The recipe for successful restaurants | The power of companies

Hundred Burguers

Álex González-Urbón Founder

This burger chain was born in 2020 and today has four locations in Valencia and three in Madrid and more than 200 employees

Saona group

Gonzalo Calvo Founder

Valencian company born in 2013 with 48 Mediterranean food restaurants throughout Spain, including its own premises and franchises, and 1,300 employees

The success of a restaurant begins to consolidate in the third year of life. A border that only two out of every five establishments cross. And this triumph can be attributed to one or all of these factors at the same time: a value proposition (the type of cuisine and service) that convinces; efficient planning, both of work and economic resources; listen to customer opinions or have a qualified team. The enthusiasm of the promoter is also essential, but he will be orphaned if he is not surrounded by talent and is not accompanied by meticulous organization, explains José Luis Nieto, president of the Institute for the Development of Gastronomy and Tourism (IDEGAT), associated with the Complutense University of Madrid, where the master’s degree in Successful Restaurant Management is taught. Staying in a sector in continuous transformation and fierce competition is not easy and is only reserved for the most tenacious. What makes a restaurant turn on the stove and not turn it off for decades?

Closings of establishments restoration

The restaurant’s value proposition, that is, its menu, is a central component in its survival. It is its great differentiating element, so it must be taken care of and planned to the extreme, explains Jorge Blasco, from the Executive Chef consulting firm, which helps revive restaurants. External phenomena, however, can put it in danger, such as rising costs. “An imbalance, even temporary, poses a risk to the business.” And he continues: “That is something we have experienced recently.” Between 2021 and 2024, energy and food prices grew above normal, to levels not seen in 38 years (July 2022 was the ceiling with 10.8% compared to the previous year), according to the National Institute of Statistics (INE).

“The increases force you to recalculate the price of each dish,” Blasco points out. Good planning takes into account these possible price variations in the scandal, the calculation of the real cost of preparing each dish, which is used to set the amount. Many businessmen pass these increases on prices; Others assume them, even if they reduce their profit margin, says Jorge de la Cruz, a restaurant consultant: “The last resort is to raise the price, because you lose competitiveness compared to other restaurants,” he warns.

Gonzalo Calvo, founder of Grupo Saona, with Mediterranean food restaurants throughout Spain, follows this premise. “We try not to have to pay too much money to eat well,” he declares in the video of the meeting with Álex González-Urbón, from Hundred Burguers, which opens this text, in the first chapter of The power of companiesfrom Banco Sabadell.

The dishes do not always have to be profitable. Many businesses have some proposals with which they do not make a profit or generate losses. But in the long run, they give them some advantage. They are known as hitch plates and their objective is to attract customers. They are high-value recipes that serve as a hook, says Blasco. “One of the ones that works best is matured beef ribeye,” points out this expert. De la Cruz mentions wines as a force of attraction: “Selling some of the most expensive wines at a low margin will be attractive to many consumers.”

The restaurants that best weather changes are those that review their menu on a regular basis. Approximately once a year, experts recommend. The objective is to eliminate the least profitable and add something new, so that regular customers are surprised and new ones are seduced. The menu should be short, especially to satisfy the diner, warns De la Cruz: “At first, long menus are liked, but they complicate decision-making. It is not the same to fail to try 39 dishes from a menu of 40, as it is to stop trying nine from a menu of 10.”

Planning is another pillar that provides the robustness and flexibility necessary to extend the life of businesses. Fast food chains grow because they have everything planned, from the quantities in the recipes to the procedures for opening and closing the establishment, says De la Cruz. “Whether they are franchises or not, the organization has an impact on the teams, who know in advance their routines, payment dates, the learning process…” explains this expert.

Meticulous planning of financial resources avoids many scares. One of the most common mistakes when starting a business is not having reserved a remainder of the initial investment for possible unforeseen events. “This way you can make use of that cushion while billing stabilizes, that is, until income begins to arrive, a process that should not last more than a year,” he says. Correct economic planning will also be viewed very favorably by banking entities when financing is needed, he explains.

