ALWAYS BE THERE

Running a restaurant is not as fun as it sounds & looks. It is hard work and long hours with a huge amount of pressure and stress. There is no time for a social life, i beg your pardon, yes there is no time for a social life people. And many times spent fighting with staffs that don't arrive on shift or time, example. Equipment always pranggggg most of the time, breaks down. The other day there are always angry customers, there are so many many customers really wanna be a king and 'Mr/Mrs always right'. Other days then people sending food back because of these thing or those thing. Staff that don't pay attention and lots of wastages. And this is the circumstances that we have to facing every single day, yes sure every single day. It is very important to know what we are doing and as the owner or person in charge, WE MUST ALWAYS BE THERE, AROUND OUR RESTAURANT!

To running a restaurant, we have got to have passion for this industry and know that for it to work, we have got to put in the hours. This is a guide to making our restaurant successful, to ensure that we can eliminate stress and it will help us to understand this restaurant business so that we can eventually sit back and watch business grow. 

The other way, marketing is important to promote our business and we should know when our busy times are and when we need to promote our restaurant. We do not have to hire marketing people in order to this because all it takes is an attractive special to bring people are getting bored. These are things that we have to be aware of in order to market our business. Stay on top of things, keep focused on what is selling and what doesn't, who works well for us, get constant feedback from our customers and ensure that all of our staffs have our bottom line of heart.

You know guys, every single action we do even thought a simple step would be have an great impact neither for a good sake or a bad one. I've been learn these months, here we go, "Having a passion first before we doing this business will save you more, then it's will be driven us to the right way". Try it and your eyes will be open. Have a very good night everyone, sleep well :)....

DEDICATED TO YOU

Everybody seems want to set up a restaurant these days. The dream? A cozy little place filled with adoring customers, a team of passionate staff and a full cash register. Sound familiar, isn't it? Then it's time for a reality check and show. Then i found, two thirds of restaurants don't survive past their first birthday.

There are long hours, grumpy customers, financial demands and all sorts of other issues. Still want to do it? Then i've got some tips, here we go:

Don't be arrogant. A lot of people open restaurants out of vanity, people who can't even boil an egg. That's like me buying a rugby club because i like the game. One of my biggest bugbears is that we don't need any qualifications to do it. People fall in love with an idea and don't want to learn their craft, which takes years, either time and commitment. Sure you're still up for it? Oke then we go to the next step hehehe.

Have we done our homework? The secret of a good local restaurant is knowing our customers and catering them. Do we research? Does the area need an expensive fine dining restaurant, or would it be more comfortable with a homely baked food place? Make sure we know the area, check out the competition and work out what their strengths and weaknesses are. What will make our stand out from the rest?

Choose the right chef. This is not an easy job, buddy. But a restaurant owner's best investment will always be in the chef, and if we haven't got that major asset in the kitchen downstairs, then forget it.  The guy's got to be a motivator, be a leader, make our money. The chef got to bring customers back. Make sure our chef is up to the job. Are they a cocky young upstart who doesn't know if they're cooking chicken or beef, or a well-seasoned chef with vision and drive?

Who's in charge? You've got to trust the brigade that you're paying, and secondly bring them on, evolve them. Make them talented. Keeping hold of them, motivating them. If we are the owner then the responsibility ultimately lies with us. We need to know what's happening in every area of our business from the kitchen to front of house. Don't be a control freak though, all staff's opinions are valid too.

Communication and teamwork. Key to any successful restaurant is regular communication between management and the head chef. But it doesn't stop there, all the staffs have to be communicating well with each other and working as a team. Let's not forget the customers either, make sure we are listening to them too. At the end of the day they're paying your wages.

The menu. The more dishes, the lower the standard. Long menus lead to confusion for everyone. They can have chefs running round like headless chickens. Customers waiting or walking out, and all sorts of undesirable items going off at the back of the fridge. Start with a simple menu concentrating on quality produce cooked well and you're on to a winner. Our chefs will be more efficient, the diners will be happy and there shouldn't be much wastage.

Quality control. Mistakes stay in kitchen, mostly man. Ensuring quality and consistency in the kitchen is essential for a successful restaurant. Even if service is busy, it's not an excuse for sloppy plates of food leaving the kitchen. If it's not good enough, don't serve, it could ruin our reputation.

