We opened our restaurant today.
Before we opened, I had three scenarios in my mind.
ONE, that we would be slow. Too many employees wandering around looking for things to do. Not enough customers to make it worth having them on staff.
TWO, we had the perfect amount of traffic for the employees we had. Everyone would be busy and happy and they would all make great tips and the customers would be satisfied.
THREE, that we would be slammed and things would be crazy. When we finally closed the doors at night, there would be a pile of dishes and mess upon mess in the work areas, and all the employees would be dead tired and ready to die.
Fairly quickly we went from the first scenario to the second.
Then the customers started piling up. I made the comment at around noon that all the tables were full. My wife was too busy making food to comment.
When they came in they saw the tables full so they ordered meals to go. That just made things worse.
Things got crazy because we didn’t have a clear system. Too often I’d do something and only make things worse. We were a mess organizationally, but our customers were patient and we were kind to each other for the most part.
After we finally closed, we added up all the orders and tips, and we did pretty good.
Good enough I told all the employees to come back tomorrow if they could. And bring their friends.
Apparently we need more employees?