In the restaurants that Blasco helps to float, they plan three long-term scenarios to cover all situations: positive, neutral and negative. Thus, when difficulties are encountered, such as the covid crisis, the businessman is clear about what he should do. For many, the solution was to start serving at home. In fact, during the pandemic this service grew, and in many businesses it has remained at high numbers. The loans that the Official Credit Institute (ICO) launched to alleviate the consequences of the confinements were also a lifeline for many businesses.

Álex González-Urbón, founder of Hundred Burgers, was clear about what he had to do as soon as confinement was declared in 2020. “On the night of March 13 there were customers at a table and on the 14th we turned on the apps [de pedido a domicilio]. And something magical happened: the demand remained. Our competitors assumed the two-week break and gave their workers vacations. They weren’t there. There was a lot of demand and few suppliers. “Sales doubled,” he says in the video of the first meeting of The power of companiesfrom Banco Sabadell.

The team is another of the pillars of the business, explains Nieto, and its Achilles heel. The better prepared its components are, the more easily they will face any challenge that is presented to them. The problem that the promoter usually encounters is how to consolidate a team in a sector characterized by high employee turnover. Working conditions generate this continuous change of workers, who last a short time in their jobs, indicates Raquel García Revilla, professor at the Department of Tourism and Marketing at the Distance University of Madrid (Udima). In this equation, he points out, salaries are included, which are lower than in other sectors (In hospitality the average salary is 40% lower than the national average salary, according to the National Institute of Statistics).

High turnover negatively impacts the business, because it worsens service and creates an unstable work environment. For Jordi Turmo, general director of Fedis-Horeca, the Spanish Federation of Hospitality and Restaurant Distribution Companies, which represents 70% of hospitality distributors, employment has lost its attractiveness, but it is in the hands of businessmen to change it.

Professionalization is one of the tools that allows us to reverse this situation, because it encourages the consolidation of talent in the sector. And it is finding its way into strategic positions in the restaurants. It began with the figure of the chef during the nineties. Thanks to inspiring figures such as Ferrán Adrià or the Roca brothers, many young people decided to dedicate themselves to cooking. Being a chef began to be a prestigious profession. Today, Blasco explains, it is not difficult to find a good chef or head chef.

Another figure has emerged in the organizational chart that complements the chef: the executive chef. This role involves the comprehensive management of the kitchen, with budget planning, logistics and compliance with hygiene and safety standards. In the dining room, the position of head waiter requires more and more preparation. “Its mission is to serve diners and coordinate workers. It is present not only in high-end restaurants, but also in mid-priced ones,” says Nieto. Business schools, such as the Institute for the Development of Gastronomy and Tourism (IDEGAT), will incorporate a program to train this type of professionals.

Many entrepreneurs do not have restaurant training before opening their first business. Something that they make up for by learning as they go and, above all, by delegating to trained professionals, explains Blasco: “As soon as the business begins to grow, it is advisable to surround yourself with a qualified team in whom you can trust the development of the restaurant,” he points out.

The power of an opinion

Listening to the client and putting into practice what they ask for allows the business to better adapt to changes in demand and, above all, to prevent greater evils. Thanks to the Internet, restaurateurs can find out what their consumers think through comments and ratings on platforms such as Google or Tripadvisor, says De la Cruz. “As users, we trust the opinion of other users and that is something very powerful. There are people who decide whether or not to enter an establishment based on the stars it has on Google. And as a businessman, it gives you invaluable information about what is happening in your establishment,” he adds.

This expert warns that it is vital to act when it comes to negative opinions. Calvo, founder of Grupo Saona, assures that, if a restaurant’s ratings begin to drop, sales will do so in a few months. “That is why it is important to take action on the matter as soon as they start to drop… It is a thermometer of what may happen in the future,” he describes. This is, in the opinion of experts, the last secret ingredient in the recipe so that a restaurant can keep its stoves burning for a long time.