increasingly important part of the job search.In case that you have your own relevant blog, it's highly recommended to provide a link too. Tumblr is a very good solution for a free blog that you can develop. On the picture below I have a small example of a Tumblr blog specified on my Linkedin articles, in which a hiring manager can see by a glance all articles in grid view.

​A strong cover letter helps you make a good first impression. Your cover letter should demonstrate your interest in the role,the passion you have and make it clear why you would be the best choice. Search the job description and use at least three of the qualities specified in it.

​It's recommended including a career summary if you have been working in your target field for more than five years. A career summary should be brief, and describe the skills and experiences most relevant to the job for which you are applying. It should be specific to you. If you are new to a field, or even just new to the workforce, then a career summary is not necessary.

​Because employers or hiring Managers will search for you online, make yourself easy to find, and make your online presence as professional as possible. I recommend posting an updated version of your resume online. The information on your LinkedIn and other social media accounts should match, as well as the resume you post online. If you do not already have one, create an About.me page. You could even start a blog related to your field.

​Emphasize to the importance of having a mistake-free resume. If your resume has errors, it’s reasonable for employers to conclude that your work will, too. This can have a very negative impact to your aplication. So "double check" every small detail.

​If you believe in yourself, you don't have to be modest. There is a lot of competition out there and you have to stand out. If you put on your personal details section a link to your website, it's 70% sure that the recruiter will visit it, even just from curiosity. You can hire someone to do it for you or to try one of the free web services like Wix , Webnode, Yola etc.

Basic Elements Your Online CV Should Contain

• A homepage that presents your name, expertise and a nice head shot.
• A page that details your education and work experience – just like in a normal CV.
• A portfolio with samples of your work – articles you wrote, projects you produced, images or any kind of material that shows your skills.
• Contact info – preferably both on a separate Contact page, but also in the footer of your homepage. You can use email, phone or professional social media accounts. On a dedicated Contact page, add a contact form as well and make sure it works!

OPTIONAL: A Bio page that tells your story in a brief, approachable and interesting manner. The style of this text depends on your industry . It can be fun and clever or to-the-point. Whichever it is – keep a professional tone! You’re not writing to your friends.

​This is a complete showcase of my professional existence. Anyone who visits it will have a global aspect on every detail. Present information in a clear and concise manner. I Include only that which is truly important and I don’t go into great detail about the long and forgotten past, like being an assistant bartender or trainee. As above said, I highlight the most recent work first and I do include keywords that are relevant to my desired position or industry.

Except all the online information it's very helpful to include a link to a printable version of your C.V. so that a hiring manager can easily download it to his computer or share the link directly to someone else.

They slowly change their vocabulary from singular to plural
Going from being an employee to a manager occurs when team members get to a certain point. It's normally a point when they begin to understand a manager's point of view. An employee may use the term I, or mine.Those ready to assume a management role may choose words like we or ours.

They prove they can manage firstly themselves.
One key indicator that an employee has really come to a point to become a supervisor is when they require less and less time to get managed.The only way someone can ever hope to be a manager is if they can manage themselves, and this is typically a good evidence that they're ready for the new title

They care about the others
If an employee is concerned for their co-worker's success as much as their own on a group project, that's usually a very good sign you have a team player that wants others to succeed. When you see that it usually means that this employee starts to feel how important is the "teamplay"

They accept responsibility
A sign of a leader ready to take on a managerial role is the ability to take responsibility for themselves or the team. It shows that they are confident, they care for the organization and they feel like getting that extra mile that leads to the managerial position.

They already manage naturally without realizing it
When a staff member is ready to take on a managerial role, they've already taken on a managerial role without realizing it. Often, this happens from employees that want it but they can't handle it so you have to stop it immediately, but if you see that the rest of the team accept this person, it's surely a good sign. When somebody truly wants to be in that role, they do it without even trying because they enjoy it

They always look for solutions
A positive thinking employee with deep knowledge of his job, usually refers to you with a solution rather than telling you the problem

They're proactive
People need instructions and it's good to give them every detail they need about the job.Someimes you forget things or you leave things of no importance.When I find team members proactively asking questions to improve their output to the company, that's when I know they're ready

​Why is training useful?
Nobody wants to work in a dead end job for a long period. Employees need to feel like they do a valuable work that makes a difference for their company. They feel great when the company spends time and effort to give them some extra knowledge.
When you get close to your team with training it helps them to do better job in their current position and prepares them for future responsibilities.