Keep it clean and organised. The important rule of cooking is our kitchen must be clean, sure and by clean i mean spotless. There's nothing worse than an unhygienic restaurant, and our customers won't like it much either if they end up with food poisoning. Make sure all of our staffs have the right hygiene certificates and set up a decent cleaning rota. Get to know our local environmental health officer - they'd rather help you than close you down. These point i got from Dinas Kesehatan hehehehe.

Be flexible. In the business we have to very aware that we have to react instantly to changing trading conditions: cutting down on overheads, reducing costs, tapering menus, we have to react straightaway, not wait. In today's climate we're producing figures weekly, not monthly, we have to be on top of what's happening. If something isn't working, swallow our pride and change it. flexibility is fundamental to any successful business, so try not to be too pig-headed. It might be our baby, butttttt that doesn't mean the customers will love it as much as we do.

Don't give up. One thing i need to see is the fight. The determination and the grit. When things get tough, it's hard to keep sight of our original dream. But if we work as a team, serve food we believe in and don't delude our self about how things really are, we're in for a better chance. 

I believe always, if there is a will always be a way. These all i got from learning by doing. But most of all thank you so much for someone who always teaching me how to run this business well. From the deepest of my heart thank you so much Mr. B. I dedicated this entry to you.

MELANKOLIS MELANDA

Salut, Ça va. Je veux être l'air que tu respires, je veux être le ciel que tu contemples, je veux être les lèvres que tu embrasses, et par dessus tout, je veux être la raison qui fait battre ton cœur. Tu es le soleil qui illumine ma vie. Au matin, me lever sans toi c'est se lever dans un monde où il fait toujours nuit. Tu es mon bonheur. Quelle chance, j'ai découvert un vrai trésor. Quelle chance, j'ai découvert un vrai trésor... Bonne nuit


Well, ketika rindu melanda segala kemelankolisan berlomba-lomba menampakkan wujud. Jedingggggg, bahkan bahasa yang baru saya pelajaripun seakan-akan menjadi sah untuk digunakan tanpa tata bahasa yang pas. Ya sudahlah mari kita nikmati malam ini dengan kemelankolisan. Selamat malam. Selamat beristirahat :)

HAPPY 4TH ANNIVERSARY TO YOU & YOU

Sepasang suami istri masuk ke outlet dengan penuh kemesraan. Tidak bergandengan tangan sih. Namun kemesraan itu terpancar begitu saja dari pasangan ini. Ada aura kebahagiaan yang jelas terlihat dari raut wajah dan rona pipi si wanita. Dan well, ternyata adalah istrinya. Apa coba namanya jika pipi sudah merona merah dan segar begitu. Bahagia bukan sebutannya. Pasti, kebahagiaan itu mudah sekali termanifestasi mulai dari bahasa tubuh sampai dengan gestur. Berjalan memasuki outlet dengan senyuman yang terus mengembang dibibir sang istri. Sementara sang suami merasa sangat bangga berjalan disamping wanita pujaannya. Kebanggan seperti ini menjadi pemandangan yang langka bukan? Ditengah gonjang-ganjing dan trend cerai. Pasangan ini seperti hendak menentang arus trend yang ada. Senang sekali melihat kebahagiaan kecil di depan mata. Saya benar-benar menikmati kejadian yang belum tentu bisa saya temui setiap hari ini.

Ada bungkusan yang dititipkan sang suami ke outlet kami. Setelah saya buka ternyata kue sangat cantik bergambar Eiffel Tower, cantik sekali dannnnn sempurna dimata saya. Kue yang didominasi oleh warna hijau dan pink dipadukan dengan ornamen yang lucu, membuat suasana bahagia terasa dua kali lipat. Pasangan ini merayakan ulang tahun yang ke 4 pernikahan mereka. Sungguh luar biasa, 4 tahun melewati hari-hari bersama. 4 tahun berbagi suka dan duka berdua. Dan 4 tahun ini ternyata masih diwarnai kebahagiaan.

Buat saya bahagia itu sederhana sekali, ketika kita bisa menyempurnakan dan melengkapi hidup satu sama lain. Sehingga hal-hal lainnya terlihat begitu sangat tidak penting selain kebahagiaan pasangan kita. Bahagia itu adalah ketika hal remeh-temeh seperti merayakan ulang tahun pernikahan justru mendapat perhatian lebih. Bahagia itu ketika ulang tahun pernikahan bisa dinikmati dari tahun ke tahun hanya berdua dengannya. Terima kasih hari ini saya belajar satu bentuk kebahagiaan lagi.

