TIME

Time is money, You done yet? , Hurry up!, ASAP, Deadlines!

Why do you rush the most important steps when creating a viable restaurant? You’re planning a business that will operate for decades or longer. You are designing a space that, once constructed, will be a fixed environment for you to execute your concept. If you get it right, it will allow you to flourish.  If you get it wrong, you have built-in opportunities for failure.

The classic response when reviewing schedules is, “ yesterday, of course.”  We need to be open for the holidays, or the ‘season’ or for some other arbitrary date that reflects an uptick in business activity.

I have seen and heard many design professionals discuss how long it should take to provide a design and produce construction drawings.  “Get it done,” they say,  “take the space allocated to the kitchen or bar by the architect and layout the equipment.” This is a short sighted approach that rarely benefits the operator or creates a successful restaurant.

Think longer term.  Whenever you start your planning, it’s inevitable that you are going to miss some milestone event.  The old adage, “the best time to plant a tree was 50 years ago, the next best time is today,” holds true for restaurants as well.  You missed the 50 years ago or 8-10 months ago or last month when you passed on the previous location.  Now you have an opportunity to be ahead of the next curve by focusing on the details, thinking through the various design options,  researching the fads vs trends and making smart, thoughtful decisions that will serve the venture over the next ten, twenty or more years.

When you slow down and take time to think things through, you will be swimming upstream.  Many on your design team want quick decisions so they can complete their work and move on. Others will stress the need to be ‘first to market” or make the deal before you lose the space. There are many business decisions that benefit from this thinking,  that stress the need to act, to evaluate the decision, course correct when needed and keep moving forward. That may work with marketing strategies, menu updates or product releases,  or decisions that can be adjusted once implemented.

Construction does not fit that strategy. Once you design it and build it, you own it. Sure, you can change it but at significant cost and time. And it’s disruptive to the business.

I am not suggesting you overthink the process, ask everyone’s opinion and take days or weeks to evaluate the details.  Be decisive, but take the time to review the details with your team – culinary, bar, engineering, front of house – and make smart decisions.

Labor is expensive, construction is expensive, rents and leases are expensive.  And poor planning and decision making are expensive.  Take the necessary time to plan, design and build the restaurant that will allow you to execute your concept successfully.