​Small businesses often fear that employees will quit after a training course and seek development opportunities in other companies, so they hesitate to do something to enforce staff education. Employees that are periodically trained, usually stay longer with their employer and have a sense of loyalty that keeps them engaged.
When you stimulate your employees with a training program, you make them feel important. The money you spend on an employee education might seem a lot, but you quickly recover the expense by better quality and faster work.
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How to do an effective training?
Explain to your workers what training and development opportunities you will give them.
Make sure you present your education as something that benefits them. Make sure everyone in your organization has a defined role so that you can understand the skills needed for each position. Doing so will help you divide your training programs and provide relevant training to each of your employees and make your training program interesting & efficient.

You’d better not sort your wines by price. Why? Because customers will start at the top and  go down to reach the price that they feel comfortable with and order the wine according to this factor. If your customers don't know much about wine at all, they will surely do a certain thing. They’ll order the second cheapest wine all the time. That's for sure.
The best way is to organize by the flavor profile, from light to full. This requires a little more work on your shoulders, but don’t hesitate to ask your distributors for a little help.
If you don’t organize by flavor profile, you can sort them alphabetically or by region or by color.
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Except food pairing suggestions, today’s customer wants information. They don't see the waiter as a dish carrier but as a consultant. They want to have a special moment, they are ready to pay for that and they expect the perfect information. In any case they  have access to everything on demand on their smart phone, but they want to know it by you. At a minimum you can give them info about  the country, the region, the subregion and the appellation. Ask your distributor for some more detailed information to give an extra touch to the whole process. 
All of this information helps your guests, it helps you increase staff knowledge and improves the service staff training.

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Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH) is a group of over 520 hotels spanning more than 80 countries, which together offer an infinite variety of experiences tailored especially to travellers. The authors blog away with the latest from SLH and share their passion for small luxury hotels, which are tucked away in some of the most amazing places in the world. They hope to provide you with some inspiration and ideas whilst planning your next luxury hotel stay.  Instructive, too, for small hotel management.

​Train them properly
Provide your employees with proper job training to help them be more confident. Employees are more engaged when they fully understand their roles and within their professional position. An understanding of job responsibilities results in higher levels of performance and commitment to your organization.

Help them develop their skills
Developing your people is important to your success as a manager. Opportunities for growth and development creates engagement as well as success. Employees who grow and develop their skills are more likely to stay with a company.

Give recognition
Be sure that you recognize everything. A ‘thank you” or “nice job” can be essential. Make sure to highlight an employee’s "good work" on a  meeting. Make recognition  visible to everyone throughout the team or the company  so that others can share in the acknowledgement.

​Work with them
Teamwork grows  trust between managers and employees. When employees feel they are part of a team in their company, they invest time and energy into their job. When coworkers trust each other, they are more likely to be engaged at work and less likely to leave

Clarify your goals
Your role as a manager is to support, inspire and coach your employees to their highest levels of performance. Coach your employees so they understand their responsibilities Make sure that they understand your expectations. Managers who provide regular coaching increase overall engagement among their employees.

​Keep them customer focused
Meet with your team explaining them what it takes to meet customer expectations. Evaluate your department’s customer response time by seeking both team and customer input. Make sure your team understands what customers should receive. If they don't, keep repeating them all they should do to get higher results and positive feedback by them.

Discuss the department's results
As a manager, it’s important to make surveys and to share the survey results with employees. In the Hotel Industry it's more likely to get your feedback by internal questionnaires or internet reviews by sites like Trip Advisor or Holiday Check.
Explain key highlights from the reviews, discuss trends, and share how you feel about the results. Ask for their input and suggestions for improvement. Discuss any barriers to improvement and how the team can remove these barriers. Collectively select specific issues to work on and create action plans together.
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