Our "90-day Plan" on Which SOP'S to Implement First

To start this exciting discussion of SOP'S first we need to understand what the definition of it means in general.

Definition of S.O.P.: A standard operating procedure is a set of instructions having the force of a directive, covering those features of operations that lend themselves to a definite or standardized procedure without loss of effectiveness. Standard Operating Policies and Procedures can be effective catalysts to drive performance improvement and improve organizational results. Every good quality system is based on its standard operating procedures (Sops).

OK, now that I have you hanging by you're seat let me start by saying without proper SOP'S in place, from the beginning, you as a restaurant owner/operator are leaving yourself at a tremendous risk as well as missing potential profit areas sometimes overlooked when going through the details of a start-up.

"Watch, listen, and learn. You can't know it all yourself.. anyone who thinks they do is destined for mediocrity."Donald Trump

Our "90-day Plan" on Which SOP'S to Implement First
Considering that 60-80% of our business will come from repeat customers I am somewhat unique when it comes to a typical Las Vegas Strip business as they tend to depend entirely on tourists with little if no focus on repeat guests; it's paramount that I meet or exceed my first time, & repeat guests, expectations over and over. First impressions do matter and I also bank on the second and third as well! What I have found is too many operators fail to recognize that in order to be consistent, they must have systems in place that promote consistency. Having a concise plan in place before the doors even open will help us as a start-up when something goes wrong...notice I said WHEN something goes wrong because trust me it will!

It's all about having systems and controls for everything we do. As the Executive Chef/Partner I need training systems, employee manuals, prompt financial reporting, job descriptions, checklists, customer service standards, recipe manuals, recipe cards,a marketing plan… but wait, what about master vendor list's...and the list goes on from there. All this means I will be working 12-15 hours a day ,nothing new for me, however this time needs to be spent wisely or I might as well just stay at home.
My answer lies in my S.O.P.'S! If there is a question about how to handle an issue the basic
answer will or should be, spelled out in the procedures or standards myself and my managers have set forth before we open the doors!

First 30 days!
The very first thing I need to do is to make a commitment that my managers & I will incorporate daily, weekly and periodic routines into the day-to-day management of our restaurant. In order for our restaurant to be consistent, the management must be consistent and act as one with our SOPS. Consistency I believe can only be achieved as the result of a top-down management practice.
One of the greatest challenges to restaurant management success is the ability to communicate incidents, messages, and other happenings from one shift to the next. For the last 15 or so years I have been a member of management the tool of choice has been a standard daily or logbook. The approximately 8" x 13" "red book", as it has been commonly referred to, can be purchased at any office supply. This particular version I am speaking of has an entire day dedicated to each page and the larger size accommodates lots of entry space.
Alternatively, several companies I have researched have created restaurant industry specific versions that allow operators to record daily sales,internal issues, and notes to each other. Regardless of which version we use, I am making a commitment now to begin using a manager's log to document daily events, especially employee or customer incidents. For serious incidents such as a food poisoning complaint or an employee getting hurt on the job, we will have forms specifically intended to record such occurrences (i.e. Food borne Illness Complaint form, Accident Report form, etc.)
If you're like myself, you're most likely already working 60-70 hours a week but even with that you simply can't do this alone. Since my first restaurant isn't large enough to have the luxury of several managers I need to recruit at least two or three key personnel that I can rely on to help run our restaurant.
The first thing I will need to do is to define our organizational structure and present that to management.
After we define our organizational structure. The logical distribution of accountability for our
full service restaurants (FSR) is to assign each department, kitchen, bar, and dining room, to a specific manager or key employee. With our first restaurant being a Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) it should not be a difficult task however our initial SOP'S will carry over to every location we are planning to build ourselves as well as franchise throughout the country.

Since we are operating a quick service restaurant I am considering splitting accountability between kitchen and service, or in other ways, such as according to a distribution of tasks (scheduling, ordering, training, etc.)
Regardless of whether I employ ten people or a hundred, each one must be held accountable for their job performance. While everyone is responsible for making the restaurant successful, in order to improve our systems we need assign areas of accountability to key players.

Now that accountability has been assigned, it is important that our team meet weekly to compare notes, review previous week's progress, and plan for the future. I've always found that Tuesday afternoons work best for a weekly manager's meetings. This gives the bookkeeper time to prepare weekly financial reports. In fact, keeping focused on weekly periods, we need to decide which day will begin our week. My preference, as for many operators, is to define the week as Monday through Sunday. However, I have seen several chains start their week on Wednesday and end it on Tuesday; or Thursday through Wednesday. It really doesn't matter which we choose; what matters is that we begin managing our business week by week.
Using our meeting times wisely and keeping agendas simple, we will limit our meetings to one or two hours. I prefer to do this in person and not teleconference however in the future this may prove prudent as we grow in size and number of locations.