SUNDAY AFTERNOON THOUGHT

I'm sitting on the first floor outlet this afternoon. Seeing around, looking for something i can do more and more. Then suddenly a thought coming up *tsah*.... Here we go :)

Did you ever hear the phrase “A stitch in time saves time”? This is so true in the food services industry. Managing a restaurant can be a very fast paced, stressful job. There are many systems that you must train and oversee and your day is based on customer flow. So it is difficult to schedule your time effectively so accomplish tasks. Even managers with the best time planning skills can find themselves working long hours, running out of time and lamenting over unfinished to-do lists on a daily basis.

And then we have to facing several things that we never expected before. This is how I've been learning these couple months.... Do you walk out of the restaurant at night feeling guilty that you did not get everything accomplished that you planned to? Or do you carry briefcase stuffed with paperwork that you plan to do when you get home? And then take it back to work the next day planning to get it done there? Or are you so tired most days that you don't even have the energy to try to get everything accomplished? Or do you ever forget to do things your boss has asked you to do?

Isn't all conditions above sound familiar for most of us. Yeah we all do,  cause we work in food services. Then i realize a thing that i’m overcoming these couple weeks. Well, to be successful, even to just maintain our sanity, we have develop routines on a daily, weekly and monthly basis to get everything accomplished. The first thing i usually do is ask myself to create a monthly planner. I take out a calender and start plugging in everything i do in a month only to run out of hours and days to get these tasks accomplished  So the first epiphany we come to is that the manager CAN’T do everything themselves. He/She just a human being. He/she have a limit. Then i find things sometime we as a manager get wrong:

The manager can control the restaurant better if they just do everything themselves.

Don’t get me wrong, you will always be responsible for every task in your restaurant and will certainly be held accountable for the results but training your team to do the actual tasks and then giving the final approval will save your time. You need to review every report and create action plans to improve the reports but someone else can gather and organize the reports.

The assistants won’t do it as good as i do.

No, they won’t, not at first but as a manager, your job is to develop your team. Train them to do a task expecting that the first few times it will not be perfect and you will need to coach them. Coaching them to do the plans to improve the reports but someone else can gather and organize the reports.

I don’t have a time to teach them.

Who will do it when you are on vacation? Who will do all the works for your day off. Everyday you are in the outlet to teach your assistant how to run every aspect of the business so when you do take a day off, they can handle everything without calling you.

Teaching them means that i am less valuable.

Whose says, it’s totally wrong. Developing your team will not only make your life much easier, it will also show that you are a strong manager with the skills to be counted.

As for me, a successful manager is the one who turn a chaos into order. Have a very good weekend everyone. 

BAHAGIA ADALAH KELUARGA

Ahhhh mantap pasangan serasi malam ini adalah iPad yang bersanding dengan kopi susu. Sempurna. Menulis ditemani si cokelat ini memang luar biasa. Mari kita mulai.

Didepan saya saat ini ada satu pemandangan yang sangat menyenangkan. Ayah, ibu dan anak ABG mereka yang sedang menikmati waktu makan malam sambil ngobrol santai. Terlihat sekali keberhasilan si ayah yang membangun hubungan yang cukup baik dengan keluarganya. Sang anak terlihat sangat nyaman, begitu banyak cerita meluncur dari bibirnya. Sementara si ibu mendengarkan ocehan sang anak dengan tersenyum dan sesekali menimpali memberikan respon. Pemandangan yang luar biasa. 

Kebahagiaan itu sederhana sekali. Saat kita bisa menikmati waktu yang berkualitas dengan keluarga, saat kita bisa ngobrol santai dan membangun komunikasi terbuka tanpa sekat dengan anak-anak, saat kita bisa membangun atmosfir yang nyaman sehingga anak-anak merasa nyaman untuk berbagi cerita dengan orangtuanya. Saat sang istri mendapatkan perhatian lebih dari suaminya dengan hal-hal sederhana seperti mengelap makanan yang tertinggal di sudut mulutnya. Saat sang istri memandang penuh kagum ke mata suaminya ketika si suami sedang meresponi cerita si anak. Well, ini saya sebut dengan bahagia. 

