Restaurants vs COVID - Part I
Sink or Swim - a COVID saga
OK, if I’m being honest, I’m not sure there will be a Part II, but there is so much ground to cover and so much still left uncovered on the subject, I’m going to leave that door open.
Now, before we get into this, I just need to clear the air and give you some advice. I am a former multi-unit restaurant owner/operator that spent over 20 years in the industry riding every scintillating high and then diving into the inevitable excruciating low that the industry has to offer and I have a high level of perspective on this next sentence.
DO NOT GET INTO THE RESTAURANT BUSINESS!
Why is it that everyone who eats a meal out thinks they can do it better? They can’t. It’s a really, really hard way to make a living and the failure rate for new concepts is incredibly high. Even celebrity chefs, who obviously know a helluva lot more than the average schmo who happens to make a passable fettuccini alfredo on the weekends ‘so he’s ready to open his own place’, have north of a 50% failure rate on their new concepts. So that proves it - don’t do it!
Well, okay, you may want to do it if you have an unwavering passion to cook, create, and make people happy by seeing them eat the really good food you’ve created. Or maybe if you find your way into a really great concept and enjoy working with people, and can’t live without the comradery that only comes from the restaurant industry. There are a few other good reasons too, but seriously, you’d better be damn sure you get into this business for the right reasons, and the last one of them should be to get rich.
COVID, that’s what this blog was supposed to be about, right? It’s been such a cathartic event in so many ways. It’s changed how we interact, work, vacation, exercise, shop, and of course eat at restaurants, and also how restaurants function.
The first challenge COVID dealt restaurants were the restrictions. No indoor dining was somewhat easy to deal with if you happened to be in the takeout business (like a sandwich shop) or had a drive thru based business. If you weren’t equipped to do business like that, it was sink or swim time. Many in the business used this as a good opportunity to throw in the towel. If you’ve been in the business, you get it. As I said, it is a tough industry.
As for the swimmers (the ones who decided to stay in business) the government stepped in with some much-needed life support like EIDL and PPP loans to help bridge gaps to pay their employees, rent, utilities, loans and not close up shop. Plus provided a generous unemployment program to help keep the employees from moving on to new endeavors. Now it was up to the operators to change the way they do business so they can start making money again.
The next challenge owners needed to solve was the change in customer habits. In the beginning of the pandemic people were not allowed to dine in, nor did many want to. A few states had ‘shelter in place’ rules and curfews enforced. Many restaurant owners had little to no takeout options for their business, nor outdoor dining.
As they say, necessity is the mother of invention, and this mom got busy quickly. All restaurants started with new sanitation practices for everything and enough liquid sanitizer to float a decent sized fishing boat, and many ending with initiating solutions such as QSR menus, new pickup and delivery systems and unbelievable creative outdoor dining venues (and everything else in between). Many restaurants learned not only how to survive but how they can thrive with their new business practices.
Well guess what – I’ve been told to keep a blog at 600 words, and this one is creeping up on 700 and I am just getting to the good stuff. So, looks like there will indeed be a Part II coming soon. Stay tuned.