• Leading UAE restaurant consultancy, Restaurant Secrets Inc. identifies four myths that business owners should avoid falling for when looking to open a restaurant of their own.

DUBAI, UAE – As one of the Middle East’s leading F&B firms, Restaurant Secrets Inc. has witnessed plenty of people who may not otherwise dare risk venturing into business, harbour the desire to one day have their own restaurant. The reason? Food evokes an emotion and passion in many dreamful entrepreneurs.

On the topic, Gabrielle F. Mather, CEO & Founder of Restaurant Secrets Inc. (RSI) said: “I’ve realised over the past two decades of my life spent in F&B that the main reason why people think it’s easy to run a restaurant is because they truly believe the food business is all about just cooking good food and selling it, when it’s so much more than that.”

When getting into the restaurant business, there are four common myths that entrepreneurs often fall for, Mather believes.

The first myth being that it’s easy to run a restaurant, secondly that good food is the only reason a restaurant succeeds, fourth is that a good location guarantees footfall and success, and lastly that Instagrammable interiors and imagery will make a restaurant successful.

Reflecting on experience of operating her own restaurants, consulting on over 300 restaurant projects, and educating herself through trials and failures, Mather reveals to avoid the common myths, those looking to get into the restaurant business should really be focusing on the following hard facts when opening a restaurant.

  • A profitable restaurant business is not just about food.
  • The restaurant business is one of the most profitable businesses but also one of the most competitive businesses you could venture into.
  • Smart restaurant businesses use systems and manuals to operate in order to be detailed and focused on getting the best out of people and product.
  • The checklists and procedures needed to stay operationally viable and thus profitable and successful in this business run into hundreds of documents.
  • The cost controls needed in this business are intricate and crucial to not just make money but more importantly not lose earnings in.
  • If restaurant owners do not provide systems and procedures to passionate and willing people to run a restaurant, they could land up becoming a slave to their own business.
  • Without the right systems guiding a service, operations, and sales & marketing, business owners will be working hard to pay the landlord, suppliers and staff while they remain unpaid.
  • A business owner’s brand of leadership and passion to steward their dream through inevitable failures, heartbreaks and letdowns as a leader will determine if they take a great concept to successful business level or let it die as a dream.
  • Lastly, even after a restaurant owner does it all right – great location, product, marketing, systems etc., they could still be looking for buyers for a failing restaurant rather than customers to walk into their store if they ignore the importance of a peoplefocused company culture.

It may not be rocket science to run a restaurant successfully but it’s also not just about 'cooking food and selling it’, notes Mather.

For more information about Restaurant Secrets Inc. e-mail enquire@restaurantsecrets.com, visit restaurantsecretsinc.com or follow @restaurantsecretsinc on social media.

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For media enquiries, please contact Sophie Voelzing at sophie.voelzing@therestaurantco.me

About Restaurant Secrets Inc.

Restaurant Secrets Inc. (RSI) is a team of expert Restaurant Consultants & Business Incubators in the UAE that has served over 300 brands since its inception in 2001. The ISO 9001 certified firm provides full solution F&B incubation in-house. Nothing is outsourced at RSI. This unique business set up ensures synergistic results as teams work together to develop all elements of a restaurant including concept development, menu engineering, feasibility studies, business plans, layouts & interior design, branding & marketing, talent requisition, franchise development, pre- and post-opening operational support and more. To name a few, some of RSI’s most significant projects recently include Montauk Boutique Café, Colt, Roti Rollers, La Serre Bistro & Boulangerie, Clinton’s Baking Street, So Tea, OPSO, Mitts & Trays, and The Loft at Dubai Opera.

About Gabrielle F. Mather, CEO & Founder, Restaurant Secrets Inc. and Cornerstone 61 Consultancy

Gabrielle Mather, Founder & CEO of Restaurant Secrets Inc. & Cornerstone 61 Consultancy, both specialized F&B firms based in Dubai has lived across the UK, Singapore & UAE. Her 25 years of experience as a Dubai resident along with her diverse international experiences are illustrated in both her business and personal life. She is a seasoned restaurateur and operator, and as a trusted F&B consultant she has been incubating F&B businesses since 2001. Gabrielle has led the development of over 300 F&B concepts with 360 degrees’ hands-on experience in BOH and FOH experiences with particular expertise in concept creation, menu development, interior design and brand development. As Ex COO & Co-Founder of Lincoln Hospitality, from 2018 to 2020, her leadership oversaw the rebranding and operational turn-around of four prime Emaar properties La Serre Bistro & Boulangerie, The Loft at Dubai Opera, Taikun and Distillery in the 2019 acquisition of the 100 million Capex venues by Restaurant Secrets Inc. With a Business (Marketing) degree from the University of Hartford, she is also a BVQI - ISO certified Quality Auditor and trained in luxury product development at the University of London.