When I first started working in "fast food" back in high school, no one took my job seriously. The job was assumed to be easy, on the level of digging ditches. It didn't seem to take any skill, any idiot could do it, yadda yadda. People wondered what I saw in it as I showed no interest in leaving. How I talked about seeking promotion. These people also seemed amazed at the amount of money I made, and the starting pay for my General Manager and District Manager.
What these people couldn't understand is it DOES take skill to run a burger joint properly. The key word is "properly," because any idiot can run a fast food joint. It doesn't take any skill to have high crew turn-over. You don't need to be smart to keep customers in long lines. Any shmoe off the street can run high food cost. Tom, Dick, or Harry can blow labor.
But to run a restaurant that turns a profit every week? That serves delicious and safe food quickly? To keep a crew of 25 or 30 happy and paying their bills? To provide an overall pleasant dining experience on a budget...that does take someone with smarts. It takes a team of people who know what they're doing, who think out their actions, who consider the consequences of Plan A versus Plan B.
This blog is about how to properly run a QSR (Quick Service Restaurant). It doesn't matter if you flip burgers, delivery pizza, fry chicken, or even refill buffet trays. The principles of providing fast, inexpensive, delicious food in a pleasant environment at a profit are the same. That's what this blog is hoping to illustrate, the "How" behind successful QSR.
