For many entrepreneurs, especially for restaurant owners, embarking on a business success can be a long journey with rewards that await them for their tireless efforts, creativity, meticulous planning and timely execution. But ideas that help us meet success in our business ventures don’t always translate into our personal lives.
Competition is a quality that must be factored in when paving the path for running a successful restaurant or any business. At the same time, however, we all have a limited amount of time to focus on the things we want to accomplish both in our personal lives and entrepreneurial adventures.
There are many elements that influence a customer’s dining experience besides quality of food, waiting service and restaurant furniture. While investing in chairs, booths and tables that combine style and durability with comfort is important; tips for a successful restaurant don’t just end there. Restaurant ambiance is often overlooked in its role as a contributing factor to long term probability.
As more people are dining out, studies have shown the impact that restaurant ambiance has on everything – from how much diners eat, their perceptions on reliability, how much they spend per meal, how often they dine at the restaurant, to if and when they decide to return.
As a restaurant owner, it behooves you to set the right atmosphere that will ensure customer satisfaction. The following categories further elaborate on how you can create and/or improve your restaurant’s ambiance thus achieving the perfect atmosphere that will generate profit for your industry.
Marrying sensory experience with interior design to produce the perfect ambiance
But how do restaurants measure success with the interior design? Providing a positive and remarkable dining experience is key to achieving an ambiance that customers will enjoy. Appealing to the diner’s sense, whether its smell, taste, sight, and hearing – creates an environment that a customer will enjoy dining at.
Music to the ears
The choice of music can also have an impression on the customer. When choosing a track to play at your restaurant, you should consider the demographics and the image you are trying to project. When paired with fine food, the right choice of music will create an atmosphere that will not only have the customers enjoying themselves more but also enjoying the dishes served to them twice as much.
Color scheme that sets the mood
When establishing their business, restaurateurs need to consider that diners will judge the venue based on the décor and the colors surrounding them before they smell or taste the food. Colors set the ambiance of the dining establishment as customers react and relate to certain colors based on past experiences. Whichever color scheme you want to run with, make sure it matches with the ambiance and is not jarring on the eyes. Colors that are too dark or blinding will spoil the mood for the customers and deter them from visiting your restaurant again.
Warm color schemes promote positive feelings. They are also more stimulating and have been proven by many studies to increase the diner’s appetite. Warm colors should be proportioned correctly when laying out your restaurant. Neutral colors are also great for your restaurant’s scheme because they help the diner relax. Neutral color schemes work very nicely with a variety of artwork, flowers, and other furnishings.
Creating space for the layout
Space and design go hand in hand. While you may want your seating arrangements to look organized at eye level when standing, they should look just as appealing when sitting down. From the customer’s vantage point, seating that is too crammed causing diners to feel trapped doesn’t make for a pleasant dining experience. Getting spacing just right comes with the territory in restaurant management. The customer’s level of comfort should be balanced with your seating capacity.
Ultimately, you don’t want to turn away customers with too much or insufficient seating availability, especially on one of your busiest nights. Dining atmosphere has shown to have an impact on the restaurant patron’s experience, for better or for worse. Flexibility is crucial for running a successful restaurant business by shifting between these two conflicting demands based on season and the time of day. Keeping this balance between spacing and capacity in mind will make your restaurant stand out.
Making your restaurant shine
Lighting in the restaurant is another in fundamental part of interior design. With the right lighting, you can create an ambiance for each table. However, the wrong lighting will prevent the effectiveness of other components you are trying to use to make your restaurant a pleasant dining environment for your customers.
Décor and signage are other considerations for restaurant ambiance. The appropriate signs and décor invites attention to your restaurant and presents your ambiance. Décor is exclusively used for ambiance purposes while signs are versatile insofar that they can be used for both decorative and functional purposes to direct diners through your restaurant. Regardless of what you choose to use your signage for, it’s important to make sure that it is consistent with the restaurant ambiance you want to accomplish.
In conclusion, the dishes you serve or the kind of diners you attract, creating the right kind of ambiance will be beneficial in helping you run a lucrative business regardless how big or small your venue is. Take the time to prioritize and to make sure the style of your restaurant suites properly for the diners.
