The Silent Restaurant Killer: Avoiding Burnout with These Three Strategies for Your Restaurant Marketing Plan

A whopping 53 percent of businesses that close are actually surviving or even thriving when they shut their doors for good. We look at three anti-burnout strategies for your restaurant marketing planto keep you and your restaurant happy and healthy. 

As restaurant owners we naturally assume that hustle and bustle is good, being on your feet all the time is productive, and a bit of stress just comes with the territory. But this can be a trap that can close down your restaurant even if the cash is flowing in. 

Yes, really. 

Kingston University found that more than half of businesses are doing well financially when they fail, and Cornell Hospitality found that quality of life issues are more important than previously thought in the growth of a restaurant. 

Ask yourself if you have felt any of the following:

Emotional exhaustion – you’re shattered after your day at work, and you are unable to recover with the time you have off.

Depersonalization – You separate yourself from your staff and customers and become sarcastic or cynical about them. 

Reduced Personal Accomplishment– You begin to question if you are actually making a difference.

All or any of these can have a profound effect on you, and therefore your restaurant. 

With that in mind, it makes sense that we should make sure avoiding burnout is a legitimate part of your restaurant marketing plan. We look at three ways to avoid burnout to increase the longevity and health of not just you, but your restaurant too. 

Give Yourself a Break with Better Outsourcing

If you’re the main point of contact for every little problem in your restaurant, you’ll be a basket case in no time. You should be the conductor of the orchestra, not the one-man band. The same goes for restaurant marketing.

If you’re a large or multi-site operation, you would absolutely have a head office with specialists in design, communications, marketing and the like. However if you’re a typically sized restaurant, you’re far better off getting some outside specialist help as part of your restaurant marketing plan.

Restaurant marketing experts Placepull say “While it’s true most of our restaurant owning clients come to us because we help make them more revenue, our clients consistently tell us they are much happier after letting us take some weight off their shoulders. Sometimes simply having someone to rely on can be the biggest difference.”

Take 15 minutes to jot down what portions of your marketing you don’t like or don’t have time for. A quick Google in that field should give you a heap of companies that can help you without the investment of a full time staff member. This leads to a less stressed you, and a happier, more profitable restaurant.   

Get Better Work Life Balance

We get it, easier said than done, given that running a restaurant is no cushy 9 to 5. But it could be as simple as putting one of Forbes recommendations as a daily reminder on your phone:

• Let go of perfectionist tendencies
• Unplug from technology
• Exercise and Mediation
• Limit time wasting activities and people

It may seem odd, but having ‘you’ as part of your restaurant marketing plan can make all the difference. If you’re not taking time to charge your batteries, you won’t have the energy to dedicate to your restaurant marketing, let alone your restaurant as a whole. 

It doesn’t have to be a one hour kumbaya/mediation session, but just a brief moment to acknowledge there is more to life than your dishwasher smashing his 17th plate this week.

Literally just one minute a day thinking about the above will reduce stress, and help you recenter on what is important for keeping your restaurant successful and profitable. 

Do the Unthinkable – Don’t Rush Your Meal

With your mind in the restaurant game 24/7, each meal you have is probably almost inhaled, just to save time. However it’s important to take time to smell the rosé. As part of your restaurant marketing plan, sit down monthly in your own restaurant to have a meal. Not just to critique everything, but to observe the difference you make in your customers’ lives. It will absolutely help you gain some perspective, and take note of what it is that you do that makes your customers happy. 

This will not only help you unwind, it provides valuable information about your brand and how this can be used in your future marketing.

Remember you are probably in the minority if you are a restaurant owner that does not show signs of burnout. Put these three strategies into your restaurant marketing planto ensure you and your restaurant stay happy and healthy financially for a very long time to come.