How Does a Restaurant Owner Spend a Workday?
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Administrative Duties
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Restaurant owners spend a great deal of time doing administrative duties. This can include overseeing payroll, keeping employee records, ordering food and supplies, arranging for deliveries, balancing the budget and filling out paperwork that is required by law, such as tax documents. In addition to these tasks, the owner has to continually educate himself about the constantly changing trends in food service to ensure that his restaurant stays ahead of the competition.
Dealing With Employees
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In many ways, the owner has to be a jack of all trades. Although he may have many managers working for him, he has to be in charge of the operation. When a manager has a problem, it is up to the owner to address it. When a manager calls in sick or fails to show up for a shift, the owner has to take his place. The owner has to be familiar with how to cook the food and how to clean the equipment, and he has to know all of his employees--including the waitstaff.
To make sure that everyone is performing their jobs correctly or to educate his employees on a new policy, an owner may call several meetings throughout the year.
Usually, the owner makes the final decision on whether to hire a particular person. This means that he has to spend some time conducting interviews and reviewing applications. -
Dealing with Customers
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While the floor managers usually deal with customer complaints, there are times when the managers run out of options and need the owner to step in. Dealing with dissatisfied or angry customers is not a pleasant task, but every restaurant owner has to do it sometime. It is imperative that the owner is capable of handling difficult situations and people because the reputation of his restaurant may depend on it. Ensuring that his customers are satisfied is necessary for his business to have a good reputation.
Other Possible Tasks
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The number of daily tasks that a restaurant owner is responsible for often depends largely on the size of his operation. If the business is family-owned or very small, the owner may not hire many employees and might do a lot of the work himself. He may choose to cook, serve and answer phones rather than pay someone else to perform these tasks. On the other hand, a larger restaurant will almost certainly call for many employees because the owner cannot do all the work himself.
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