Bahagia tidak melulu masalah uang. Bahagia tidak selalu masalah harta. Bahagia itu tidak harus sesuatu yang mewah. Bahagia itu adalah ketika kita bisa menjadikan keluarga kita sebagai fokus utama dari perjalanan kebahagiaan itu sendiri. Hari ini ketika saya duduk di lantai satu outlet. Saya menemukan bentuk lain dari kebahagiaan. Terima kasih semesta, pembelajaraan hari ini menjadi pengalaman sangat berharga.

THE OTHER SIGHT

What will happen when we're in our negative thought? You know exactly the answer right. Then why are you still round and round on it. Buddy, if you can create tornado from thinking negative, why don't you turn the negative be a positive one. You, yes you, yeah you.... if you're always blame people of what was wrong in your life, you're the one who never learn from anything. Make mistakes is normal as long as you know how to turn it into right. Sometimes, the right coming after we falling down into tons of mistakes. We only live once, but if you work it right, once is enough.

As for me, life isn't meant to be easy, it's meant to be lived. Sometimes happy, other days rough. I believe a thing that with every up and down we could learn 'something' special, something that we can archive ourself better, something that we can see ourself on the right sight, something that we can accepted ourself different and we learn a lesson that make us strong. 

MY TWILIGHT MOMENT

Sore ini menikmati secangkir kopi hitam dikombinasikan dengan lemon squash & ditemani sebungkus emping sambil menikmati sebentuk anak anjing diawan yang sedang menengadah ke langit, what a wonderful twilight. Bahagia itu seringkali bisa didapatkan dari kesederhanaan seperti saat ini. Saat saya menikmati pergantian sore dengan duduk-duduk dilantai 1 outlet. Sempurna sekali. Ditengah seabrek aktivitas harian, hari ini saya sengaja melepaskan semua embel-embel pekerjaan demi istirahat sejenak. Tidur lebih lama, istirahat lebih banyak dan makan lebih sehat.

Hal sederhana yang justru hilang empat bulan belakangan ini. Tanpa disadari ketika hari ini bisa menikmatinya lagi, justru menjadi moment berharga untuk dilewatkan begitu saja. Terima kasih Tuhan, terima kasih semesta, moment sore ini semoga menjadi titik balik untuk hari-hari kedepan.

ANUGERAH TERINDAH

Ini tidak semudah membalikkan telapak tangan, saya tahu itu. Namun ini juga tidak sesulit menemukan jarum dalam tumpukan jerami. Buat saya sederhana saja, hidup yang kita jalani saat ini, pekerjaan yang kita miliki hari ini dan keputusan-keputusan yang sudah kita pilih. Semuanya itu akan bermuara pada konsekuensi. Hidup adalah perjuangan, itu betul. Tapi hidup juga merupakan anugerah terindah dari surga. Mengisinya dengan selalu bersyukur akan lebih baik bukan daripada setiap hari mengeluh. Hidup akan terus bergerak walaupun qta memutuskan untuk berhenti. Hidup akan terus berlanjut walaupun kita memutuskan untuk diam. Hidup akan selalu memberikan warna baru tanpa peduli kita siap atau tidak. Bersyukurlah jika sampai saat ini hidup masih memberikan banyak pembelajaran buat kita.

Tidak mudah memang namun bukan berarti tidak bisa. Selama ada kemauan, selama selalu berusaha, selama masih punya keyakinan, selama masih mampu menghasilkan ide-ide kreatif, semuanya pasti akan lebih baik. Suatu hari nanti ketika perjalanan ini sudah lebih jauh dari garis awal kita memulainya, ketika kita menoleh sejenak ke belakang, kita akan menemukan pemandangan terindah dari sebuah perjuangan, menemukan arti sesungguhnya dari sebuah kesuksesan dan menikmati bentuk lain dari sebuah keberhasilan. Semangat!!!

CORETAN MALAM

Mencintai itu sebuah perjalanan. Ada pengertian didalamnya yang perlu dibina. Ada kesepakatan-kesepakatan yang perlu dibuat. Ada toleransi yang perlu dibangun. Ada kepercayaan yang harus dijaga. Ada komitmen yang harus diperjuangkan. Ada sikap yang perlu mengalami perubahan dari hari ke hari. Ada proses yang harus dijalani. Ketika saya mencintai kamu, saya tahu bahwa saya akan bahagia bersamamu. Hal lainnya mari kita anggap sebagai bagian dari perjalanan yang akan membuat hubungan kita jadi lebih berkualitas. Terima kasih untuk segalanya. Kamu tetap yang terbaik.