Progress reports -- Now that our management team is assembled to meet weekly, and each member has a specific area of accountability, we are ready to start tackling task-oriented objectives such as the creation of forms, manuals, and checklists. Using our manager's log and weekly meetings to assign various tasks and continually communicate progress and objectives.
We will create opening and closing checklists. One of the best practices I have seen has been the use of opening, shift change, and closing checklist for each job position. This ensures that the restaurant is properly prepared to handle the demands of day-to-day business in a consistent manner.I do this mainly from my experience spent with my days at "Lettuce Entertain You" and the very successful reporting policies we used every day. I know if we begin by creating manager's checklists our team should easily be able to come up with a list of routine duties that need to be completed before and after each shift.
IE; items typically found on an opening checklist include turning off the alarm, checking the manager's logbook for notes, performing an opening cash audit, preparing cash drawers, review reservations, conduct unit walk-through as well as do a line check for quality control prior to every shift. Closing duties might be to set the alarm, inspect cleaning duties for each station, preparing the bank deposit for next day, placing phone orders to message machines, and dozens of other tasks that ensure the opening team walks into a clean restaurant and is ready to begin work.
Once the initial manager's checklists are complete our team can begin working on checklists for each job position in the restaurant, assign accountability to department heads and be sure to set a completion date for each sop.

I am prepared to modify our checklists as we add/remove more systems and controls. I know I may end up being surprised at how much our checklists will change over the initial 90 days but they need to be there from day one.

Establishing our customer service policy -- Many operators have the mindset that in order to draw more guests they need to first increase their marketing and promotions. While true that better marketing can generate more traffic, if we don't provide our customers with an excellent guest experience we will only succeed in more rapidly letting more people know that we don't have good customer service.
Establishing an all-encompassing customer service policy will be a work-in-progress project that should be done in phases. In fact, our staff and management should continually review ways to improve the guest experience. But the first step in establishing consistent customer service is to create some basic guidelines and expectations for staff and management.

Our team's objectives will be to define and document the following components of our customer service policy:
Greeting Policy -- It doesn't matter if it's our (FSR) Bistro "The World News Kaffee" or our (QSR)Coffee Shop "THE CUP"; making sure our guests feel welcomed as soon as they walk through your doors is a must if we intend on staying in business!
Steps of Service -- Every staff member should be aware of the service cycle for guests. For (QSR) the cycle begins with the ordering phase and continues with the preparation and delivery of the order. For our (FSR) it begins when the guest approaches the host stand, and then continues with a systematic method for order taking, delivery of product, payment of the check, and preparation for the next table.

Ticket Time Guidelines -- Our restaurant will establish service time benchmarks for each of the kitchen service order steps (appetizer, salad, entree, and dessert service). The same is true for beverage service .

Handling Guest Complaints -- No matter how good our restaurant is, we ARE going to experience complaints from time to time. Contrary to popular belief, you don't lose guests every time you make a mistake ,you lose them when you don't properly handle their complaints. Our staff must be trained on a consistent method for handling complaints.

Implement a DSR. What use is it in having a good restaurant if you're not making any money? Sound financial tracking begins with the accurate recording of sales. The Daily Sales Report (DSR) is the core tracking element for controlling cash.
Gaining the maximum effectiveness from our DSR entails a two-step process wherein the revenue (sales) side of the equation is generated at the cash register or POS level, and the settlement (receipts) side is based on actual receipts. The difference between the two is commonly referred to as Cash Over and Short (Cash O/S).
Most POS systems have built-in sales reports that give an accounting of recorded sales and receipts; however, all too often operators fail to reconcile their POS or register reports with actual cash and credit card deposits. A properly constructed DSR serves as the source document for posting to your accounting system. It also serves as a summary report of sales and receipts collected from server and cashier checkouts.

Using purchase orders- The last objective for our first 30-day goals will be to initiate some purchasing and receiving guidelines. While there are several aspects to having a complete set of guidelines, one of the most useful tools is to write a purchase order for everything we have delivered. A properly executed purchase order should have the correct quantity and price promised for each item ordered.
When deliveries arrive, have designated personnel verify that the price on the invoice and the quantity received is the same as that on the purchase order. One more thing -- don't take the driver's word for it -- visually verify that each item has been delivered by having the driver show you everything he brings in. Be sure to weigh all items purchased by weight to insure correct amounts.

Accomplishing these tasks in 30 days may seem like a tall order, but it is imperative to get these done so we will start the next 31-60 days!

Any suggestions on SOPS? I would enjoy reading you're opinion..